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AGENDA REPORT
Meeting Date: November 7, 2024
Item Number:
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Peter Brown, Labor Negotiator
Subject: FIRST PUBLIC MEETING TO SOLICIT PUBLIC INPUT ON THE UPCOMING LABOR NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE CITY’S THREE (3)
SWORN EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATIONS
Attachments: 1. Presentation from October 29th Community Meeting
RECOMMENDATION
The Council receives public comment related to the upcoming labor negotiations and provides direction to the City’s labor negotiator for additional information needed prior to any upcoming closed session at which it may provide direction to its labor negotiator.
INTRODUCTION
The City’s three (3) sworn employee associations have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which expire as noted below. The current Memoranda of Understanding for each group are available to review on the Human Resources page of the City’s website, under the Memoranda of Understanding link. • Firefighters’ Association – May 30, 2025
• Police Officers’ Association – June 30, 2025
• Police Management Association – June 30, 2025
The City is going to commence labor negotiations with each of these associations in early 2025. A community meeting was held on October 29, 2024 to provide information and education to the public regarding the upcoming negotiations. Tonight’s meeting is the formal public meeting where the public may provide input to the Council regarding the upcoming labor negotiations.
Meeting Date: November 7, 2024
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DISCUSSION
The City Council follows a process set forth in City Ordinance Regarding the Procedure for Adopting or Amending a Memorandum of Understanding Between the City and an Exclusively Recognized Employee Organization, often referred to as the COIN Ordinance (Civic Openness in Negotiations). The Ordinance includes the following provisions:
1. Adoption of the MOU only after conducting at least two public meetings:
a. one early in the negotiation process
b. one after the negotiations have concluded but prior to MOU adoption
2. Fiscal analysis conducted by an independent firm
3. The MOU and fiscal analysis are to be posted on the City’s website at least two weeks before the Council meeting at which the proposed MOU is considered The City’s labor negotiator conducted a community meeting on October 29, 2024 to provide information to the public about the upcoming labor negotiations process. The information presented to the public at the community meeting included current bargaining unit data and average employee costs and issues likely to be discussed during the upcoming negotiations (a copy of the presentation from the October 29th community meeting is attached). The community meeting was advertised by way of press release, ads in the Beverly Hills Courier and Beverly Hills Weekly and posts on the City’s various social media platforms. The meeting was broadcast live on BHTV channel 35 and the recorded version of the meeting is available on demand via the City’s website. The outreach related to the community meeting was aligned with the Council’s intent to reach and inform as many individuals in the community as possible on the topic of the upcoming labor negotiations. The same outreach was conducted to inform the community about tonight’s meeting and the opportunity to provide input to the Council regarding the upcoming negotiations.
Tonight’s meeting is the first of the two meetings required by the City’s COIN ordinance and a formal opportunity for the public to voice questions, concerns or feedback to the Council early in the negotiation process and prior to officially beginning the meet and confer process. Following this public meeting and opportunity for public input and comment, the Council will direct its labor negotiator (in a future closed session) regarding strategy and authority for the upcoming negotiations.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with soliciting input at this time.
Peter Brown
Labor Negotiator
Approved By
Attachment 1
Community Meeting
October 29, 2024
Overview of Negotiations
2 • The City has nine (9) employee associations and will be negotiating with its three (3) sworn units in 2025
• The law in California requires that the City negotiate with each association in good faith to reach an agreement on wages, benefits and other terms and conditions of
employment
• Once an agreement is reached, the parties approve their labor contract – called a Memorandum of Understanding
(“MOU”) and it is posted on the City’s website
Negotiations Timeline
3 October 29, 2024 Community Meeting
