11/14/2019 - Meeting Minutes Minutes Meeting RECEIVED
Citizens' Compensation Advisory Committee
November 14, 2019 JAN 21 2020
Members Present: Frances Hume CITY RECORDER
Marlene Sloan
Jeff Worthington
Ray Schelble EC
Mike Terry ENV' D
Members Excused: Jeff Herring 2 : 2020
Staff Present: David Salazar, City Compensation Administrator CITY •EC
Carolyn Campbell, City Benefits Manager DER
Jami McCart, Employee Relations/EEO Manager
Jodi Langford, Acting HR Director
Guests: S. David Jackson, NFP Managing Director
Austin Dykstra, NFP Marketing &Communications Manager
Denise Hooper Valles, AFSCME Board Member
Steven Winters, SLPA
Ben Luedtke, City Council Office
A recording of these proceedings is on file and available by request from the SLC- HR Department.
Meeting Open &Welcome: Chair Frances Hume welcomed everyone and established a(full) quorum of
members was present. The meeting began with a call for public comment and receiving none (because no guests
present were present at the time). Frances welcomed Dave Jackson from NFP, who was present to make a
presentation on the city's recent benefits study.
Public Comment: None.
Review and adopt October 10, 2019 meeting minutes: This item was pushed to a future meeting date.
Unfinished business: Referring to the committee's discussion on 10/10/19 regarding the need to elect a new
committee vice-chair, Frances nominated Jeff Worthington to serve in this role. A vote in support of the motion
was unanimous by all members present.
2019 Salt Lake City benefits study, results and report: After a brief introduction and explanation of the
background reasons for the city's benefits study from Carolyn Campbell, Dave Jackson introduced himself and
Austin Dykstra,who was involved with the study. Mr. Jackson noted past work and credits include the Utah
Employee Benefits Study, which he's authored and administered for the past 12 years, as well as other ad hoc
studies and participation in major benefits industry studies such as Mercer and Price-Waterhouse.
David outlined the two-week process used to seek stakeholder input about the survey, including what questions
and comments. The final survey, which included more than 120 questions, was sent to 350 organizations who
were invited to participate. The survey sample group included other employers suggested and recommended by
staff and stakeholders. In the end, a total of 52 responses were received. NFP expressed confidence the results
of the survey, which they firmly believe are indicative of what's occurring with employee benefits throughout the
market. Mr. Jackson noted a copy of the full report would be provided to members following his presentation
Highlights of Mr. Jackson's presentation included review of the executive summary and a review of the response
data. More specifically,
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- Although the sample included employers from a broad group of industries and sectors, the majority of
respondents were public sector organizations from the western region of the United States with more than
1,000 employees.
- Out-of-state cities invited to participate were assessed and determined to be similar to Salt Lake City
based on size and type of services provided (e.g. Airport).
- The vast majority of employers, or 97%, noted they have maintained or improved benefit offerings in
response to increased expectations and demand for employee retention.
- Salt Lake City, as an employer, is in the minority for the number of medical insurance options offered by
offering a single plan (results of the survey show the majority of employers offer two or more).
- The average cost share paid by employees from competing employers is$42.24 per month versus
$21.21 for Salt Lake City employees.
- Despite a lower cost share in premiums for SLC employees, the city requires a higher out-of-pocket
deductible than most other employer plans.
- The city's practice of offering a flat dollar employer contribution to a health savings account(HSA)
matches to trend followed by approximately 62%of the organizations surveyed.
- SLC is among the minority of employers (-23%)who offer an on-site or near site clinic.
Referring members to the executive summary, additional highlights included in the report are:
- For individual plans, the city leads in everything but annual out-of-pocket maximums.
- The city's monthly long-term benefit amount, 66.66%, is better than average with the most common
answer being 60%.
- Fewer than 10%of respondents offer a childcare benefit.
- At$4,000 annually, the city tuition reimbursement program offers more than the majority of
respondents.
- Although most employers, including SLC, do not offer student loan assistance, the city offers student
loan debt consolidation.
- Salt Lake City has the third best offering for longevity pay.
- Regarding retirement benefits, the city tends to be"at market"when compared to other public sector
entities and above the total market overall. In addition, the city is better than 93% of respondents by not
requiring defined contribution matching.
- The city is better than the benchmark in contributing to post-employment Health Reimbursement
Accounts (HRA's).
- Although the city meets the benchmark for paid leave for employees with less than one year of service,
SLC falls slightly behind the benchmark for paid leave for exempt employees with 3-5 years of service,
and significantly behind for both exempt and non-exempt employees with over ten years of service.
- SLC is at the market rate for unused paid leave carryover and above average in providing employees
with "buy out" options for paid leave and holidays at 100%
- Health and wellness program offerings are at market.
- Recommended areas where the city can set itself apart include (1)offering cash hiring bonuses to new
employees, and (2)expanding its bariatric surgery benefit to cover the biliopancreatic diversion
procedure, which is less invasive and has been shown to be successful in reducing Type 2 diabetes.
Confirmed meeting dates:
- January 9 &23, 2020, 3:30-5:30 PM;
- February 6 &20, 2020, 3:30-5:30 PM;
- May 14, 2020, 4:00-5:00 PM;
- October 8, 2020, 4:00-5:00 PM..
Minutes approved at January 9, 2020 meeting.
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