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1995-02-13 adj000051 February 13, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 1) An adjourned meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Albemarle County, Virginia, was held on February 13, 1995, Room 5/6, County Office Building, McIntire Road, Charlottesville, Virginia. This meeting was adjourned from February 8, 1995. PRESENT: Mr. David P. Bowerman, Mrs. Charlotte Y. Humphris, Messrs. Forrest R. Marshall, Jr., Charles S. Martin, Walter F. Perkins and Mrs. Sally H. Thomas. ABSENT: None. OFFICERS PRESENT: County Executive, Robert W. Tucker, Jr., County Attorney, Larry W. Davis, and County Planner, V. Wayne Cilimberg. Agenda Item No. 1. Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 5:02 p.m., by the Chairman, Mr. Perkins. Agenda Item No. 2. Joint Meeting with School Board. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Mr. Russell Madison Cummings, Jr., Mr. William W. Finley, Mrs. Susan Clayton Gallion, Mr. George C. Landrith, III (arrived at 5:30 p.m.), Mr. Michael J. Marshall (arrived at 5:10 p.m.), Mrs. Karen L. Powell and Mrs. Sharon Wood. ABSENT: None. OFFICERS PRESENT: Dr. Kevin C. Castner, Superintendent of Schools, and Dr. Carole A. Hastings, Assistant Superintendent of Schools. The School Board meeting was called to order at 5:02 p.m., by its Chair- man, Mr. Finley. Agenda Item 2a. Executive Session: Property Acquisition. Mr. Bowerman made motion, seconded by Mrs. Thomas, to go into Executive session pursuant to Section 2.1-344.A.3 of the Code of Virginia to consider acquisition of property for a school facility. Roll was called and the motion carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Mrs. Humphris, Messrs. Marshall, Martin, Perkins, Mrs. Thomas and Mr. Bowerman. NAYS: None. Mrs. Wood made motion, seconded by Mrs. Powell, to go into Executive Session pursuant to Section 2.1-344.A.3 of the Code of Virginia to consider acquisition of property for a school facility. Roll was called and the motion carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Mr. Cummings, Mr. Finley, Mrs. Gallion, Mrs. Powell and Mrs. Wood. NAYS: None. ABSENT: Mr. Marshall and Mr. Landrith. Agenda Item 2b. Certify Executive Session. At 5:55 p.m., the Board reconvened into open session and adopted the following Certification of Executive Meeting. MOTION: Mr. Bowerman SECOND: Mrs. Thomas MEETING DATE: February 13, 1995 CERTIFICATION OF EXECUTIVE MEETING I move that the board certify by a recorded vote that to the best of each board member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia freedom of information act and identified in the motion authorizing the executive session were heard, discussed or consid- ered in the executive session. VOTE: AYES: Mrs. Humphris, Messrs. Marshall, Martin, Perkins, Mrs. Thomas and Mr. Bowerman. NAYS: None. ABSENT DURING VOTE: None. ABSENT DURING MEETING: None. February 13, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 2) 0OO052 Mr. Landrith made motion, seconded by Mrs. Wood, to adopt a Certification of Executive Meeting. MOTION: Mr. Landrith SECOND: Mrs. Wood MEETING DATE: February 13, 1995 CERTIFICATION OF EXECUTIVE MEETING I move that the board certify by a recorded vote that to the best of each board member's knowledge onlypublic business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia freedom of information act and identified in the motion authorizing the executive session were heard, discussed or consid- ered in the executive session. VOTE: AYES: Mr. Cummings, Mr. Finley, Mrs. Gallion, Mr. Landrith, Mr. Marshall, Mrs. Powell and Mrs. Wood. NAYS: None. ABSENT DURING VOTE: None. ABSENT DURING MEETING: None. Agenda Item 2c. Discussion: FY 1995-96 School Budget. Dr. Hastings said staff is pleased to be able to bring forward a balanced 1995-96 School Division budget. The proposed budget incurs no new debt and departmental one-time capital purchases were removed for the 1995-96 school year. Staff utilized all General Government procedures in the development of the budget and conducted joint reviews where the School Division participated in the General Government reviews and the General Government participated in the School Division reviews. The proposed budgetretains the adopted teach- er/staffing ratios, funding for a two and one-half percent salary scale adjustment for planning purposes, continues the step movement, pay for performance plan and continues the teacher career incentive plan. From discussions with the School Board, two major items came forward which should be discussed tonight. One is the impact of the Board of Supervisors financial management policy with regard to carryover funds. The School Board has utilized carryover funds to a great extent in the past to balance its budget. Ms. White will give a brief presentation regarding the discussion, how it came about and some of the philosophies behind those financial management policies. Secondly, the two and one-half