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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-12-21 - City Commission Special Meeting MinutesI ti of rgM9� U (� 7525 NORTHWEST 88TH AVENUE 0 TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33321-2401 TELEPHONE (305) 722-5900 SPECIAL MEETING CITY COUNCIL OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA There will be a Special Meeting of the City Council on Wednesday, December 21, 1988 at 10:00 A.M., in Conference Room -v 1 ( Room 103), City Clerk's Office, City Hall, 7525 N.W. 88th Avenue, Tamarac, Florida. The purpose of this meeting is discussion and possible action on: PUBLIC HEARING — MOTION J0ApP` Teimo, Ord. 1v1415 on send reading amending Article 1 of Chapter 19 of the Cade of Ordinances of the City of Tamarac pertaining to the City's Pension Plan. FINAL ACTION: ORDINANCE NO. 0-88-40 PASSED. APPROVED as amended on second reading. Public hearing was held. The Council may consider and act upon such other business as may come before it. All meetings are open to the public. Pursuant to Section 286.0105, Morida Statutes If a person decides to appeal any decision made by the city Council with respect to any matter considered at such meeting or hearing, he will need a record of the proceedings and for such Purpose, he may need to ensure that a verbatim record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based CAE/gt Carol A. Evans City Clerk AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER POLICY OF NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAPPED STATUS CITY OF TAMARAC CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1988 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Abramowitz called this meeting to Order on Wednesday, December 21, 1988 at 10:00 A.M. in Conference Room #1 (City Clerk's Office). PRESENT: ALSO PRESENT: Mayor Norman Abramowitz Vice Mayor Jack Stelzer Councilman Dr. H. Larry Bender Councilman Bruce Hoffman Councilman Henry Rohr John P. Kelly, City Manager Richard Doody, City Attorney Robert Sugarman, Pension Board Attorney Patricia Marcurio, Office Manager City Clerk's Office Pauline Walaszek, Special Services Secretary PUBLIC HEARING - MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Ord. #1415 FE on second reading amending Article 1 of Chapter 19 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Tamarac pertaining to the City's Pension Plan. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: ORDINANCE NO. 0-88-40 - PASSED PUBLIC HEARING was held. APPROVED with Amendments on second reading. City Attorney Doody read Temp. Ord. #1415 by title. Mayor Abramowitz asked if there were any Amendments to the Ordinance. Robert Sugarman, Attorney for the Pension Board, said there were two Amendments to the Ordinance since the first reading. He said Marvin Clayton, from the Department of Insurance in Tallahassee, requested the Amendments to the Ordinance. Attorney Sugarman said the first change was on Page 22, "Continuing Review". He said the Ordinance indicated a provision which gave the Pension Board the right to require that all disability participants submit copies of their.Federal Income Tax Return on an annual basis so that the Pension Board could be sure that the participants were not working; however, Marvin Clayton indicated that the State Statutes did not permit this procedure for Police Officers and Firefighters; therefore, an Amendment was made making the requirement for General Employees only. Mayor Abramowitz asked if Attorney Sugarman agreed with Marvin Clayton's Amendments and Attorney Sugarman said he did not agree with the majority of the Amendments; however, Tallahassee was holding $200,000.00 from the City and it was better to make the Amendments rather than fight about them. Mayor Abramowitz suggested that Attorney Sugarman pursue this matter after the money was released. Page 1 12/21/88 Attorney Sugarman said he and the City Attorney would be reviewing the Amendments to see how the disability claims for Police Officers and Firefighters could be monitored. C/M Hoffman asked if Marvin Clayton referred to a specific Section in the Statutes for the Amendments and Attorney Sugarman said there are two provisions in the State Statutes. He said the first provision indicated that if Police Officers and Firefighters could not permanently and effectively perform their duties as a Police Officer or Firefighter, they were considered disabled and they were entitled to a Pension. Attorney Sugarman said the second provision indicated that the Police Officers' and Firefighters' medical status could be reviewed annually. He said Marvin Clayton indicated that the State Statutes provided that Police Officerd and Firefighters"had to prove they were medically unfit and could not do the job of a Police Officer or Firefighter and the Statutes did not