White River Township Fire Protection District
Board Meeting Minutes
June 3, 2008
District Board Members Present:
Rev.
Butch Sutton
Jon Raker
Jeremy Pell
Eric Brown
Joel Thacker
Jim Engmark
Mark Hart
Casey Arkins
Jason Bailey
Darryl Slevin
Crystal Young
Others Present:
Jeff Logsdon
Steve Dyson
Note: Motions are italicized and in blue.
Dr. Chuck Shufflebarger called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
i.
The copy shows
the CAGIT distribution for the $792,596 received.
ii.
Personal
Services (10000)
1. The category is down overall $55,000.
2. Part-time wages and wages other is slightly over but
under budget overall.
iii.
Building
Maintenance
1. Currently the account is under budget for the first
time in a long time. Jeff Smith is doing
most of the labor himself which is keeping the cost down.
iv.
Vehicle
Maintenance
1. The 20000 (Supplies) category is still over but the
30000 (service) category is under by $15,000.
v.
The department
is keeping an eye on utilities.
vi.
Overall the
department is under budget.
vii.
Mr. Dyson asked
why PTRC (CAGIT) was $113,000 instead of $86,000. Chief Thacker stated that historically it is
not balanced when it comes in.
i.
The budgeted
amount for Station 51 is close to being closed out.
ii.
The department
is still under budget in the Cum Fund Outlays due to the fact that the 2008
budget has not yet passed. Most large
projects have been put on hold until the budget has passed.
iii.
Mr. Sutton asked
if the department will have a cash flow problem if the budget is not passed.
1. In one projection the account will get down to
approximately one million but the department should be in good shape.
i.
The truck has
been advertised and Chief Pell has contacted those who were interested and there
is still interest and has already received a bid. Bids will be opened on 6/10 at 3:00pm.
ii.
If there is an
acceptable bid Chief Pell will e-mail the board with the bid and ask for a
preliminary approval to keep things moving between the 6/10 opening and the 7/1
Board Meeting.
1. Mr. Logsdon stated that it is okay for the board to
give an informal approval to keep the project moving then make a formal motion
at the next meeting.
2. Mr. Dodson stated that the board will do the approval
and acceptance of the bid in the next meeting.
iii.
Mr. Sutton asked
for the projection of expenses on the project.
1. Chief Pell stated that the department expects $80,000
for the truck and the project should cost $40,000.
2. The money levied in the Cum Fund ($670,000) for a new
truck will not be spent.
3. The worst case scenario is the department receives $0
for the truck and has to spend $40,000 to retrofit the TSU.
4. Anything received over $40,000 is actually income.
iv.
Chief Pell
reiterated that the bid opening is on 6/10 and if there is an acceptable bid he
will send an e-mail to the board listing the bids and requesting an informal ok
to proceed.
i.
Mr. Dyson stated
that he has the information that the department has worked on over the last
couple of months.
1. He does hope to have the figure on Salary and
Benefits so he can plug them in for the July meeting.
2. He stated that if they keep it around 4% increase
overall there shouldn’t be any issue for the long run. More may not work if the revenue does not
meet expenditures.
ii.
Mr. Dodson asked
how the projection for income over the next year affects the 2009 budget.
1. Mr. Dyson stated that there will be a $1000 decrease
due to House Bill 1001.
iii.
Mr. Sutton asked
where they were with Paul on a recommendation.
1. Mr. Dodson stated that what was sent in the e-mail as
a range of increase was 2-3%.
a. He also stated that Dr. Shufflebarger relayed to him
a suggestion of 2.5-3% in total benefit.
i.
Combined wages
and healthcare.
b. Mr. Dodson stated that he and Mr. Kite were
comfortable with 3% for combined salary and healthcare.
iv.
Mr. Sutton asked
how many peer groups get the extra third paid for retirement. He believes that figure never gets counted.
1. Chief Pell stated that the salary survey tells the
percent of pay into PERF.
2. Mr. Dodson stated that it doesn’t list many.
3. Mr. Sutton believes that
a. Mr. Dodson stated that the Employer share is 21% and
the Employee share is 6% but that the department pays the entire amount and
finding another department that pays that 6% is very rare.
v.
Mr. Dodson also
pointed out that the departments vary on vision and dental insurance coverage.
1. Mr. Sutton suggested “lumping” it all together and
it’s the employees’ choice as to how they want to use it.
2. Mr. Dodson stated that
vi.
Of the 34
departments reporting back, 7 of them the employee pays nothing, the department
picks that up. 17 departments the
employee pays 6% and the other 7 departments the employee pays between 3-5%.
1. Mr. Sutton stated that it is not germane to this
discussion but it needs to be included in the entire discussion as to where the
department falls.
vii.
In reviewing the
spreadsheet Mr. Dodson stated that the right half of the column shows the
entire salary.
1. Mr. Sutton still sees PERF as a salary benefit.
2. Mr. Sutton believes that Dr. Shufflebarger’s
suggestion was good and should be considered since he has more experience in
this than the rest of the board has.
3. Mr. Sutton believes the entire benefit should max at
3%.
a. Wages, insurance, and retirement.
4. Mr. Sutton asked what the column for taxes meant.
a. Chief Pell stated that those are federal taxes, our
part of Medicare since the department does not pay Social Security on career
employees.
b. Mr. Sutton reiterated that the categories to be
included should be salary, 6% retirement, and health insurance.
c. Tuition assistance, clothing, physicals and life and
disability should not be counted (other benefits).
viii.
