Coral Gables Watch

Letter about Police Communications: Just Wondering?

September 9, 2010 Leave a comment

I take note of the letter currently in the Coral Gables Gazette about the staffing, overtime costs and overtime demands in the Communications Department. The full letter can be found in the Coral Gables Gazette. The following are some relevant extracts from the letter.

In January of 1999 the City built a beautiful communications center on the 4th floor of the police department. At the time of the move there were 21 communication operators. The staffing requirement at that time was 30 operators 10 per shift. The move to the new center was done with 9 operators less than what we needed. The operators were informed that 12 hour shifts were necessary for about a month due to the transitional period from going from a card system to completely being computerized.

In January of 2000, a few operators were hired and the mandatory 12 hour days were reduced to a mandatory 8 hours a week in overtime. As the trainees came out of training the mandatory overtime went down to 4 hours a week and eventually the mandatory overtime was no longer required to run the center. Presently overtime is still necessary for staffing purposes as we are still not completely staffed due to some of the new hires quitting or not successfully completing the training process….

…At this time the department is still not fully staffed and we are still working overtime on a volunteer basis…

Regardless of what the City Manager has said, there have been measures put in place to decrease the overtime cost in the communications section. This includes a reduction in minimum staffing, reducing the amount of compensatory leave you can earn a month and revamping the training program. Based on the move and upgrade, to the new Communications Center, this situation was imposed in order to fully staff the center and provide the residents with the exceptional service they have always been use to…

I don’t completely understand the arguments (nor do I know what information was presented at the referenced Impasse Hearing). But I have looked at the current and recent past budgets.

Exclusive of overtime pay, the average operator costs the city about $79,000 annually, including an average salary of $47,974 and benefits of $31,183.
The number of communications operators positions has remained steady at 32 from 2006 and then 33 to the present.
The city manager’s budget has cut overtime to total of $330,000 compared to a budgeted amount of $560,000 in 2007.
This looks like good management to me given the city’s financial situation. Also, it would seem that the city is doing its best to keep the communications unit fully staffed although one always has people coming and going for different reasons.

Filed under Finance, Government, Organization

Don’t Tighten Economic Policies Too Soon

September 9, 2010 Leave a comment

There are many articles about the threat of a double-dip recession and the danger to react with the wrong policies now. The example of Japan’s lost-15 years is mentioned by the author of the FT article and highlights that the government and monetary authorities were too slow to react to sluggish growth and underestimated the effort that was needed to overcome many years of off-and-on growth.

There are three dangers right now that could hurt the world economy–1) the European debt crisis; 2) countries effecting fiscal and monetary restrictions too soon; and 3) slow growth across many countries increase unemployment.

Conclusion: monetary and fiscal authorities should not be too quick to deal with fiscal (deficit) and monetary growth (potential inflation) concerns until growth is re-established.

via FT.com / Markets / Insight – Japanese lessons on ill-timed fiscal tightening.

Filed under Coral Gables, Economy, International

An Excellent Overview of “…Funding of State and Local Pensions: 2009-2013”: Challenges for Coral Gables and Other Local Governments

September 8, 2010 Leave a comment

This conclusions are highly relevant to Coral Gables budget policies, namely, we are facing a good three or four years of adjustment. I would say that taxpayers cannot make up the difference.

The…key findings are:

State and local [pension] plans, which were headed toward full funding, were knocked off track by the financial crisis.

Their funding ratio dropped to an estimated 78 percent in 2009 from 84 percent in 2008.

Funding will likely continue to decline to 72 percent by 2013.

Reversing this decline will be difficult, as plans face constraints in increasing revenues from either employee contributions or taxes.

via Center for State and Local Government Excellence — Issue Brief: The Funding of State and Local Pensions: 2009-2013.

See this and other interesting reports on local and state funding issues at the Center for State and Local Government Excellence.

Filed under Budget, Finance, Pensions

Connecticut Unfunded Liability Reduction Plan: Ideas for Coral Gables

September 8, 2010 Leave a comment

Other governments are facing the same issue of unfunded liabilities for pension and health benefits. The following is a proposal from the Governor of Connecticut to face a large unfunded liability of $34 billion.

Very important to note that not only does the pension fund have unfunded liabilities, but the unfunded health benefits are also larger in Connecticut.

In some regard these changes seem tougher than the changes that are being explored with the unions by the City of Coral Gables.

The proposals include establishing a defined contribution plan for new employees, capping pension salaries at $100,000, increasing the normal retirement age to 65 and the early retirement to 60, and hiking the early retirement penalty.

The plan includes

Under a recent state union agreement, current employees with less than five years of service and all new employees must contribute 3% of their earnings to help pay for retiree health benefits. Previously, there was no contribution from active employees to fund retirees’ health plans. [Does this remind you of Coral Gables.]

Establishing a rule that there would be no cost of living adjustment (COLA) in years where there are negative investment earnings.

Moving final average salary computation from three years to five years for pension purposes.

Reducing the timeframe for buying back military and other service.

Reducing the anti-spiking provision from 30% to 18% over the previous two years’ earnings.

The governor called for changes in the “Rule of 75” to a “Rule of 80” for retiree health insurance and increasing the premium share for every five years of service below 25…

[The Governor] also wants to increase the premium share for retiree health insurance to active rates for the former employee and a higher amount for dependents and wants to reduce long-term health cost trends through service delivery changes such as higher co-pays for emergency room and specialist visits…

“…The problem in Connecticut has accumulated over decades, to the point where we have about $25 billion in unfunded liabilities for retiree health benefits and about $9 billion for retiree pensions.”

via PLANSPONSOR.com – Rell Puts Forward Benefit Unfunded Liability Reduction Plan.