indicate that a Tax Return had to be submitted. He said Marvin Clayton indicated that the Pension Board could not require Police Officers and Firefighters to submit a Tax Return annually. Mayor Abramowitz said he wanted the City Manager to make the determination as to whether a Police Officer or Firefighter could be placed in a light duty position as opposed to the Department Heads making the decision. City Manager Kelly said he understood this request and the City Council AGREED with Mayor Abramowitz's request. Attorney Sugarman said the second Amendment was on Page 24. He said the Pension Board was requiring that disability applicants apply for Workers' Compensation, Social Security and Long Term Disability Benefits and that General Employees with a non --service connected disability search for work. He said if these requirements were not complied with the Pension Board could stop the Pension payments on General Employees and reduce the Pension for Police Officers or Firefighters to 25% or 42%, which is the State minimum. Attorney Sugarman said Marvin Clayton wanted the Firefighters and Police Officers to have the choice between a 25% or 42% Pension or their accrued Benefit, whichever is higher. He said accrued Benefits were what the employees already had; therefore, this Amendment would not be a cost to the Pension Fund because the employee would be receiving what he would if he were to retire normally. C/M Bender asked which paragraph on Page 24 was being Amended and Attorney Sugarman said Paragraph C, 1 and 2. Attorney Sugarman said the words, "or his accrued Benefit, whichever is higher.", were added. Attorney Sugarman said he sent a letter to Marvin Clayton regarding the Ordinance being approved on first reading. He said he contacted Marvin Clayton by telephone and Marvin Clayton indicated that if there were any problems with the Ordinance the Pension Board would be contacted. He said Marvin Clayton has not replied with any Amendments. Page 2 1 1 n 12/21/88 Mayor Abramowitz said at the first reading discussion took place regarding a Report submitted by Martin E. Siegal Company. He said he hoped that the matters in the Report were corrected by the Pension Board. He said he would like the City Council, City Manager and City Attorney informed of any changes made by the Pension Board. C/M Hoffman said a written report should be submitted by the Pension Board. City Manager Kelly said the City and the Pension Board should communicate with the Department of Insurance regarding the position the City and Pension Board were placed in when they were required to make the Amendments before getting the State money. Mayor Abramowitz said once the money was released to the City, the matter should be brought to the attention of the Department of Insurance. Mayor Abramowitz said during the first reading the City Council expressed their concerns regarding Martin E. Siegal-CompanyIs Report. He said he was very much aware of how the Trustees of the Pension Board work in keeping the Pension Fund operating. He said he addressed his concerns to Attorney Sugarman because Attorney Sugarman was the expert and the Pension Board looked to him for guidance. Attorney Sugarman said the Pension Board recently turned over their first series of files to the Claims Adjusters for review. He said as soon as the review was complete, the City Council would be given a copy of the Report. V/M Stelzer said during the first reading Mayor Abramowitz stated that there were several employees who contacted him regarding the Pension Fund going bankrupt. He said whoever informed the Mayor of this was incorrect. Mayor Abramowitz said he did not believe he made this statement and V/M Stelzer said the statement was made at the beginning of the meeting. V/M Stelzer said he would like to explain why the Pension Fund was not going bankrupt. Mayor Abramowitz said at the first reading he stated that several employees came to him indicating that they were concerned that the Pension Fund would go bankrupt. He said if he made the statement referred to by V/M Stelzer, he was incorrect. He said he would like to listen to the Tapes of that meeting to hear whether he made this statement. V/M Stelzer said the Pension Fund paid out $134,000.00 for Disability Claims last year ending September 30, 1988. He said the Pension Fund received $202,000.00 from the State's Department of Insurance to take care of the claims. He said the Pension Fund presently had 7.5 million dollars in the Fund and 1.5 million dollars was anticipated for this year. V/M Stelzer said the money received from the State was used for each and every Disability Claim. He said he wanted to avoid the newspapers reporting that the Mayor saved the Pension Fund from bankruptcy. Page 3 12/21/88 M Mayor Abramowitz asked if V/M Stelzer wanted the newspapers to report that the