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J, <br />Elk River <br />Municipal Utilities <br />13069 Orono Parkway • P.O. Box 430 <br />Elk River, MN 55330-0430 <br />July 29, 2009 <br />To: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission <br />John Dietz <br />Jerry Gumphrey <br />Daryl Thompson <br />From: Troy Adams <br />Subject: Review and Consider Education Assistance Policy Revisions <br />53 <br />Phone: 763.441.2020 <br />Fax: 763.441.8099 <br />In a rapidly evolving industry with practices and technology becoming ever more complicated, <br />encouraging continuing education through a program such as Elk River Municipal Utilities' <br />Education Assistance Policy is mutually beneficial to the employee and employer. This policy <br />allows for employees to continue growing with technology providing the necessary skills useful <br />to the Utilities to provide safe and reliable services at competitive costs. <br />Recently there has been some staff interest in continuing education and utilizing the Elk River <br />Municipal Utilities' Education Assistance Policy. For your reference, the existing policy is <br />attached. This policy was passed by the Utility Commission in 1996 providing 100% <br />reimbursement capped at $2,000 annually. In comparison, the City's Employee <br />Development/Tuition Reimbursement policy provides for 75% reimbursement capped at $3,000 <br />annually. This policy is also attached for your reference. <br />Encouraging employees to continue learning skills which directly improve their value to the <br />company is a cost effective method for the company to stay current in industry trends. It is <br />unfortunate, however, that historically few Utilities' employees have capitalized on this benefit. <br />Over the past 8 years, this program only resulted in the reimbursement of approximately $4,300 <br />(see attached breakdown). To further encourage employees to participate in this program, staff <br />recommends updating this policy for the current economic environment. Staff recommends <br />updating the policy to continue to provide 100% reimbursement but increase the annual cap at <br />$3,000 (see attached updated Education Assistance Policy). <br />