HomeMy WebLinkAboutPersonnel Committee - Agenda - 11/7/2019
Bayfield County Administrator
117 E 5th Street, PO Box 878, Washburn, WI 54891
Ph: 715-373-6181 Fx: 715-373-6153
Mark Abeles-Allison, County Administrator
Kristine Kavajecz, Assistant
BAYFIELD COUNTY
PERSONNEL COMMITTEE MEETING
Brett Rondeau, Chair Tom Gordon, Vice Chair
Tom Snilsberg Dennis Pocernich Harold Maki
Dear County Board Members:
This letter is written to inform you of a Bayfield County Personnel Committee
Meeting scheduled for, Thursday, November 7, 2019 at 4:00pm, in the
Emergency Operations Center (EOC), Bayfield County Annex, Washburn, Wisconsin.
Notice is hereby given that a majority of the Bayfield County Board may be present at the meeting to gather
information about a subject over which they have decision-making responsibility. This constitutes a meeting of
the Bayfield County Board pursuant to State ex rel. Badke v.Greendale Village Bd., 173 Wis. 2d 553, 494
N.W.2d 408(1993), and must be noticed as such, although the County Board will not take any formal action at
this meeting.
AGENDA
1. Call to order
2. Public Comment
3. Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Approval of Minutes of October 3,
2019.
4. Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Health Insurance Options in 2020 and
County Personnel Policy.
a. Security Health Plan
b. State Local Deductible Health Plan, GHC Eau Claire Network as
base.
c. Health Insurance, Employee share 2020:
d. Part-Time Employee Health Insurance Policy
e. HRA Discussion; Rollover utilization / access.
f. Budget Amendment Recommendation to Executive
5. The committee may enter in and out of closed session pursuant to Wisconsin
Statutes:
a. §19.85(1)(c,e) to consider employment, promotion, compensation or
performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the
governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility: and
deliberating or negotiating the purchase of public property, vesting of public
funds or conducting other specified business whenever competitive or
bargain reasons require a closed session.
i. Approve Closed Session Minutes of October 3, 2019
ii. Teamster Negotiations
iii. Employee Wage Classifications Discussion
6. 5:00pm, Negotiations with Teamsters.
7. Discussion and Possible Action, Teamster Health HRA 2020.
8. Discussion and Possible Action Regarding wages/stipend for employees at the
11th step of the wage schedule for the second year or more.
9. Discussion and Possible Action on Human Resources Services and Staffing
Levels.
10. Reports
a) Personnel Financial
b) Staffing Update
11. Adjourn
Should you have any questions in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact my
office.
Sincerely,
Mark Abeles-Allison
Mark Abeles-Allison
Bayfield County Administrator
MAA/kak
Enc.
Any person planning to attend a Bayfield County meeting that has a disability requiring special
accommodations should contact 373-6100, 24-hours before the scheduled meeting, so
appropriate arrangements can be made.
cc: Mr. Scott Fibert, Bayfield County Clerk
Bayfield County Board of Supervisors
The Daily Press, via email
Personnel Committee Narrative, November 7, 2019
Item 4: In January of this year the Personnel Committee began discussing health insurance
issues for 2020. The most recent utilization report, issued this past month, through June of 2019
shows a 134% medical loss ratio for the prior 24 months. This averages a 145% ratio in the
current year. (Chart below)
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MATERIALS:
Included in the packet please find a variety of supporting materials including:
1. State Plan Documents
2. Health Plan Renewal options
3. Plan Design Renewal
4. Employee Monthly and Annual Premiums
5. SHP v. State Plan Scenario Comparisons
6. State Local Deductible Plan Premiums by network
7. Personnel Policy / Health Insurance / HRA
SECURITY HEALTH RENEWAL:
Security Health initially proposed a 20% increase, after further review they have lowered this to
16% for our current plan. They also provided a “Retro Refund” of 4% if our experience in 2020
was 82% or less. Security Health has also quoted a low deductible plan. While these plans are
not identical, rates are generally higher than the proposed state plan.
ALTERNATIVES
The County has investigated multiple options with the assistance of our benefit consultant, Bob
St. Arnold. Several companies did not bid on us. Others quoted higher rates. We also
considered Teamsters but were concerned about union dues for all employees and impact on the
county wage plan.
STATE PLAN LOCAL DEDUCTIBLE HEALTH PLAN, GHC EAU CLAIRE
NETWORK
Most recently we submitted our plan for consideration to the State / ETF Health plan. The State
accepted us with a 40% surcharge in year one and a 20% surcharge in year two. With rates
reverting to the State rate for our county in year three.
