HomeMy WebLinkAbout9 Post-Retirement Health Benifits Agenda item # 9
TRUCKEE DONNER
ACTION
To: Board of Directors
From: Nancy Waters
Date: March 16, 2011
Subject: Consideration of a Request q est for Post-Retirement Health Benefits
I. WHY THIS MATTER IS BEFORE THE BOARD
This matter deals with a previous) approved Y pp ved special benefit authorized by the Board
2. HISTORY
Bob Quinn was employed as the Distric '
1993 through Jul 6 20 t s Electric Superintendent from Janua
Y 01. He voluntarily left employment with rY 11,
the District at age 56
after 8 1/2 years of employment.
On August 2, 2000, the Board approvedexempt post-retirement health benefits for
To qualify for p employees equal to the benefit offered to union
q Y this benefit a minimum of 10 years service employees.
minutes state that then General Manager, M is required. The same Board
into a letter of agreement withg � r• Holzmeister, was authorized to enter
Mr. Quinn stating that if he remained
quality working at the
District until age 60, he would
retirement (Attachment 1 q Y for full medical insurance benefits
). upon
Mr. Holzmeister signed a letter to Mr.
District would a 10 � Quinn, dated July 9, 2001, stain that
pay 0/o of the premium up to the cap in 9 at the
retirement (Attachment 2). A co of p place at the time of his
Resources Administrator COPY his letter was presented to the Hu
the day before Mr. Holzmeister retired man
August 2007. No original copy of the letterfrom the District in
has been located.
3. NEW INFORMATION
Mr. Quinn and Mr. Holzmeister met wi
and Human Resource th current General Manager, Michael
s Administrator, Nancy waters, on Feb Holley,
ruary 10, 2011. During
that meeting, Mr. Quinn stated that he
February 18, 2011 and will be needing Post-retirement health insurance. H
pay 90% of the cost of the retiree insuranc a requested
current employer, pursuant to Mr. Holzmeister's letter dated July 9, 2001.
After researching Mr. Quinn's request, sta
ff aff has made the following determination
s:
1• Mr. Quinn voluntarily left employment with
ears of a Y h the District on July 6, 2001.
2. He was 56
Y age when he separated from the District.
3. His length of employment was 8 1/2 ears.
4. There are no other Board Y
actions after August 2, 2000 authorizin a
agreement for Mr. Quinn as described in Mr. Hol g different
2001. zmeister's letter dated July 9,
Based on this information, staff has
Holzmeister was outsidedetermined that the offer made b
the parameters established b the Boar Y Mr.
not constitute a valid agreement. Mr. Quinn f Y d and therefore, does
the Board with respect to ailed to meet the conditions set forth b
p post-retirement benefits and therefore doe Y
these benefits (Attachment 3). Mr. Quinn snot qualify for
decision (Attachment 4).
has asked for the Board to reconsider '
this
4. FISCAL IMPACT
The exact fiscal impact of Mr. Quinn's r
cost is a equest is unknown, however, the estimated
pproximately $5,800 per year. Assumin a
Quinn, an estimated total of$116,000 can be projected.
5. RECOMMENDATION
Deny Robert Quinn's request for the District to pay post-retirement health benefits.
Na
ncy W ers `
Human Resource Manager Michael D. Holley
g Gene
ral Manager
�-- Director Aguera moved, and Director VanGundy
to contribute$15,000 or one-third of the total ,Seconded, that the Board authorize the District
Project cost, whichever is more, with a total project
contribution cap of $24,000, to fund a Portion Kidzone project. ROLL CALL: Maass p on of a ground source heat pump system for
absent; all other Directors, aye. SO MOVED. the
The item re the downtown roofline lightingproject was tabled. The public ben
icy will be reviewed at a future workshop p efits program
C p meeting.
