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Page 3 <br /> Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission <br /> November 13,2012 <br /> 5.2 Wage and Benefits Committee Update <br /> In October 2011 Utilities Commission formed a Wage and Benefits Committee. The <br /> Utilities Commission created the committee to be comprised of one Commissioner, John <br /> Dietz—Utilities Chair, and three Utilities managers: Troy Adams—General Manager, <br /> Theresa Slominski —Finance and Office Manager, and Mark Fuchs— Electric <br /> Superintendent. The intent for the creation was to have the committee review and <br /> analyze wage and benefits information, receive comments and questions from employees <br /> relating to wage and benefits, function as a forum for discussion, and ultimately present <br /> select wage and benefit information to the Utilities Commission for action. <br /> The Wage and Benefits Committee met on October 16111 and 306h. The Committee <br /> determined the following items should be presented to the Utilities Commission for <br /> consideration, and an opportunity to ask questions or give direction for research to bring <br /> back items for December's meeting: <br /> Wages—Trendwise, with various other utilities it is a 3% increase for 2013, to get to the <br /> previous metro average a 7% increase, to match the co-ops it is a difference of 10%. The <br /> current budget reflects a 3% increase and the lineworkers have formally submitted a <br /> request for a 7% COLA. COLA will be talked about next month. <br /> Dental — Recommending no change and renew the current plan with the 5.5% increase. <br /> Other— <br /> I. A performance Metrics program—implement a program where the employees <br /> are incentivized to contribute to the company's success. If the company is <br /> doing well and certain standards are met, the employees can participate in that <br /> success. It would be a way for us to "close the gap" between the co-ops and <br /> the utilities wage differences. <br /> Troy asked for commission feedback on this program. John commented on <br /> making the standards attainable yet challenging enough. He also stated that <br /> the percentages should be different. He felt that the most important would <br /> be reliability and the bottom line, and questioned appropriate reflection of the <br /> bottom line. <br />