The State Local Deductible Plan is a two-tier (as opposed to three tier plan, E, E+1 and Family)
medical plan with a $500/$1000 deductible. The Tier 1 and 2 Rx max out of pocket is
$600/$1200, the Tier 3 max out of pocket $6850/$13,700, Tier 4 max out of pocket is
$1200/$2400. The max out of pocket is met by the copays and coinsurances.
Below please find a rate comparison for 2020: Rates are more in year 1 with the State plan
($115k additional cost for the county). Premiums will decline in both 2021 and 2022.
County Premium Comparisons, projected over three years, using current wellness plans, are
shown below. This is based on 5% adjustments annually for both plans. Deviations will impact
this. It does not include the possibility that more people will take this plan once available.
Employee Premiums Comparisons, projected over three years, using current wellness plans, are
shown below:
Health insurance Employee Share 2020:
The State plan provides for an employee share of no less than 12% of the premium amount. In
2019 Personnel adopted provisions for a 5% reduction in premiums for wellness participation
and a 1% discount for Outcomes in 2020. This sets employee contributions levels at: 18% for
non-Wellness participants, 13% for Wellness participants and 12% for Wellness plus Outcome
participants as follows:
i. 18% share for Non-Wellness participant
ii. 13% share for Wellness participants. A maximum of 5%
discount (5% for single Participation and 2.5%
employee/2.5% spouse participation)
iii. 12% share for Outcomes Participants (.5% employee/.5%
spouse discounts).
Part Time Policy and Health Insurance:
Our current personnel policy / state / federal law allows employees to join the county health plan
once they reach 30 hours per week (Personnel Policy 3.13.1). The State Plan allows employees
to join the plan if they are eligible for State Retirement/WRS (1200 hours a year / approximately
23 hours per week). We would like to modify our existing policy in several ways to address this
change:
Effective January 1, 2020, Health Insurance Coverage for all employees except
Teamsters will be offered to employees eligible to receive WRS retirement benefits.
Part-Time Employees eligible for the State Health Insurance Plan, but not working 30
hours per week shall pay 75% of the Health Insurance Premium with the County paying
25%.
Health Insurance Coverage for Teamsters will be offered to regular part-time employees
hired to work an average of 30 hours per week or more.
Access to HRA carryover will be subject to Personnel Committee actions for employees
on the State Health Insurance Plan. No new contributions will be made for employees on
the State Health Insurance Plan beginning January 1, 2020.
The HRA section of the County Personnel manual will be revised to reflect these and
related plan changes.
HRA Discussion Rollover
Under the current policy employees must be vested with five years of county service
prior to having access to the HRA rollover upon retirement. This will not change.
Employees, including those who are not vested are allowed to access HRA rollover funds
as decided by the Personnel Committee. In 2020 Personnel has allowed for $2000 in
rollover funds to be used for vision/dental expenses.
Budget Amendment Recommendation to Executive Committee:
The estimated additional county expense for year one is $115,000. A budget amendment
will be required in 2020. Funds could be taken from the Health Insurance Reserve Fund.
Other Factors to Consider:
Retirees: right now billing is direct between the company and the retiree. With the State
Plan it is through the County.
Eligibility of Part Timers: The State plan allows those working less than 30 hours our
current plan does not allow this.
Teamsters could join the State plan for up to three years before a new underwriting is
required.
The max out of pocket for Tier 3 and durable medical is above what our current plan is.
We have discussed several options including a county contingency fund, or a very limited
HRA with no rollover, only to be used in situations where the max out of pocket is over
$3425 for single / $6850 for family. These amounts are 50% of the max amounts, these
are above our current max out of pocket amounts, and imply a potential county liability.
Recommendation:
After extensive review I recommend we proceed with the State Health plan in 2020 for all
employees except the Teamsters. I also recommend the above policy modifications. If approved
in concept we would have formal personnel manual language at the next meeting.
Items 5-6: Negotiations with Teamsters: Closed session notes on the negotiations are in the
Personnel Committee Dropbox.
Item 7. Teamster Health HRA in 2020:
At the last meeting we discussed Teamster HRA amounts.
The current Teamster Deductibles are: $500 Single / $1500 family
Max Out of Pocket for Medical is: $2,500 / $5,000
Max out of pocket Med/Rx is: $6,000 / $13,500
We currently have one HRA amount for single / family, this amount is $5350. Employees are
responsible for the first $500 before they can use the HRA.
We discussed lowering the single HRA amount to reflect the lower deductible and out of pocket
for a single. Half of $5350 is: $2675.