9 pol-
icy OF THE MINUTES OF DULY 59 2000; POSSIBLE APPROVAL
Director VanGundy moved, and Director Aguera seconded, that the Board approve the
Of July 5, 2000 as presented. All Directors g minute
aye, by voice vote. SO MOVED. s
TREASURER'S REPORT — APPROVAL OF
THE MONTHLY REPORT — APPROVAL
OF
DISBURSEMENTS
Director VanGundy moved, and Director A uer
Treasurer's report copy attached}. All Directors,g a seconded, that the Board approve the monthly
Director Aguera moved, and Director VanGundy
i
bursements. ROLL CALL: Maass, absent; seconded, that the Board approve the
Sutton, no; all other Directors, aye, sp MOV di
AGENDA ED.
The next agenda is to include an item relating to the commercial building on Meadow Way a
Possible encroachment on TDPUD grope y and
CLOSED
SESSION
Conference with labor negotiator — agency 9 cy negotiator —
sented employees: all management and exempt 9 Peter Holzmeister. Unrepre-
Conference with legalR staff
Conference
e a counsel—existing litigation pursuant to
}, o cases: TDPUD vs. USA Media and Government Code Section
Th USA Media vs. TDPUD
d to closed session at 10:05 PM.
RETURN TO OPEN SESSION
The Board returned to public session at 10:42 PM.
The following action was reported: the Boar
medical insurance benefit for the management d unanimously adopted the same post relit nagement and exempt employees as was approved retirement
union employees. Further, the Manager was au pproved for the
Ed Taylor and Bob Quinn statin that if t authorized to enter into letters of agreement '
qualify for full medical insurance 9 they remain working at the PUD until age with
e benefits upon retirement. g 60 they will
URNMENT
There being no further business before the Boa
rd, the meeting was adjourned at 10:45 PM
TRUCKS DONNE UBLIC UTI I DISTRICT
J. on rnig, Presid t
Prepared by .
Susan M. Craig, Deputy District Clerk
smc
ATTACHMENT 1
8/2/00 Page 4
July 9, 2001
Robert E. Quinn
P. 0. Box 9991
Truckee California 91962
Dear Bob;
The Board has authorized me to enter i
the medical insurance b nto an agreement with you that define
District will provide to ou u s
benefit the Distr
retirement. The District will pa r Y upon Your
your retirement, with #h Y a pro rated benefit for medical insurance u
e understanding that this benefit would b upon
once you reach age 62, a available to you
It is our understanding that you would
not be allowed to participate in the
District's medical insuran
ce program if there is a break in service bet
ween the
time you leave employment at the you w District. However, upon retirement, we
understand that
Y would be able to self-pay and be carrie
employer's medical plan at the groupdon your new
rates in effect at that time.
The District will pay 100% of the rem'
in place at the time of premium to be paid by the District u to the
Your retirement. The District will a t p a cap
contribution toward the premium needed t pay his amount as a
program available through our n to on the medical insurance
g Y new employer.
Very truly yours,
A 1
fJ-
Peter L. Holzmeister
ATTACHMENT
Truckee Public
Utility
.... .......
111'riat
Board of Directors
Joseph R.Aguera
February 18, 2011 Jeff Bender
J. Ron Hemig
Dear Mr. Quinn: John Hillstrom
Tony Laliotis
Thank you for meeting with Nancy Waters a nd me on Th General Manager
Thursday.. February 10�h to dis Michael D. Holley
request for the District to pay a percentage of o cuss your
Your retiree medicsl insurance casts. The facts
below were discussed in our meeting.-
1- TDPUD Board meeting minutes from August 2, 2000 state that Management and
exempt employees are eligible for the same retiree medical benefits as the union
employees. The minutes also state that the General Manager., Peter Holzmeiste
authorized to enter into a letter of agreement r, is
g ent with you stating that if you remain
working at the TDPUp until age 60 you would
qualify for full medical insurance benefits
upon retirement Attachment 1).
Z• Mr. Holzmeister signed a letter to You date
d ed July 9, 2001 stating that the District w
pay 100% of the premium up to the capin I ould
(Attachment 2}.
pace at the time of your retirement
3• Mr. Holzmeister asserts that he is sure th
at this supplementsl agreement letter
authorized by the Board, er when th
but does not rememb was
at was.
