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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 2672-2013Suggested by: Administration AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, INCREASING ESTIMATED REVENUES AND APPROPRIATIONS BY $141,052 IN THE GENERAL FUND - FIRE DEPARTMENT FOR FY2013 OVERTIME IN EXCESS OF PREVIOUSLY BUDGETED AMOUNTS. WHEREAS, the appropriation for Fire Department Overtime adopted as part of the FY2013 Budget will be insufficient for the overtime being incurred by the department to meet the response matrix established by the City; and, WHEREAS, factors requiring the payment of Fire Department overtime are schedule or unscheduled leave, employee work schedule, staff training, shift overruns, and staff response recalls; and, WHEREAS, payment of overtime sufficient to meet the City's response matrix is in the best interest of the City. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, that estimated revenues and appropriations be increased as follows: General Fund Increase Estimated Revenues: Appropriation of Fund Balance $127,300 State of Alaska - PERS On- behalf Funding 13,752 $141.052 Increase Appropriations Fire Department - Overtime $100,190 Fire Department - Medicare 1,453 Fire Departmental - PERS 22,042 Fire Department - Workers Compensation 3,615 Non - Departmental - PERS 13,752 $141 052 New Text Underlined; [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] Ordinance No. 2672 -2013 Page 2 of 2 PASSED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, this sixteenth day of January, 2013. PAT PORTER, MAYOR ATTES l) .I Sandr� �odi , Cit Clerk Approved by Finance: - -- Introduced: January 2, 2013 Adopted: January 16, 2013 Effective: January 16, 2013 New Text Underlined; [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] IM 10 I'm +. �• •- f This memo is written in support of Ordinance 2672 -2013. The need for this appropriation to overtime is to address the leave coverage, training coverage and the recalls of employees on emergency call outs for the remainder of the fiscal year at the Fire Department. Staffing at the Fire Department deems it necessary to fill positions when leave is taken or when travel is needed for training. Training covers the mandatory attendance of classes for employees to maintain certifications. Emergency call outs or "recalls" are still utilized by the department to recall minimum staffing for secondary calls or during large scale emergencies. The amount appropriated within this ordinance is a reasonable estimate to cover the remaining fiscal year. M �TO: Rick Koch, City Manager FROM: Terry Eubank, Finance Director G DATE: December 13, 2012 RE: Results, Findings, and Recommendations - review and estimate of overtime needs at the Kenai Fire Department The purpose of this memo is to summarize the results, findings, and recommendations reached after reviewing the overtime usage and FY13 projected need for overtime at the Kenai Fire Department (KFD). I was tasked with assisting Fire Department personnel with analyzing past causes of overtime and using those results to estimate the FYI 3 budgetary needs for overtime. History The adopted budget for KFD overtime was unchanged from FY08 through FYI l at $83,000, it increased in FY12 to $99,000, and again increased in FY13 to $135,000. Actual expenditures for overtime were in excess of budgeted amounts for each year. In FY10 Council authorized a budget transfer increasing KFD overtime by $37,000. In FY11 and FY12 Council provided supplemental funding of $80,000 and $106,000 respectively for KFD Overtime. Despite these increases, the ending expenditures for FY10, FY11 and FY12 exceeded even the amended overtime budffets. $250,000 $200,000 $150,000 $100,000 $50,000 5- FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 Overtime Expenditure -'K— Final Budget Overtime Hours Annual increases in overtime hours for FY09 and FYIO were 15.38% and 13.39% respectively and are attributed to an increase in department call volume. The annual increase in FYI l was 40.16% resulting from the addition of three new staff, changes in staffing procedures at Station 2, and schedule changes for the Fire Marshall and Training Officer positions. The FY12 annual increase was 15.99% and is attributed to a full fiscal years impact of the FY I l changes. Results Uses of Overtime The following causes of overtime were identified: 1. Shift coverage — minimum department staffing to respond to a first alarm fire call requires four personnel on duty. Department staffing includes the Fire Chief, Fire Marshall, Battalion /Training Chief and three shifts of five, line- personnel. The Fire Chief, Fire Marshall, and Battalion Chief are each scheduled to work ten -hours per day four days per week. Line - personnel work rotating 24 -hour shifts seven days per week. FAA part 139 flight regulations require nearly 24 hours staffing of Station 2 by one fire fighter leaving actual staffing at Station 1 equal to minimum staffing. The current staffing level requires overtime be paid to cover the shift of any line - personnel who are on leave except when either the Fire Marshall or Battalion /Training Chief are on duty and available to provide coverage. 2. FLSA Overtime — Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires the payment of overtime to line - personnel who work more than 212 hours in a 28 -day period. The current work schedule of the department requires the payment of approximately 900 hours of overtime annually to comply with the requirement of FLSA. 3. Training — training of department personnel creates situations where overtime must be paid. Multi- company or all department drills require the payment of overtime to personnel who attend training and are not working their regularly scheduled shift. Overtime is paid for shift coverage when those receiving training are unable to work their normal shift. 4. Personnel Recall — department personnel are recalled to work to provide sufficient staffing to meet the department's response matrix which stipulates the department shall have the ability to respond to a first response fire or one ALS (advanced life support) and one BLS (basic life support) EMS call simultaneously. Fire personnel voluntarily respond to recall requests and are paid a minimum of two -hours of overtime when responding. 5. Shift Overruns — department personnel who have responded to a call and whose shift has ended are paid overtime to complete the call. Analysis of the KFD's FYI 2 overtime paid showed the following breakdown of overtime: Use Hours % Shift Coverage 3,484.50 50.11% FLSA Overtime 916.00 13.17% Training 560.50 8.06% Personnel Recall 1,908.00 27.44% Shift Overruns 84.75 1.22% Total 6,953.75 100.00% Projected FI'13 Need Based upon the FY 12 analysis and departmental staffing changes, the FY 13 overtime budget for KFD will require a supplemental appropriation of approximately $127,000 comprised of $99,000 in overtime and $28,000 in associated benefits. This estimate is predicated on four assumptions: 1. Leave by responding personnel will remain consistent at around 3,500 hours. 