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--AI HILLS
Approved: December 11, 2017
CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA
CONTINUED NOVEMBER 13,2017, CITY COUNCIL MEETING
NOVEMBER 20,2017
7:00 P.M. -ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CALL TO ORDE WROLL CALL
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor David Grant called to order the continued
City Council meeting at 7:00 p.m.
Present: Mayor David Grant, Councilmembers Brenda Holden, Fran Holmes (via
telephone), Dave McClung and Steve Scott
Absent: None
Also present: City Administrator Bill Joynes; Public Works Director/City Engineer Sue
Polka; Interim Director of Finance and Administrative Services Dave Perrault; City
Attorney Joel Jamnik; and City Clerk Julie Hanson
Mayor Grant recessed the November 13, 2017, City Council meeting at 8:14 p.m. on November
13, 2017.
Mayor Grant reconvened the November 13, 2017, City Council meeting at 7:00 p.m. on
November 20, 2017.
1. NEW BUSINESS (continued from 11/13/17)
A. Health Insurance Benefits
Interim Director of Finance and Administrative Services Perrault stated this item was
continued from the November 13, 2017, City Council meeting. He reviewed the number of
employees that could opt out and described how the City would be impacted if the insured pool
were to decrease. He provided the Council with answers to the questions raised at the previous
meeting.
Councilmember McClung commented that Arden Hills was a small City and expenses would be
spread over a small number no matter how many employees opted in or out.
ARDEN HILLS CONTINUED CITY COUNCIL—NOVEMBER 20, 2017 2
Councilmember Holden recommended that Attachment A (Compensation Benefit and
Comparison) not be viewed as a separate document. She supported dental insurance being offered
to all employees (families and single) at an 80/20 split.
Councilmember Holmes asked if the City was trying to create more equity between employees
that select family versus single coverage.
Interim Director of Finance and Administrative Services Perrault commented on the amounts
that are being paid out of pocket for family coverage.
Councilmember Holmes questioned if the 12 employees that were provided health coverage
were selecting family or single coverage.
Interim Director of Finance and Administrative Services Perrault explained ten employees
had single and two employees had family coverage.
Councilmember Holmes asked what the holdup was for the employee health insurance benefits.
Councilmember Holden stated she did not support an increase to health benefits of over$22,600.
Councilmember McClung questioned what level of increase the Council could support.
Mayor Grant stated he would like to pull back some in 2018. He did not want to make the
benefit package so lucrative so as to negatively affect any changes made in future years. He
indicated benefits packages were reviewed on an annual basis and changes could be made again
next fall for 2019. He supported employees being allowed to opt out but recommended that the
opt out amount the City contributes to the employee be $250. He questioned how the Council felt
about the opt out option.
Councilmember Holden commented on the expense to the City for those employees that elect to
opt out.
Further discussion ensued regarding the benefits employees are receiving along with the expense
to the City.
Mayor Grant asked if the Council supported the opt out plan.
Councilmember Holden stated she would support the opt out portion of the plan at $250.
Councilmember Holmes did not support the Council making a change to the plan.
Councilmember Scott supported the opt out option.
Councilmember McClung supported the Council further educating themselves regarding this
matter. He stated he was uncertain of the pros and cons of the opt out option. He asked if all
cities were still paying 100% for single coverage.
ARDEN HILLS CONTINUED CITY COUNCIL—NOVEMBER 20, 2017 3
Interim Director of Finance and Administrative Services Perrault reported this was the case
for the cities he researched. He noted Arden Hills was the lowest ranked city for its health savings
contribution. He encouraged the Council to consider what was reasonable for employees to pay
for their insurance plan.
City Administrator Joynes stated he would like to limit the impact to employees with the
understanding rates have gone up.
Councilmember Holmes believed the Council would be foolish to make a decision without
having full information. She questioned why the City was proposing to provide free healthcare to
its single employees when this was not done anywhere else in the private sector.
Interim Director of Finance and Administrative Services Perrault discussed several options
available to the Council for family coverage and suggested 80% with a $2,000 HSA contribution
be considered.
Councilmember Holden commented on how the employees threatened to quit when the HSA
contribution was reduced from $3,000 to $1,650.
Mayor Grant discussed the coverage he received in the private sector.
Interim Director of Finance and Administrative Services Perrault indicated this was a
different market than the private sector.
Councilmember Scott stated he could support the coverage at 80% with a $2,000 HSA
contribution as proposed by staff.
Mayor Grant indicated he could not go above $1,650 for the HSA contribution for 2018.
Councilmember Holden commented she could not support a $22,600 increase for health
benefits. She asked if the $1,650 would be applied to single employees.
Mayor Grant stated he was proposing an HSA contribution of$1,650 for all employees, whether
they have single or family coverage. He questioned what the financial impact of this adjustment
would be.
Interim Director of Finance and Administrative Services Perrault estimated this would be an
increase in benefits that would equate to $18,000 for the year.
Councilmember Holmes stated she supported the benefits package remaining the same, both for
the HSA and the premium contribution. She did not believe it would benefit the City to increase
the HSA contribution in 2018 if it could be impacted again in 2019.
City Administrator Joynes reported the recommendation from staff was to make the City
competitive in the labor market. He stated the basis was for the City to have high quality
employees when moving forward with TCAAP and insurance was a major factor. He feared how
the City would be impacted if it did not start offering better insurance packages to its employees.
ARDEN HILLS CONTINUED CITY COUNCIL—NOVEMBER 20, 2017 4
Councilmember Holmes thanked staff for this helpful comment.
Councilmember Scott indicated he still supported the 80/20 with a $2,000 HSA contribution.
Councilmember Holden stated she believed all employees should pay something for their health
insurance. She explained she could support the 80/20 split with a$1,650 HSA contribution.
Councilmember Holmes agreed it was a poor policy to provide 100%coverage to singles.
Councilmember McClung explained he could support the 80/20 split with a $1,650 HSA
contribution for all employees.
Mayor Grant supported this recommendation as well and looked forward to evaluating the health
insurance plans in further detail for 2019.
Interim Director of Finance and Administrative Services Perrault thanked the Council for
their input and noted this item would be coming before the Council for final approval on
December 11, 2017.
2. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
None.
3. COUNCIL COMMENTS
None.
ADJOURN
MOTION: Councilmember Holden moved and Mayor Grant seconded a motion to
adiourn. The motion carried unanimously (5-0).
Mayor Grant adjourned the Regular City Council Meeting at 8:18 p.m.
Juli anson David Grant
Cit Jerk Mayor