percent salary scale adjustment needs to be discussed. There has to be assurity between both Boards that they still want to continue including this in the budget. One Board cannot make that decision without concurrence of the other. In summary, she would like to commend both staff's on their hard work and she appreciates the General Government's cooperation with the School Division. Ms. Roxanne White made a presentation, using the overhead projector, of the Financial Management Policies that were adopted in October by the Board of Supervisors. Specifically, those that apply to some of the operating budget processes that will be implemented, how to relate the capital budget to the operating budget and how to deal with carryover funds. There are three major financial policy goals that impact the budgets. The first is to promote long-term financial stability by establishing clear and consistent guidelines. The second is to provide the total financial picture of the County rather than concentrating on single issue areas. The third is to provide a ].ink between long-range financial planning and current opera- tions. The second slide showed the operating budget policy. The first is that the goal of the County is to fund all recurring expenditures with recurring revenues and to use non-recurring revenues only for non-recurring expenses. Secondly, the County will prepare the capital improvements budget in conjunc- tion with the development of the operating budget in order to assure that the estimated costs and future impact of a capital project on the operating budget will be considered prior to its inclusion in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) . The next slide showed budgeted carryover/fund balance revenues and how they have been used over the last five years. Revenues increased substan- tially in 1994-95, almost $1.7 million was put in a combination of School Division carryover, General Fund carryover and Fund Balance revenues. The opening of the new middle school caught staff unaware which shows that staff did not prepare well and had to use a lot of Fund Balance revenues and carryover funds for one-time costs and recurring expenditures. General Government also incurred some unanticipated debt service costs. The impact of 0000S3 February 13, 1995 (Adjourned Me'ting) (Page 3) using the Fund Balance and carryover funds shows in the next year's fiscal budget. Going into FY 1995-96, the General Fund had $5,989,384 in new revenue, but when the carryover and Fund Balance of $925,000 has to be taken out of the budget, it only leaves $5,070,246 in new revenues. The same principle carries over into the School Division fund. The School Division will receive $2,028,237 in new revenues from the General Fund transfer, but $798,116 will be taken from that for carryover revenues, which only leaves $1,230,121. Between the General Fund and School Fund the total available new revenues are $4,266,268 after $1,723,116 is taken out for non-recurring funds. This shows that there are some one-time and on-going costs and it is difficult to tell between the two and decide what type of funds are going into actual recurring revenues or how difficult it will be to come up with those funds during the next year. The next chart showed a specific example of how General Government got into trouble by going against a good principle of using non-recurring funds. The chart shows the cost of vehicles (mostly police replacement vehicles) in FY 1990-91. It shows that a lot of new vehicles were purchased using one-time savings which in 1992 allowed that money to be used for something else. This seemed like a good idea at the time because there were additional revenues to use for other things, but it shows that by not keeping that fund level for replacement vehicles, it has taken a long time to build it up again. It has been difficult to put an additional $100,000 to $150,000 each year in the fund for replacement vehicles. Hopefully, this has leveled off and 19 vehicles will be replaced per year. This struggle should not be incurred this year. The School Division also had expenditures in FY 1991-92 for replacement vehicles (buses). The expenditure then decreased over the next four years. The speculation is that like General Government, there may be difficulties in trying to build up that fund and require an eXpenditure of funds in the out years to bring the funding level up again. This year staff tried to do a Debt Service Reserve Fund. The debt payments will decrease in the next couple of years, but will increase signifi- cantly in FY 1999-2000 because of the new high school. Staff has decided to try and fund debt service over a period of time and will try to put approxi- mately $270,000 in the Debt Service Fund so that there are minor increases each year, without an up and down Cycle and without having to come up with large amounts of money in later years. The Capital Budget Policy emphasis will continue to be placed upon a