Vice Mayor saved the Pension Fund from bankruptcy. V/M Stelzer said he did not save the Pension Fund from bankruptcy. He said there has never been a danger of the Pension Fund becoming bankrupt. He said there were problems; however, the problems have been corrected within a matter of two months. Mayor Abramowitz asked if Martin E. Siegal Company's Report indicated that the problems were resolved and V/M Stelzer said the Report indicated what changes were needed and the Pension Board implemented several suggestions such as the applicants applying for the Offset Benefits. C/M Bender said a firm was hired by the Pension Board to review all disability applicants and do an annual review of the disability recipients. He said the Pension Fund should operate smoothly in the future. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the problems were corrected before Marvin E.Siegal Company submitted the Report and V/M Stelzer said the Pension Board was aware of the problems; however, the expertise was not available. V/M Stelzer said Martin E. Segal Company informed the Pension Board of what needed to be done. Mayor Abramowitz said Martin E.Si.egal Company should have reported on matters 6 months ago and V/M Stelzer said the Pension Board did not have these problems 6 months ago. V/M Stelzer said the problems started when the Police Officers and Firefighters started applying for Disability Pensions, at which time the Pension Board hired Martin E. Siegal Company to report on what could be done. Mayor Abramowitz said it was not his intent to blame anyone on the Pension Board. He said after reading the Report from Martin E. SiegalCompany the City Council wanted the problems corrected. He said he would apologize to V/M Stelzer if the statement he referred to was made; however, if the statement was not made, he would expect an apology from V/M Stelzer. V/M Stelzer said he would apologize if he was incorrect. He said the City Council had nothing to do with correcting the problems in the Pension Fund and Mayor Abramowitz said it was the Pension Board's responsibility to correct the problems and see that the Pension Fund ran properly. V/M Stelzer said the Pension Board corrected the problems not the City Council and Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council had nothing to do with the Pension Fund; however, if the Pension Board found themselves in trouble financially, the City would be responsible to see that the problems were corrected. V/M Stelzer said the Pension Board recognized the problems with the Pension Fund and saw that the problems were corrected and Mayor Abramowitz asked why these problems were not recognized a year ago. V/M Stelzer said the problems did not exist until recently. 1 1 1 Page 4 12/21/88 C/M Hoffman asked why the problems suddenly occurred and V/M Stelzer said the problems suddenly occurred because the Police Officers could make more money retiring on disability than working. Mayor Abramowitz asked if this was the fault of the Pension Plan and V/M Stelzer said this was why the Pension Board was finding a solution. V/M Stelzer said the problems could not be corrected overnight. Mayor Abramowitz asked if V/M Stelzer informed the City Manager of the problems when they started occurring and V/M Stelzer said the Pension Board consulted their Attorney. V/M Stelzer said the City Manager had nothing to do with the matter. Mayor Abramowitz said he was concerned when the Pension Board confronted the Police and fire Chiefs on the matter. V/M Stelzer said the Pension Board's Attorney counseled the Board on the problems and Mayor Abramowitz said the decision regarding the positions in the City was the City Manager's responsibility. V/M Stelzer asked if the Police or Fire Chiefs were the Heads of their Departments and Mayor Abramowitz said the City Manager was the Administrator of the City. V/M Stelzer asked if it was proper for the City Manager to override the Department Heads regarding positions in their departments that were not available. Mayor Abramowitz said this matter was the City Manager's responsibility not the Pension Board or the Department Heads. He said if the City Manager wanted to bring the matter before the City Council for approval, he could do so. * C/M Bender MOVED to APPROVE Temp. Ord. #1415 as Amended * on second reading, SECONDED by CM Rohr. Mayor Abramowitz Opened and Closed the Public Hearing with no response. L1141 M With no further business, meeting at 10:30 A.M. CAROL A. VANS, CITY CLERK ALL VOTED AYE Mayor Abramowitz ADJOURNED this_ - N RMAN ABRAMOWITZ, MAYOR "This public document was promulgated at a cost of 151.50 or 17.14 per copy to inform the general public, public officers and employees of recent opinions and considerations of the City Council of the City of Tamarac." CIT Y OF TAMARAC R�'I' UVED AT MEETING OF City Clerk Page 5