Chief Pell sent
both the extended and shortened version of the spreadsheet in an e-mail. Mr. Dodson would like Chief Pell supply the
extended version to everyone for the meeting.
1. When looking at the staff there is a variance between
the levels of positions and percent of benefits.
a. Across the board increases have been given in the
past and 3% of $40,000 is not the same as 3% of $80,000. The difference between ranks is not equal and
they need to be leveled to where they need to be.
b. Mr. Raker wondered if the % is on each level or
should everyone get % based on spread.
2. Mr. Dyson asked about the spread and how it came
about, was it an average of all departments.
a. Chief Thacker stated that there was research done but
not sure exactly how just that it was compared to other departments and job
responsibilities were also taken into account.
i.
Also the
increase was enough to have an incentive for an Lt. to go to a Capt.
ii.
The exact
breakdown was done by Chiefs Tibbetts and Cassin.
b. Mr. Dyson asked if the department was still
comfortable with the spread. Chiefs Pell
and Thacker believe they are fair and are comfortable with them.
i.
He stated that
he will calculate 3% to each rank then he will take one salary rank at 3% then
take salary spread up and down to see what the difference is.
ix.
Mr. Sutton
stated that it should be 3% of total salary, HSA and insurance and Employee
deposit into PERF.
1. Mr. Dyson stated that he will calculate the increase
in salary by 3%.
a. Medicare will automatically go up 3%.
b. The Employer portion of PERF has also decreased from
21% to 19 ½%. The employee 6% has stayed
the same.
c. Mr. Sutton stated that the increase in Medicare is a
cost of doing business.
i.
He would like
something put together showing what the department gets paid that doesn’t
overlook the 6% the employee gets for PERF.
ii.
The spread helps
by showing where we fall salary wise.
iii.
Chief Pell
stated that the health survey shows that the department pays close to the
bottom for excellent coverage.
1. He stated that it would be not be difficult to
include the salary survey information with the health insurance survey for the
pared down list of departments since the information is already available.
x.
Last year salaries
were 65% of the budget. This budget overall
74-75% of the budget is personnel costs.
(pg. 2 of the PowerPoint)
xi.
Mr. Sutton
motioned to increase 3% of total salary, health insurance, and the portion of
the retirement the department contributes for employees (PERF).
1. Mr. Dyson stated that for PERF contribution is
$13,508. The employer contribution
percentage drops to 25.5% and adding in the 3% raise the category may decrease.
2. Mr. Raker would like to see the figures on how that
affects the numbers.
3. Chief Pell calculated rough numbers adding 3% to the
contribution is approximately $1500 for a first class FF salary ($50,000) 25.5%
takes PERF goes down to $13,166. Mr.
Dyson’s logic is correct that the contribution will go down.
xii.
The motion was
pulled and a suggestion for Mr. Dyson to work the numbers was recommended.
1. Mr. Dyson will increase the salaries 3% (he will also
look at the spread) and 3% on insurance while everything else will stay the
same.
xiii.
The increase in
insurance will be roughly 20%.
1. That will be approximately $1000 per year increase to
the employees.
2. Mr. Dodson has spoken to Mike Gaunce concerning the
insurance increase. He said that
increases are jumping all over the place and 20% would be a safe number to
consider.
3. Mr. Sutton reminded everyone that there was a 7 or 8%
increase last year when no one else received one. He just believes that it needs to even out
this year.
xiv.
Mr. Dodson asked
Mr. Dyson to e-mail the completed budget to the board and Ms. Leminger.
xv.
Mr. Dodson also
asked Chief Pell to get the information that Mr. Sutton requested.
1. He will show how PERF fits in and how
2. Chief Pell will show how our salaries and insurance
benefits compare with others. Mr. Dodson
and Mr. Kite asked him to compare to specific departments for the insurance so
he will use the same list for the total comparison.
i.
John Price has
called and asked about HB 1001 and the effects on the department.
1. He also recommended
2. Chief Pell has drafted a letter to send to the
council members and has included it as the last page of the packet. He has also extended it to the commissioners.
3. Chief Pell believes if any of them attend it would
allow everyone to have a better handle on our budget by the time it is
presented to them.
4. Mr. Sutton is fine with the letter and believes it is
a good idea to let them know.
i. Chief Pell has done the background work and would like to re-apply and has considered hiring a grant writer.
1. He has contacted one grant writer and was quoted $1,500. She is confident and has been 80% successful. He also has a contact at Brownsburg and will ask for assistance.
ii. Chief Pell would like approval to submit for the SAFER grant and $1500 to hire a grant writer.
1. Jon Raker motions to permit Chief Pell to spend up to $1500 for a grant writer to complete the SAFER Grant application. Butch Sutton seconds.
2. All in favor and motion carries.
i. June 13th & 14th is the Strawberry Festival
ii. Mr. Dyson stated that he will be out of town June 26-29 but can still be contacted by e-mail.
iii. Chief Pell will also be out of town the last week of June and can also be contacted by e-mail.
iv. Mr. Dodson stated that he has had a couple of people comment on the department and on what White River is doing and how they are doing it and would like the department to keep up the good work.