viable level of ,,pay-as-you-go" capital construction to fulfill needs in a Board approved CIP. The County believes in funding a significant portion of capital improvements on a cash basis and will, therefore, increase incrementally the percentage of its capital improvements financed by current revenues. The County's goal will be to dedicate a minimum of three percent of the annual General Fund revenues allocated to the County's operating budget to the CIP. Funds in excess of the required undesignated fund balance may be considered. In FY 1991-92, approximately $1.0 million was transferred to the CIP fund and it is projected that in fiscal year 1999-2000 $3.0 million will be transferred. Albemarle County will have at least a three percent minimum amount because approximately $2.8 million will be transferred in FY 1995-96. The second chart on the capital budget policy shows that in addition to the increasing transfer, debt service increased in FY 1991-92 from approxi- mately $3.7 million to approximately $8.0 million for FY 1999-2000. There are a lot of reasons why the debt service has increased; five new schools have been built in the last six years and there is the impending high school. None of these projects could have been completed without incurring debt service. There are several other reasons why the debt service has increased: the County's debt service increased as the available Fund Balance revenues decreased; a lot of capital projects used to be funded with Fund Balance revenues due to federal revenue sharing monies which were used for capital projects and the Fund Balance had more revenues in it. The Fund Balance is part of the financial policy which has to be maintained at a certain level in order to have a cash flow. In September, there was a Fund Balance of approxi- mately $11.5 million and expenditures of $12.1 million. The more revenue that can be put into the Fund Balance, the more revenue can be transferred for CIP projects. The last slide showed a conclusion when talking about one-time monies, cash flow, and what is needed in the Fund Balance. One option is to put one- time revenues into the Fund Balance for the capital budget and reduce interest charges. The other option is to begin to establish reserve funds which will help the operating budget through annual fluctuations in cash flow. Mrs. Thomas said it strikes her that this is the Board's own balanced budget constitutional amendment being discussed. Staff is forcing the Board to have as little debt and keep as low a debt payment level as possible by forcing the use of carryover funds. She has a theory that the Boards will not have the political will to do this. Mr. Landrith said he likes the idea of having a way to cut down the County's debt. He questions the attitude of replacing a xerox machine because of fear that the money will be lost when the machine may be good for another year or two. He asked if anything is in place to help with such a situation. He does not want unneeded items to be purchased because, of a fear that the February 13, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 4) .~/~ ~, 000054 money cannot be spent on things that are needed. Ms. White said a lot of these issues are judgement calls as to where to best put the money. WOuld it be best to purchase the xerox machine or look ahead and put that money some place else. The policy is set up as a guideline that everyone has to use. Dr. Castner said Dr. Hasting's memo to the Board asked to revisit that issue and give staff the flexibility to deal with capital items. Staff did receive a greater flexibility on issues like curriculum development and curriculum materials that are one-time issues. Dr. Castner said he thinks there is the flexibility of prioritizing and balancing, not just for buses and other issues, to keep the "peaks and valleys" more stable. He thinks the memorandum is the result of discussions the Board asked staff to have and he was pleased that General Government staff understood that there are other areas beyond capital costs that the School Division has to work with, more particularly materials and curriculum projects. Ms. White said if something does get funded in one' year'and those revenues do not recur the next year, staff may face the possibility of not being able to provide funding. Mr. Finley said the presentation showed that there is a "peak" coming up with buses and high'schools later. If the School Board were to take carryover funds and put them in the bus fund, does it mean that all of that money must be spent in the next fiscal year or could it be a reserve and if so, where does the money go. Ms. White said it can put into a reserve fund and could be a separate fund for school replacement or could go into the School Fund as a balance in reserve. It would be in an interest bearing account. Mr. Finley asked if it would show up in the next year's budget. Mr. Tucker said "yes," it could show there or be carried over another year. Ms. White