The City of Sparks, Nevada provides Resolutions defining salaries and benefits for employees not covered by a collective bargaining agreement as defined in N.R.S. 288. The City’s Assistant, Senior, and Chief Assistant City Attorney employees are covered by the Resolution under consideration.  The titles covered here have been grouped in this Resolution due to the nature of positions, distinct from Resolutions covering other types of employees at the City of Sparks. The proposal contained herein updates the provisions for providing said salary and benefits for this group of employees for a new three-year resolution term.  Attached to this report are a strike-out version and a final version of the proposed Resolution, and a financial impact statement.

Resolution No. 3282 Assistant, Senior, and Chief Assistant City Attorneys was approved by the Council on June 9, 2015 and expired June 30, 2017. The new Resolution will cover the period July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2020.  The positions covered under this resolution are all paid from the General Fund.

Substantive changes include:

Section 1: Administration, Article C: Effective Date.   This section was changed to reflect the new Resolution period of July 1, 2017 thru June 30, 2020. Clarification language was added to better define the current practices. There is no direct cost related to this Resolution changes.

Section 2: Pay, Article A: Pay Rates

The following pay increases are contained in the Resolution:

Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA).

Effective the first full pay period following July 1, 2017, employees shall receive a cost of living adjustment (COLA) of 1.8% above the base salary rate in effect June 30, 2017.

Effective the first full pay period after July 1, 2018, a COLA will be calculated as follows:  the Consumer Price Index (CPI) will be referenced to determine the COLA amount.  The parameters for the calculation are that regardless of the CPI value, the COLA shall be no less than 1.0% and no greater than 3.0%.  The specific CPI agreed to by the parties is for the selected areas, all items index - Western Urban Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000.  This CPI is a non-seasonally adjusted, annual index and will be rounded to the nearest tenth decimal point of the value in December of 2017 (CPI Series ID: CUURX400SA0).

Effective the first full pay period after July 1, 2019, a COLA will be calculated as follows:  The parties agreed to use the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to determine the COLA amount.  The parameters for the calculation are that regardless of the CPI value, the COLA shall be no less than 1.0% and no greater than 3.0%.  The specific CPI agreed to by the parties is for the selected areas, all items index - Western Urban Size B/C - 50,000 to 1,500,000.  This CPI is a non-seasonally adjusted, annual index and will be rounded to the nearest tenth decimal point of the value in December of 2018 (CPI Series ID: CUURX400SA0).

A new Appendix A will be issued each year after the CPI has been calculated.

The FY18 COLA financial impact is an estimated $14,000 per year. The COLA estimated fiscal impacts for FY19 and FY20 are ranges given that they are dependent upon the CPI for each respective year.  The estimated fiscal impact of COLAs in FY19 will range from a minimum of $8,000 and a maximum of $23,000 per year. The estimated fiscal impact of COLAs in FY20 will range from a minimum of $8,000 and a maximum of $23,000.

Section 3: Benefits, Article A: Group Health, Life and Long-Term Disability Insurance.  In the prior Resolution, the employees hired after July 1, 2010 who enrolled qualifying dependents were responsible for payment of 50% of dependent health and life insurance premiums.  In the new Resolution, this language is removed.  Therefore, employees hired after June 1, 2010 now fall under provisions for employees hired after July 1, 2006.  These employees pay 25% of dependent life and health insurance premiums.  Currently, there are no employee’s affected, therefore, there is no fiscal impact for the next three fiscal years.   

Section 3: Benefits, Article B: Health Insurance Upon Retirement. There are three Resolution changes in this Article.   First, the schedule for sick leave conversion and sick leave cash-out changed, allowing employees to become eligible for higher percentages of their sick leave earlier in their tenure with the City of Sparks.   For the cash-out provision the estimated fiscal impact is up to $10,000.  The sick leave conversion provision does not have a financial impact in this period, but it has the potential to increase liabilities for the city up to $49,000.

Second, upon nonservice related death of an employee, a section was added that allows the employees’ estate to receive a one-time payment of the employee’s sick leave balance subject to the cash-out schedule.  There is no estimated fiscal impact of this change due to the number of employees in the Resolution and a low citywide occurrence rate.

Finally, language was added in the cash out section that allows the Financial Services Director the discretion to pay out if the remaining balance is nominally over the $15,000 or $25,000 cap.  This has no fiscal impact because this does not increase the cash value already owed to the employee.

1. The Council may choose to adopt the proposed Resolution.
2. The Council may choose not to adopt the proposed Resolution.
3. The Council may choose not to adopt the proposed Resolution and direct the City Manager toward another alternative.

I move to adopt the Assistant, Senior, and Chief Assistant City Attorneys Resolution No. 3321 for the period of July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2020.