Item 8: Annually we set stipend adjustments based on the CPI for employees at the 11th step.
Last year we used the CPI rate. In 2020 the state CPI is 2.07%. This is the amount included in
the 2020 budget.
Item 9. At the last meeting the Personnel Committee requested a proposal for modifications to
the Human Resources Office and position. We will have a presentation at the meeting.
Minutes of the
Bayfield County Personnel Committee Meeting
4:00 PM, October 3, 2019
Emergency Operations Center (EOC), Bayfield County Annex, Washburn, WI
Members Present: Dennis Pocernich, Brett Rondeau, Tom Snilsberg, Tom Gordon, Harold
Maki
Members Excused:
Others Present: County Administrator Mark Abeles-Allison, Kristine Kavajecz-Assistant,
Dalton Collins, Martin Skaj, Kim Mattson, Gail Reha, Nikki Revak
Meeting called to order at 4:00pm by Chairman Rondeau
Public Comment: Dalton Collins provided a handout for committee members and addressed the
committee regarding Teamster HRA contributions for 2020.
Martin Skaj addressed the committee regarding the Teamster HRA contributions for 2020. Skaj
also suggested that the county consider converting all employees to the Teamster Health Plan.
Motion Gordon, Snilsberg to approve minutes of the September 5, 2019 Personnel Committee
meeting. Motion Carried (5-0). .
NOVUS Agreement/Commitment: Abeles-Allison reported that the NOVUS system is a 5-
county software program for the tax system. The current software manager is retiring as of the
end of 2019. The proposal is to have Dag Bystrom, current FT Bayfield County employee, serve
as a half-time NOVUS manager, paid by the 5 counties. In addition, the current PT staff person
in IT would be increase to full-time to fill in the additional half time that Bystrom would not be
working directly for Bayfield County. Bystrom has requested an agreement that would ensure
that his employment with Bayfield County would continue even if the NOVUS software were
replaced in the future.
Motion Gordon, Maki to enter into an agreement with Bystrom that in the event that the NOVUS
collaboration were to cease, Bystrom would be retained as a full-time Bayfield County employee.
Motion Carried (5-0)
Health Insurance and HRA plans for 2020: Abeles-Allison reported that a lot of work has
been put into looking into health insurance options. Security Health is proposing a 20% rate
increase for our current plan. Utilization of the insurance has been significant, reflecting a 145%
utilization over the past 12 months or 134% over the past 24 months.
There are currently 2 health insurance groups: Security Health Plan and Teamster Health Plan.
A group of employees has met twice to discuss the current Security Health Plan health insurance
situation and options. The state health insurance plan is being investigated for participation.
The current HRA allows $2400 for single and $4800 family for the Security Health Plan. The
current HRA for Teamsters allows for $5350 per employee. Abeles-Allison reported that the
HRA was implemented many years ago when the High Deductible Health Plan was implemented
to offset the costs for employees. Teamster HRA may be used for any eligible medical, dental,
vision expenses. The General Employee HRA may be used for deductible expenses.
Cost of Living Adjustments: Employers are all facing recruitment and retention challenges.
Statistics from a regional wage survey were reviewed. Abeles-Allison explained that Bayfield
County has authorized a structural was scale indexing for most employees at .5% each year for
the past several years, whereas most employers have been indexing their schedules by an average
of 1.5-2%. This is resulting in Bayfield County’s wages not remaining as competitive as they
have in the past. He reported that a 1% wage scale adjustment would equate to approximately
$80,000. The total of 1.5% structural increase is recommended by the County Administrator for
2020. Monies were included in the 2020 draft budget within contingency for this purpose. The
budget has not yet been finalized.
Motion Pocernich, Gordon to adjust the non-represented employee wage scale by 1.5% total for
the 2020 budget. Motion Carried (5-0).
Reports
a) Personnel Financial: Report reflects about a 3% increase in payroll expenses over the
previous year.
b) Staffing Update: Review of recent hires. Brief discussion was also held regarding
looking into hiring a dedicated Human Resources Staff Person. The consensus of the
committee is to research this topic.
Motion Snilsberg, Maki to enter closed session. The committee may enter in and out of closed
session pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes:
a. §19.85(1)(c) to consider employment, promotion, compensation or performance
evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has
jurisdiction or exercises responsibility:
i. Approve Closed Session Minutes of August 1, 2019
ii. Update on recent disciplinary actions
iii. Review recent exit interviews.
Motion Carried (5-0). Entered closed session at 5:04pm.
Motion Gordon, Maki to return to open session. Motion Carried.
Meeting adjourned at 5:15 pm.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Kristine Kavajecz