10-08-2013 ERMU MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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There were very few adjustments to the schedule from 2013 to 2014. John Dietz asked a few questions, staff responded. Daryl Thompson made a motion to approve the 2014 Fee Schedule. John Dietz seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0. 5.4 Wage & Benefits Committee Update: Health & Dental Insurance At the September Commission meeting, staff updated the commission that our health insurance received a 22%renewal rate for 2014. The Wage and Benefits Committee met to review the health insurance options. Six different alternative plans were reviewed and discussed in addition to the current plan. The Committee recommended that ERMU offer two plans and allow the employees to choose which to participate in. The Committee selected the best of the alternative plans to present to employees along with our current plan. Theresa Slominski explained the alternative plan, which is an HSA plan that is 100%coverage after meeting the deductibles of single $1,250 and family$2,500. The Committee recommends ERMU helping fund the HSA accounts for a determined amount of time. ERMU would contribute the difference between the HSA premium and the current plan premium to each employee's HSA account. John Dietz suggested contributing the premium savings for at least two years. After the two years, the contribution would be reevaluated. Troy Adams suggested contributing at least the same dollar amount in 2015 that will be contributed in 2014. John Dietz agreed. Currently ERMU is contributing 80% of the insurance premium while employees pay the remaining 20%. Daryl Thompson said that ERMU cannot afford to absorb all of the 22% renewal increase so he would like to switch from 80%/20%to 75%/25%. John Dietz agreed. Theresa Slominski also reviewed the dental insurance increase. ERMU had a 5.9% increase; however this is only approximately $2,000 in premium dollars. The Commission said that ERMU will cover their portion of the increase in the 75%premium contribution and the employee would cover their own portion of the increase with the 25% premium contribution. John Dietz made a motion to adopt an insurance plan that offers our current plan at 75%/25% contribution and the HSA plan at 75%/25% as an alternative. ERMU will contribute the premium savings to the HSA accounts for a minimum of 2 years and at a minimum of the 2014 levels. ERMU's contribution will be put into the accounts in January 2014 and 2015. Daryl Thompson seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0. 5.5 2014 Budget: Water and Electric Expenses Theresa Slominski presented the water and electric budget expenses. The revenue side of the budget will come in November when power costs are determined. Theresa Slominski outlined some of the larger changes for the budget. In the Administration budget, staff budgeted for half the costs of an IT person as the other half will be funded by the City of Elk River. This person will be a City of Elk River employee, but will have more time dedicated for ERMU needs. Two other large Administration budget items are the purchase of new billing software, Page 3 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission October 8,2013