Agenda - 09-17-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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9 1 premium from Social Security benefits. She said the County pays for both a Medicare 2 supplement to cover gaps left by Medicare, and part B, which covers prescription 3 medication. She said changes were made last year to address the increasing liability for 4 retiree health insurance. She said these changes increase eligibility requirements, 5 require retirees eligible for Medicare due to disability to enroll in Medicare, and cap the 6 individual County payout for Medicare supplements in part D. 7 Commissioner Dorosin asked how many of the County employees earn the living 8 wage. 9 Nicole Clark said there are no employees making that amount. She said this is 10 for permanent employees and most of the positions have a minimum salary or hourly 11 rate that is higher. 12 Commissioner Dorosin asked about retiree benefits. He noted that the 13 recommendation is to increase the flat amount. 14 Nicole Clark said the County currently offers $715 per employee per year for the 15 401 K. She said the recommendation is, for those employees that do contribute to their 16 401 K, that the county matches up to an additional $1200. 17 Commissioner Dorosin asked how he should compare that with these 18 percentages. He asked what percentage range this puts the County in. 19 Frank Clifton said Orange County is very low and the 401 k has never grown, 20 even as salaries or contributions grew. 21 Commissioner Dorosin questioned the usefulness of this information. He would 22 like to see Orange County's percentage for the 401 k contribution compared to the other 23 counties. He would like to see what 3% or 4% cost would look like. 24 Chair Jacobs suggested staff omit the department heads and look at the 25 remaining mean salary. 26 Nicole Clark said the average annual salary for an Orange County employee is 27 approximately $45,000; so $715 is 1.57%, including department heads. She said the 28 true number is likely closer to 3%. 29 Frank Clifton said 3% is the new recommendation only if the employee 30 contributes, and that is not true in a lot of other governmental entities. 31 Commissioner Gordon said there was a time when staff looked at Orange 32 County benefits compared to others, and at that time the County looked good. She said 33 a comprehensive comparison of all benefits would need to be done in order to get the 34 overall picture. 35 Chair Jacobs agreed with Commissioner Gordon, and said that Orange County 36 usually does better than the state and other counties. He said it is difficult to compare 37 when only one area is considered, versus looking at the overall picture. 38 Commissioner Rich asked where the $1200 figure comes from. 39 Frank Clifton said the staff looked at other entities, both governmental and 40 private/public entities, and considered what benefits are being offered. 41 Commissioner Pelissier referred to the hiring delays and asked why there were 42 longer delays for Emergency Services personnel. 43 Frank Clifton said Emergency Services positions are very strenuous jobs, and 44 hourly shifts have been changed from 24 hours to 12 hours. He said these are difficult 45 positions to fill and maintain. 46 Commissioner Price said there may be some cases where it does not make 47 sense to wait 6 months to hire someone, especially if it means services have to be cut. 48 She hopes the Board will not make this a fast and hard rule. 49 Clarence Grier said a department can request a waiver, and these are usually 50 approved and positions are hired. 51 Mark Browder reviewed the following PowerPoint excel spreadsheets regarding 52 health insurance: 53 54 Health insurance update (slide 1) 55 June 11, 2013 Work Session