2. Training hours as projected by the Battalion /Training Chief will be 944 hours, a 383.50 hour increase over FYI but anticipated to meeting ISO rating requirements. 3. The Fire Marshall and Battalion /Training Chief providing approximately 1100 hours of shift coverage for responding personnel on leave. These positions work four ten -hour days either Monday through Thursday or Tuesday through Friday and provide shift coverage for the hours of 8:00am to 6:00pm for responding personnel on leave. 4. The implementation of a new recall system that will limit personnel responding to recalls to only the number needed will allow the approximately 1,900 hours paid in FYI to be sufficient to meet FY13 needs including any increase caused by increases in department run volumes. Findings Department Records In order to accumulate and analyze data related to KFD staffing multiple sources had to be reviewed and reconciled. In order to determine department staffing on any single day, leave slips, overtime slips and multiple Microsoft Outlook calendars must be consulted. No single report can be produced or activity log consulted that documents daily staffing at KFD. Employee Timesheets Department employees are not responsible for completion of their individual titnesheets. Timesheets are prepared by the department's administrative staff, signed by the employee, and approved by the Fire Chief. Unreported Leave On nine separate occasions during the first quarter of fiscal year 2013 it was determined that fire department employees failed to provide leave slips for leave taken and also failed to report the leave on their monthly timesheet. The combination of these nine occurrences resulted in 200 hours of unreported leave. Misreported Overtime On three separate occasions, during a 15 -month period, overtime was incorrectly reported on employee timesheets. Two times the error resulted in the employee being paid for time not worked. The third instance resulted in the employee working but not being paid for hours worked. A contributing factor to this finding is the timing of overtime being reported on timesheets. The combination of multiple shifts and the City's due dates for timesheets creates multiple cutoff dates for timesheet preparation. Some employees claim overtime scheduled during the month but after the timesheet cutoff date while other only report overtime actually worked. This creates one more reconciling step and opportunity for error in timesheet preparation. Training Hours The Department's current policy compensates staff who attend out -of -town training on schedules shift days as if they worked their regular 24 -hour shift. If the out -of -town training falls on one of the employee's days off they are not compensated for the time. FLSA requires the payment of overtime to fire personnel who work more than 212 hours in a 28 -day period. Should the combination of actual training hours and actual hours worked exceed 212 hours in a 28 -day period, the employee should report and be paid overtime for hours in excess of 212. Recommendations F'Y13 Supplemental Funding I recommend introduction of an ordinance to appropriate $127,300 for additional FY13 department overtime. The supplemental funding will provide $99,300 in increased overtime and $28,000 for the associated' benefits. Department Timekeeping Significant changes are needed in the Department's timekeeping procedures to address the findings noted above. I recommend the following: 1. A shift summary, prepared and signed by the on -duty Captain, should be prepared detailing all personnel working, on leave, or who reported for recall for each shift. 2. Preparation of employee timesheets should be done by the employee and not by the Department's administrative assistant. 3. A monthly summary should be prepared using the shift summaries (from item #1) that can be compared to the employee's timesheet when being approved for submission to payroll. 4. Overtime reported on employee timesheets should only include overtime actually worked as of the timesheet submission date. Overtime earned after the timesheet submission date will be reported on the subsequent month's timesheet. 5. The Department's policy regarding compensabee hours for out -of -town training should be changed to the following: "An employee who attends Department sponsored training shall be paid the greater of the hours that would have been worked if not attending training or the combination of actual training hours and actual hours worked during the 28 -day pay cycle." v TO: Mike Tilly, Fire Chief FROM: Rick Koch, City Manager DATE: December 18, 2012 Schedule SUBJECT: Overtime Requirements at Kenai Fire Department, Request for •• The purpose of this correspondence is to discuss the findings of the review of Fire Department overtime accomplished by the Finance Department dated December 13, 2012 (attached), and to respond to your request for a change in the work schedule for the Fire Department (memo dated November 15, 2012). Recommendations are identified on page 4 of the above referenced report. You are directed to accomplish the following: 1. Draft policies and procedures to institute the recommendations. 2. Submit draft policies and procedures to the City Manager for approval. 3. Ensure policies and procedures are adopted and enacted prior to January 1, 2013. Regarding your request to modify the work schedule for the Fire Department, I am generally supportive of the concept. I will accomplish further research and request review by the Finance and Legal Department. In reviewing Fire Department overtime, the Finance Department found that approximately 200 hours of personal leave was taken by Fire Department personnel without a corresponding leave request /approval over a three -month period (July 1, 2012 - September 30, 2012). Further, the leave was not accounted for and the employees were not charged with having taken annual leave. I am directing you to accomplish an internal audit of your Department's leave for a two - year period beginning, July 1, 2010 and ending June 30, 2012. Additionally, you will audit the period from October 1, 2012 to date. You are required to submit your findings to the City Manager prior to January 1, 2013. If the findings of the audit are representative, the result is unreported leave in the amount of 800 hours per year, or costs to the City of over $16,000 per year.