said there may be $500,000 in there and only $250,000 may be spent in the next fiscal year, the $250,000 balance could then be applied to the next fiscal year's budget. Mr. Finley asked if there is a ceiling on the amount that can be carried over. Ms. White said "no." Mr. Michael Marshall said when discussing long-term planning, it is a fact that in an educational enterPrise the students are in a grade one year at a time and there is a need that has to be supplied to them during that time. Some of these things conflict with. what might be the five-year goal. He is bringing this up because last year there were three state-mandated gifted positions that were funded out of carryover funds. The only way that need could be met was to use the resources available. He does not regret that decision, but feels both'Boards need to keep in mind that a child's education is a critical moment at every stage of the 12 years of schooling. It is not necessarily fair to the students to make it subject to a long-term goal. He is requesting flexibility. Mr. Tucker said staff is only making sure the Board is cognizant of what it does and what the implications may be if a reserve is not established. These are guidelines or policies, not ordinances. Mr. Tucker said the other issue the joint Boards may want to deal with is the two and one-half percent salary adjustment discussed last Fall. The Boards have received information from a citizen, Mrs. Martha Harris, regarding this matter. It would be helpful to both staff divisions to get guidance from the Boards as to whether they want to maintain the two and one-half percent salary adjustment or change it. Mr. Perkins said he feels the Board should look at lowering the two and one-half percent salary scale adjustment. He suggests changing it to a one and one-half percent salary scale adjustment and two and one-half percent merit pool instead of four and one-half percent. Mr. Michael Marshall said he agrees with the two and one-half percent merit pool, but thinks the salary scale adjustment should stay at two and one-half percent. Mr. Michael Marshall said he was startled to see in the comparison of surrounding localities that virtually every other locality pays 100 percent of their employees' health insurance and Albemarle County only pays 85 percent. In other parts of the compensation package Albemarle County is not equitable. He knows this has been pointed out by Mrs. Harris and he thinks she deserves a lot of praise for the amount of work she has done. One of the clearest things that came across from Mrs. Harris' report is how complicated it is to try and understand the compensation package. He saw in the Washington Post that Prince William County will raise their teacher's pay by five percent in the upcoming budget. Two and one-half percent is not five percent, but one and one-half percent versus five percent is even worse, especially when trying to stay competitive with the divisions that Albemarle County calls its cluster group. Whether Albemarle County has a right t© Call the surrounding locali- ties ,,cluster group" is another question. Mr. Forrest Marshall said he does not know why Albemarle County compares itself with Prince William County. He serves on the State Board of Health and went to Prince William County's Health Department; its size cannot be compared to the size of the Health Department in Albemarle County. They have a population of 215,000 people. Mr. Michael Marshall said that means they have a much bigger School Division as well. Mr. Forrest Marshall said "yes," but he also knows what it costs to live in Northern Virginia compared to Albemarle County and he knows what the taxes are in Prince William County compared to Albemarle County. He does not feel Prince William County should be compared with Albemarle County and cannot agree with the figures as long as the two are compared. Mrs. Powell said she does not feel, on the other hand, that Albemarle County can compare itself with Buckingham County which has a much smaller population. Mr. Forrest Marshall said on all of the comparisons, Prince 000055 February 13, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 5) William County is in the first or second position and Buckingham County may be found on the bottom position. Mrs. Powell said she thinks that is the difficulty in comparing various jobs because in some localities there are only three entities being compared rather than twenty. The School Board is expecting a report in October regarding the comparison groups that Albemarle County finds itself compared to and the way business is done. She thinks it is difficult to answer that question without a thorough evaluation. Mr. Tucker said the report will be a significant proposal as it relates to the overall compensation plan. Mr. Finley said the Prince William County figures did not include a bonus nor did any of the counties in the survey. Mr. Forrest Marshall said if Prince William County is pulled