Minutes - 04-16-2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

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APPROVED 11!712001 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET WORK SESSION APRIL 16, 2001 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Budget Work Session on April 16, 2001 at 7:30 p.m. in the meeting room of the Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Stephen H. Halkiatis and Commissioners Margaret W. Brown, Moses Carey, Jr., Alice M. Gordon and Barry Jacobs COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Manager Rod Visser and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below} NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. 1. PAY AND BENEFITS PLAN FOR FY 2001-02 Elaine Holmes summarized the discussion from the County Commissioners' November work session on employee pay and benefits plan. She noted that the County Commissioners indicated they were pleased with the employee pay and benefits plan that had been in place the last two years. The County Commissioners asked that the County staff seek to improve the consistency in granting meritorious awards from department to department and asked her to bring back options far improvement of the County's 401 K plan contribution. The decisions far 2001-2002 are listed below: • Amount of COLA Increase • Amount of In-range Progression • Amount of the 401 K Contribution • Classification and Pay Study • Benefits far Domestic Partners The Manager presented two options for the cost of living increase. Option A would give County employees a 2.5°~ COLA/increase with the 401 {k) contribution increased to $20.00 per pay. Option B would give County employees a 2.75% COLA/increase with the 401 (k) remaining the same. He noted that the cost of living as measured by consumer price index increased 3.4°~ in year 2000. The Manager recommends that the in -range progression remain the same at 2.5°~. In terms of meritorious service awards, he reviewed with department heads the Board concerns about consistency. Also, he initiated additional training sessions. Based on July-March, overall consistency has improved both as to department participation and participation of employees at the lower salary grades. With reference to the 401 (k},the County contributes $15.00 per pay for each employee who participates. There are several options listed in the notebook. In terms of the classification and pay study, the County Commissioners supported moving ahead with the study. The study would cover all 725 employees and would include a market salary survey. A consultant would do the study and would recommend a salary implementation plan. Elaine Holmes asked that she be authorized to move ahead with an RFP for a consultant so she could return in June with a recommendation. The schedule would have a recommendation come back to the County Commissioners in the spring of 2002 sa that the implementation can be taken into consideration for that budget cycle. Benefits for domestic partners is in the packet.