2.2. ERMU MINUTES 12-12-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 3 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission November 13, 2012 5.2 Wade and Benefits Committee Update In October 2011 Utilities Commission formed a Wage and Benefits Committee. The Utilities Commission created the committee to be comprised of one Commissioner, John Dietz — Utilities Chair, and three Utilities managers: Troy Adams — General Manager, Theresa Slominski — Finance and Office Manager, and Mark Fuchs — Electric Superintendent. The intent for the creation was to have the committee review and analyze wage and benefits information, receive comments and questions from employees relating to wage and benefits, function as a forum for discussion, and ultimately present select wage and benefit information to the Utilities Commission for action. The Wage and Benefits Committee met on October 16`h and 30`h. The Committee determined the following items should be presented to the Utilities Commission for consideration, and an opportunity to ask questions or give direction for research to bring back items for December's meeting: Wages — Trendwise, with various other utilities it is a 3% increase for 2013, to get to the previous metro average a 7% increase, to match the co-ops it is a difference of 10%. The current budget reflects a 3% increase and the lineworkers have formally submitted a request for a 7% COLA. COLA will be talked about next month. Dental — Recommending no change and renew the current plan with the 5.5% increase Other — A performance Metrics program — implement a program where the employees are incentivized to contribute to the company's success. If the company is doing well and certain standards are met, the employees can participate in that success. It would be a way for us to "close the gap" between the co-ops and the utilities wage differences. Troy asked for commission feedback on this program. John commented on making the standards attainable yet challenging enough. He also stated that the percentages should be different. He felt that the most important would be reliability and the bottom line, and questioned appropriate reflection of the bottom line.