out of the survey, it brings the figures down to approximately what Mr. Perkins has suggested. Mr. Perkins said there are times when Albemarle County has to stop comparing itself with other localities and ask itself what it needs to do. He does not know anyone in the private sector that is getting the kind of increases that the School Division and General Government employees have gotten for the last several years. Even with the improved economy this has not been reflected. He heard the other day that a labor union had signed a four-year contract with no increases. This is happening all around the country because people are still concerned about their jobs. He thinks people have job security in Albemarle County and it is hard to put a value on that. He feels the County should try and increase its benefits package. Mr. Michael Marshall said he understands what Mr. Perkins' is saying and agrees with the two and one-half percent merit pool. He thinks it has been a problem with the bonuses being vested rather than just being one-time cash payments because when they are vested they are built-in to where that person stands on the salary scale. The chart shows that the scale increased by zero two years in a row, but the fact of the matter is that inflation was not zero during that time and he thinks if staff had planned on two percent, it is not unreasonable to continue with that and make cuts in other places. If there have to be cuts, the reasonable thing to do with that surplus may be to make the health insurance package more comparable. The state approved a two and one-quarter percent increase for state employees, effective in December, 1995, and this is also what they approved in 1994. Mr. Finley asked if the State has step increases. Mr. Michael Marshall said "yes," that is what the two and one-quarter percent is. Mr. Finley said County employees get two and one-half percent each year plus vesting. Mr. Michael Marshall said he thinks the Board should just work on the scale. Mrs. Powell said she thinks the whole policy and guidelines would have to be changed, rather than dealing with the issue this year. She feels this should be brought back to the Boards and implemented next year. The way business is done cannot just automatically be changed without a thorough evaluation. Mr. Finley said the School Board takes the lead from the Board of Supervi- sors and he favors Mr. Perkins suggestion. The School Board has to follow the Board of Supervisors lead because of commonality. Mr. Forrest Marshall said the University of Virginia is the number one employer in this community and if you compare the fifteen positions in the information provided, in twelve out of the fifteen, Albemarle County is paying higher wages than the University of Virginia and this does not make sense to him. He receives complaints from citizens everyday about how much their taxes are increasing, particularly life-time residents. He can tell people that Albemarle County is not raising taxes and has a balanced budget, but the average increase on assessments this year was two and one-half percent. He is not sure how much people can stand. He runs a small business and his employ- ees did not get a raise this year, yet he has to tell them that the Board of Supervisors is giving Albemarle County employees a raise. He will not support the budget if the proposed salary increases remain in it. He agrees with Mr. Perkins. Mr. Landrith asked if it would be more palatable to employees if it were a two percent salary scale increase and a two percent merit pool increase. Mrs. Powell said she likes this suggestion better because the teachers will only get one and one-half percent on the salary scale adjustment. She would like it to be at least a two percent salary scale adjustment, even if the bonus pool has to be reduced. Mr. Landrith concurred and said particularly if the concern is that the money gets vested and the School Board is unsure whether it likes the effect that has, then, pending a total review of the Compensation plan, the amount put into that fund could be decreased. Mr. Bowerman asked the dollar amount if a two percent salary scale and a two percent merit pool were approved. Mr. Tucker said he is not sure what it would be for the merit pool, but a scale adjustment of one-half percent is approximately $50,000 for General Government and approximately $220,000 for the School Division. Mrs. Humphris suggested there be a two percent salary scale adjustment, a two percent merit pool, and that 90 percent of the health insurance premium be paid. Mr. Martin concurred and said if the raises are going to be decreased he feels the benefits should be increased, otherwise, he would like to review a two and one-half percent salary scale adjustment and a two and one-half percent merit pool. February 13, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 6) ............... Mrs. Thomas said Mr. Michael Marshall's suggestion was for a two and one- half percent