City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: November 11, 2024
Agenda Item: 5.J
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Dana Brown, Human Resources Director, Human Resources Department Subject: Adoption of Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Memorandum of Understanding Setting the Terms and Conditions of Medical Insurance Coverage with the Coalition of Santa Monica City Employees Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding that the MOU is not a project subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA);
2. Adopt the proposed Resolution (Attachment A) accepting the tentative agreement and authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City and the Coalition of Santa Monica City Employees ("the Coalition") adopting the terms and conditions of the contract for Medical Benefits with the City's miscellaneous employee (nonsafety) units and certain unrepresented employees, namely the Management Team Association/AFSCME Local 4819, Supervisory Team Association, Administrative Team Associates, Municipal Employees Association, California Teamsters Local 911, Public Attorneys Union, Public Attorneys' Legal Support Staff Union, International Association of Sheet, Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers - Transportation Division Local 1785, Executive Pay Plan participants, Confidential Unrepresented Employee Pay Plan participants, and certain other Unrepresented Employees.
Summary
In accordance with the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (“MMBA”), the City and the Coalition of Santa Monica City Employees (“Coalition”) have met and conferred and have reached a Tentative Agreement (“TA”) on the terms and conditions of medical benefits for miscellaneous non-sworn employees.
Negotiations with the Coalition representatives were largely informal and resulted in an expedited TA regarding medical benefits to amend the Memorandum of Understanding 2 of 3
(“MOU”) between the City and the Coalition. The Coalition finalized the ratification voting process, approving the terms of the TA. City staff recommend the City Council approve the ratified TA and authorize the City Manager to execute a new MOU between the City and the Coalition.
Discussion
The Coalition represents all non-sworn City employees, for both Medical and Retirement benefits. The terms of the current MOU covering medical benefits are set to expire on December 31, 2024. The MOU covering retirement benefits is not set to expire until December 31, 2025.
The City met and conferred with the Coalition in accordance with the provisions of the MMBA, and the parties have reached a TA covering medical benefits for a three-year period. The terms of the TA continue to keep the City in alignment with our 11 comparable peer cities while simultaneously preserving a level of benefits that will keep the City competitive in a tight labor market. Peer cities include Anaheim, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Culver City, El Segundo, Glendale, Inglewood, Pasadena, Redondo Beach, Santa Barbara and Torrance.
The overall policy of the City has been to maintain competitive medical benefits in a high-cost geographic labor market to attract and retain a high-quality workforce to serve our community across a wide range of specialized services. Since most, though not all, City jobs are comparable to those in other competing municipal organizations, the City has traditionally looked to full-service cities in our region of similar size and financial strength for labor market comparisons.
The TA maintains status quo providing for the following:
• Term of Agreement: January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2027 • Pre-tax employee contributions into a Section 125 Flexible Benefit Plan • $150 Cash-in-lieu monthly lump sum payment
• 8% employee monthly contribution toward the cost of the premium of their selected medical insurance plan
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• $187.36 City contribution on behalf of each eligible active City employee into a retiree medical trust. At the beginning of each subsequent calendar year the City’s contribution will increase by 2%
• Effective date of medical benefits for employees hired by the City is the first day of the month following an employee’s date of hire
Environmental Review
The MOU is not a “project” subject to CEQA. The adoption of the MOU is administrative in nature and establishes the terms and conditions between the City and the Coalition.
Pursuant to CEQA Section 21065, the project does not meet the definition of a “project” subject to CEQA as it will not “cause either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment”. Additionally, per Section 15378(b) of the CEQA Guidelines, a “project” does not include organizational or administrative activities of governments that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. Therefore, the adoption of the MOU is not subject to CEQA.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended action. Staff will return to Council if specific budget actions are required in the future. The annual cost of fringe benefits for each budgeted position is already included in the City’s adopted budget.
Prepared By: Sarah Rebensdorf, Human Resources Manager
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Coalition RESO 11.11.24