6:30pm – Council Chambers
November 7, 2024 Council Meeting (Formal)
7pm – Council Chambers
December - January Closed Session(s)
2025
January - February Begin negotiations
2025
Procedure for Adopting a Memorandum of
Understanding
COIN Ordinance adopted by Council in December 2013
• Independent lead negotiator
• Fiscal impact analysis by an independent firm
• Adoption of Memorandum of Understanding only
after conducting at least two public meetings, one
early in the negotiation process and one after
negotiations have concluded but prior to MOU
adoption
• Memorandum of Understanding and fiscal analysis
posted on City’s website at least two weeks before
the Council meeting at which the proposed MOU is
considered
4 Groups With Whom We Will Be Negotiating
• Firefighters’ Association (BHFA)
• Police Officers’ Association (BHPOA)
• Police Management Association (BHPMA)
The BHFA MOU expires on May 30, 2025 and the BHPOA and
BHPMA MOUs expire on June, 30, 2025
5 The City’s Negotiating Team
The City’s negotiating team includes the following people:
Peter Brown – Independent Labor Negotiator
Shelley Ovrom – Director of Human Resources
Kirsten Rowe – Assistant Director of Human Resources
Tatiana Szerwinski – Assistant Finance Director
• All of the City’s Memoranda of Understanding (including the MOUs we will negotiate) are on the City’s website on the Human Resources page:
https://www.beverlyhills.org/677/Memoranda-ofUnderstanding-MOU 6 Breakdown of Average Position Cost
and Total Estimated Cost per MOU
Total Cost
Per
Bargaining
Group MOU
(in millions)
Number of
Budgeted
Overtime Total Positions [3]
Unfunded
Liability
Pension –
Benefits Normal Cost [2] Salary [1]
$170,000 $43,000 $38,000 $62,000 $60,000 $373,000 84 $31.3 Firefighters'
Association (BHFA)
156,000 41,000 34,000 55,000 38,000 324,000 141 45.7
Police Officers'
Association
(BHPOA)
265,000 43,000 58,000 94,000 23,000 483,000 12 5.8
Police Management
Association
(BHPMA)
7 [1] Salary is comprised of base pay, bonus pays
[2] Benefits are comprised of cafeteria plan benefits, deferred compensation, Medicare taxes, retiree medical contributions, uniform allowance, life insurance
[3] Overtime represents the nine-year average estimate by position for each applicable MOU.
Public Employee Pension Reform Act
(PEPRA) Overview
“Classic” Employees: hired prior to 1/1/13 or laterals
• Maintain existing retirement formula and calculation based on single highest year of pensionable compensation
• Currently, classic safety employees pay 9%.
“New Member” Employees: new to CalPERS after 1/1/13
• Lower retirement formula and retirement calculation based on any consecutive three-year average of pensionable compensation • PEPRA requires that “new members” contribute one half the normal cost
• Currently PEPRA safety employees pay 12.5%.
In the public safety units, the City almost exclusively hires “New Members”. This is so because the PEPRA has been in effect since 1/1/13
8 Employee Pension Plan Summary
9 Employee
Formula Contribution
# of
Employees
as of 10/28/24
# of
Employees
as of 12/31/22
# of
Employees
as of 2019
Pension
Plan Type
Employee
Type
Safety Classic[1] 131 91 75 3% @ 50 9%
(Police & Fire)
Classic[1] 30 35 35 3% @ 55 9%
(Tier 2)
Safety
(Police & Fire)
2.7% @ 12.5%
57 PEPRA 51 84 111 [2] Safety
(Police & Fire)
Totals 212 210 221
[1] Police Safety employees currently pay 9% of pension cost. [2]PEPRA Safety employees currently pay 12.5% of pension cost.
Projected Employer PERS Rates
10 Fiscal Year
Normal
Cost*
Unfunded
Liability** Total
Normal
Cost*
Unfunded
Liability** Total
2021-22 10.22% 16.91% 27.13% 20.82% 37.58% 58.40%
2022-23 10.07% 16.82% 26.89% 20.18% 38.59% 58.77%
2023-24 11.07% 19.55% 30.62% 22.16% 34.83% 56.99%
2024-25 11.02% 20.57% 31.59% 21.66% 40.06% 61.72%
2025-26 10.80% 18.10% 28.90% 21.00% 42.00% 63.00%
2026-27 10.50% 19.20% 29.70% 20.30% 43.80% 64.10%
2027-28 10.30% 19.80% 30.10% 19.60% 45.00% 64.60%
2028-29 10.10% 19.80% 29.90% 19.00% 48.60% 67.60%
2029-30 9.90% 19.70% 29.60% 18.50% 48.30% 66.80%
*Normal cost is expressed and paid as a percentage of total active payroll. **Amortization of the unfunded accrued liability, is expressed and paid as a dollar amount, but estimated above as a percentage of payroll.
Safety
Miscellaneous (Police & Fire)
Issues We Anticipate Negotiating In These
Upcoming Negotiations
Economic issues
• Term
• Compensation
• Health benefits
Non-economic (management operational issues)
• The departments have begun to identify issues they may want to address which deal with the operations of each department 11 Questions?
Next City Council Meeting (Formal)
Thursday, November 7, 2024
7:00pm
Council Chambers
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