salary scale adjustment, a two and one-half percent merit pool, and 100 percent of the health insurance premium being paid. Mr. Michael Marshall said he would support this but is not sure if it can be done. Mrs. Thomas asked what the cost of paying more of the health insurance premium would be. Mr. Tucker said a five percent increment was proposed (from 85 percent to 90 percent) which costs approximately $30,000 for General Govern- ment and $128,000 for the School Division. Mrs. Powell said she would like to discuss the fact that if a two percent salary scale increase is approved, the maximum a person could get is four percent which means there could be no one who can vest two steps. If a two and one-half percent salary scale adjustment were approved, it is rare, but some people could vest two steps. Mr. Finley asked if anyone currently gets two steps. Mrs. Powell said no one has, but if a two percent vesting is approved no one ever will. If the whole pay plan were to be set up different- ly, once the Boards received the report in October, there would be time to determine advancement and salaries for the overall process. Mr. Martin said the Boards have discussed the financial management policy and a large part of that discussion was looking at how to avoid "valleys and hills." He thinks if the Boards go too low, they will find themselves "in a valley" and money will have to be found to get back to where they should be. If a two and one-half percent increase is maintained, it will maintain a level so the Boards do not have to catch up. Mr. Bowerman said one thing the Boards have tried to do is have a bigger impact on the low wage employees. He would rather see an increase in the benefits package and keep the salary scale increase at two percent and merit pool at two percent because paying the benefits would impact the low wage employees the most. Mr. Martin said he agrees that paying for benefits is one of the most important issues. Mr. Tucker said staff's plan was to increase payment of the employee health insurance premium by five percent each year until at least 95 percent of the premium was paid. The School Division needed that funding and moved it to one of their unfunded priorities. Mr. Landrith asked if the Boards were to approve a two percent salary scale adjustment, two percent merit pool, and pay 90 percent of the health insurance premium, if there would be money left to cover other things. Mr. Tucker said this is correct. Mr. Michael Marshall said the Board should keep in mind that the School Board heard a report about the career ladder, teacher pay and was shown a number ($1.3 or $1.4 million) that would buy-out the career ladder without any pay cuts. The County cannot afford to do this, but it is apparent that the County needs to get out of that system. The problem is if you get out of that system there needs to be another system to get in and there does not seem to be any other system. There are now discussions of moving from a 12 step scale to a 15 or 20 step scale. One thing that should be considered is adding three steps to the scale for two or three years to try and get out of the career ladder. It would cost approximately $250,000 this year to do this, but every time a salary scale increase is approved, the cost of buying out of the career ladder is magnified. He feels the career ladder will ultimately bankrupt the School Division. This is a complicated problem and money needs to be spent to move incrementally back to the traditional pay scale. Mr. Finley said the School Board follows the County on classified person- nel, but not on teacher's salaries. The School Board could go two and one- half percent on either and one and one-half percent on the other. Mr. Michael Marshall said he is trying to make the Board appreciate that it is not just these percentages that are being affected. There is the other problem and as the percentages are being discussed, that problem is magnified. He feels it should be solved now by putting aside $250,000 for an installment rather than putting it off. Mrs. Thomas said the School Board has talked about this and she feels they know the implications of these different figures. She hears the Board of Supervisors saying this is what it wants without knowing the implications that have been discussed. She does not want to throw "a monkey wrench" into the School Board's deliberations but does not want the Board of Supervisors to set some outrageous limit. Even though it is the Board of Supervisor's responsi- bility to allocate money, she does not want to make harmful decisions. She would like to hear more from the School Board members as to the implications of a two percent salary scale adjustment, two percent merit pool and paying 90 percent of the employee health insurance premium, versus a two and one-half percent salary scale adjustment, two and one-half percent merit pool and paying 85 percent of the employee health insurance premium. Those two proposals may