The City of Sparks, Nevada provide resolutions defining salaries and benefits for employees not covered by a collective bargaining agreement as defined in N.R.S. 288. The City’s Management, Professional, and Technical 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. 3241 Management, Professional, and Technical 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.

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.  There is no direct cost related to these 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 estimated for the General Gund at $64,000 per year and for other funds at $66,000 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 in FY19 to the General Fund will range from a minimum of $36,000 to a maximum of $108,000. In all other funds for FY19, the estimated cost will range from $37,000-$113,000.  The estimated fiscal impact in FY20 to the General Fund will range from a minimum of $37,000 to a maximum of $111,000 and to other funds $38,000 to $116,000.

Section 3: Benefits, Article A: Group Health, Life and Long-Term Disability Insurance.  In the prior Resolution, 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.  This Resolution change will have an estimated financial impact of $22,000 to the general fund to $23,000 to all other funds per year. 

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 sick leave conversion, there is a potential liability increase to the General Fund up to $394,000 and for all other funds up to $266,000 over the Resolution term.  For sick leave cash-out, the General Fund estimated fiscal impact is up to $62,000 and for other funds up to $23,000 over the next three fiscal years.   

Second, upon nonservice related death of an employee, a section was added that allows the employee’s estate to receive a one-time payment of the employee’s sick leave balance subject to the cash-out schedule.  The estimated fiscal impact is $25,000 to the General Fund over the resolution term.

Finally, language was added in the cash-out section that allows the Financial Services Director the discretion to pay out the remaining balance if it 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.

Section 4: Leave Benefits, Article I: Personal Leave.  The Resolution was updated to make it clear how to add Personal Leave days, particularly for personnel changes occurring mid-year.  There is no associated financial impact because this codifies current payroll practice.

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 Mid-Management, Professional and Technical Resolution No. 3322 for the period of July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2020.