Since our meeting, we have discussed this issu
e with the Board, researched all Board minutes
and found the following: es,
1.. You voluntarily left your em to me P y nt with the TDPUp on .duly 6, 2001 at a e 5
1/2 years of employment. g 6 after 8
2• No Board action after August 2, 2000 can
be found authorizing a different a reem
You as described in Mr. Holzmeister's letter; they g ent for
therefore, the Board's action of August 2
2000, is applicable to you.
In consideration of all of the information available., the District has determined that
quality for retiree benefits, and therefore denying
is You do not
medical costs. your request to pay an of
Y Your retiree
Sincerely yours,
Michael D. Holley
General Manager
R. 0. Box 33 Truckee, CA 96160—Phone 3
0 587- 96 www.tdpud.org
ATTACHMENT -3
Robert Quinn
P.O.Box 357
Verdi, NV 8943 9
March 9, 2011
Mr. Jeff Bender
President, Board of Directors
Truckee Donner Public Utility District
P.O-Box 309
Truckee, CA 96160
Dear Mr. Bender;
At a recent meeting of the Board, in closed se
ssion, a decision was made by the Board to
deny post retirement medical benefits to myself. At this time I am asking the Board t
place on the next Board meeting's agenda time °
decision made previously. I a g me for a possible reconsideration of the
Y ask this for the following reason:
• District Code 2.04.090 Statements from Vis
itors - "All members of the public
attending Board meetings and having an interes
the right to address the Board before tin any agenda item shall have
a vote is taken on such item. They shall be
encouraged to ask questions directly related to reports
members of the District's staff immediately after p its made to the Board by
to Board action." such reports are made and prior
I was not advised that my request for Post
on the agenda and therefore did n p retirement benefits was being placed
myself nor did I h of have the opportunity to address the Bo
ave the opportunity to have the professiona and
General Manager at the time of m de 1 testimony of the
behalf. Both Peter Holzmeis y part ure from the TDPUD speak in my
ter and I believe we could have presented test'
that would have resulted in a different decision testimony
appreciate the Opportunityto provide ision by the Board. we would
p ovide that testimony.
In 2001,prior to leaving the District I met
th with Mr. Holzmeister in my office and
discussed my departure. I was in my 9 year with the District and, based on asked if the District would consider paying Board action
my retirement medical upon my retirement at s p Y ng a percentage, not all, of
to some time in the future. In that I was into
mY 9 year of employment with the District I r o
agreed that this request was not unreasonablerequested 90/o. The General Manager
and granted the request. He and I be
Position. lieve
he acted with the authority of his p
ATTACHMENT 4
Under District Code Chapter 2.40 Delegations Code 2.40.010.3 G�Manager is delegated to "Act as the Boardthe General
'
employees and em toe s agent In meeting and conferrin
p y e organizations." g with
District Code 2.32.020.7 "Primarilythe
Purpose of this policy is to define the
relationship that shall exist be
tween the Board of Directors, who are the e
representatives of the District, and the Managerwh lected
Directors. The Board of Directors recognizes ° is employed by the Board of
that effective management of the
District can exist only through mutual understanding
between the Board of Di and complete cooperation
Directors and the Manager. The Manager i p
produce results and give an account to the B g s expected to
performance cannot be o the Board of his stewardship. His
judgment f best unless he is given latitude to e
J g tin executing policies of the Board o Direct exercise independent
that obligation and gives the of Directors. The Board acknowled es
g Manager that latitude of judgment and g
expects faithful performance in carryingout all discretion, and
Directors." of the policies of the Board of
Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter and I, along with Mr.
look forward to addressing Holzm the members of the Board. eister,
Most sincerely,
Robert Quinn
Cc:
Director Joe Aguera
Director Ron Hemig
Director John Hillstrom
Director Tony Laliotis
Manager Michael Holley
March 16, 2011
Board of Directors
Truckee Donner Public Utility District
Directors of the Board
We, the undersigned employees of the District, support our General
Manager and his decision concerning the compensation request from Mr.
Quinn. We have faith that Mr. Holley has, and will continue to have, the
best interest of the District and ALL the staff in his decision making. We
feel that to perpetuate decisions made in the past, benefiting a few
Is individuals, was not, and is not, in the best interest of the
District as a who , and could erode the healthy atmosphere that is now in
place.
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