be similar on the bottom line, but she would like to know what is being said to the School Division if the Board of Supervisors chooses one of those proposals over the other. Mr. Finley said as far as teacher salaries are concerned, it does not complicate that process because those are done separately. Mrs. Thomas said mostly this will affect people who are non- teachers (i.e., maintenance workers, cafeteria staff, bus drivers) and these are the people who are working very hard and not making enough money to live in this County. Mr. Finley said "yes," this is why the across-the-board increase does not seem fair. He knows what Mrs. Thomas is saying about both the General Government budget and the School Division budget. Ooooa? February 13, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 7) Mr. Landrith said every:~i~Year a twoPere~nt increase is given across-the- board, then it is wondered Why there is a disparity between certain jobs each year, but the issue is never addressed. Mr. Martin said he would like the School Board to come back to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation, given the fact that they have an idea of what this Board is looking for. Mr. Forrest Marshall said he is willing to compromise and go with a two percent salary scale adjustment, two percent merit pool, and pay 90 percent of the employee health insurance premium. Mr. Marshall then made motion, seconded by Mr. Martin, to approve a two percent salary scale adjustment, two percent merit pool and to pay 90 percent of the employee health insurance premium. Mrs. Thomas said she Would like to know the impact of this before voting. Mr. Michael Marshall said he is not sure the Board of Supervisors needs to make a motion at this point. If the School Board were to talk about the proposal at its next budget discussion, it might come up with some numbers that would then come to the Board of Supervisors for discussion and which could be approved or amended at that time. Mr. Martin said he would prefer postponing a decision, but if the School Board is saying it needs a decision, then this is what he is willing to approve. Mrs. Wood said the School Board needs guidance. Mrs. Thomas said she thinks the School Board has heard that the Board of Supervisors is concerned about funding for the health insurance premium. She is also concerned that classified employees are most often the people who are working hard and not making much money. Mr. Forrest Marshall said unfortu- nately these people are being paid according to supply and demand and the teachers in the School Division are not. Mr. Michael Marshall said he was disappointed to discover that he approved the mandatory health screenings which forces all employees to submit to health screenings. The mandatory health screening includes having blood drawn and he feels it is a morale issue. Some people think that even though the informa- tion only comes back to the County, it is known according to who you are as an individual. There is a fear that employees who are at health risks may be discriminated against and employees may lose their jobs or various other possibilities. He finds it "big brotherish" of the Boards that they would tell people they had to have a health screening when it seems to be a private matter. It would be different if it were an incentive plan where they were paid or it was voluntary. He was distressed to see that he actually endorsed this and he wanted to raise this issue. He thinks this should be a voluntary program to be fair and that would show respect for people's privacy, especial- ly concerning their health. Mr. Bowerman asked if there would be two pools of people, one pool that had health screenings and one that did not. Mr. Michael Marshall said this is how it has been handled historically. This is the first year that everyone was required to have health screenings and extra money had to be found to pay for this. Mrs. Thomas said she thought that as a condition of paying 85 percent of the health insurance premium, there would be mandatory health screenings. She recalls there being implications. Mrs. Powell said she would like staff to address and clarify the issue because there seems to be some confusion. Mr. Robert Brandenburger, Deputy Director of Human Resources, said in August, staff came forward with rate increases proposed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield. One of the items discussed had to do with the health screenings. In the past there were voluntary health screenings and the last time they were held there was an incentive program where an individual, depending on the results, could get a small rebate, not on the health insurance premium, but basically, some type of cash reimbursement. The Health Advisory Committee, which was in existence for some years, looked at health insurance issues and made two recommendations to be implemented to change the program. First, providing this type of financial incentive was really counter-productive because there were more concerns and complaints about the way the screenings were conducted and the results obtained. Staff did not recommend continuing reimbursing employees for this program. In terms of health insurance, there has been a significant increase year after year with health insurance costs. This is not unique to Albemarle County. The Board has always had a strong focus on trying to take measures to get control of the continually increasing health insurance costs. Some ways of doing that are to change the benefit structure, reduce benefits and coverages to lower the premium slightly, but if trying to maintain some equity in what is being offered to the employees from year-to-year, an increase in the health insurance premium will generally be seen. It is then an issue of how much of the health insurance premium is paid by a Board contribution and how much is paid by the employee. Whenever there is a health insurance increase it is usually the lower paid employees who are hit the hardest. The Health Advisory Committee dealt with this issue over two years ago and at that point there were adjacent jurisdictions that had gone to mandatory health screenings similar to what was proposed, and the primary benefit was two fold. One, approximately 70 percent of the health insurance costs are from only 10 percent of the claims. A significant number of claims are related to "lifestyle" issues which are things that people can change if they choose to. There is the question of how to make employees aware of that. For February 13, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 8) a number of years the voluntary health screenings.were done and out of 2000 employees, approximately 600 people participated. There was not a significant change in the utilization rates but it is hard to correlate those directly. The emphasis was to try and make sure that employees were aware of their health condition to avoid catastrophic problems later and to offer, as a result of the screenings, wellness programs on a voluntary basis to reduce lifestyle related risks. Staff does not receive specific data on any employ- ee. It is all totally confidential. Mr. Michael Marshall congratulated staff on being sowell-prepared. Mr. Forrest Marshall said he would withdraw the motion if it has to be withdrawn. Mr. Martin then withdrew the second to the motion. Mr. Perkins said he does not see that the mandatory health screening has anything to do with the salary Scale adjustment, merit pool and health insurance premium. Mr. Michael Marshall said he raised the mandatory health screenings as a totally separate issue. Mr. Forrest Marshall asked if the School Board is looking for guidance. If so, he is willing to go forward with a two percent salary scale adjustment, two percent merit pool and paying 90 percent of the employee health insurance premium. He asked Mr. Martin if he was still willing to second the original motion. Mr. Martin said he hears the School Board stating that it needs guidance from the Board of Supervisors which comes by way of comments that have been made and that will be used. The School Board will then bring a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. When he seconded the motion, he did so under the assumption that the School Board had to have a vote from the Board of Supervisors in order to proceed and he was then told that the discussion could be used to forward a recommendation. Mr. Tucker said the School Board has heard the comments which give guidance without a vote. He thinks it may be helpful as the School BOard deliberates or adopts it budget to hear from staff as to the implications of reducing the pay for performance percentage before taking action. Based on that action, the Board of Supervisors would probably either follOw the School Board's recommendation, or, if it is higher than the Board anticipates, deal with that expenditure. Mr. Martin said regarding the issue of mandatory health screenings, given the fact that the School Board's meeting is supposed to begin at 6:30 p.m., he would not want to take any action without having another joint meeting to discuss this. He feels it is a large item to discuss without more prepara- tion. Mrs. Powell said she thinks the information the Board has provided has been very helpful and the School Board can forward its budget to the Board of Supervisors based on the discussion. Agenda Item No. 2d. Other Matters Not Listed on the Agenda. There were none. ~ At 7:00 p.m., Mr. Michael Marshall made ~otion, seconded by Mrs. Wood, to adjourn the joint meeting and reconvene in Room 7 for the regularly scheduled School Board meeting. Roll was called and the motion carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Mr. Cummings, Mr. Finley, Mrs. Gallion, Mr. Landrith, Mr. Marshall, Mrs. Powell and Mrs. Wood. NAYS: None. Agenda Item No. 2a. Executive Session: Legal Matters. At 7:05 p.m., Mr. Bowerman made motion, seconded by Mr. Marshall, to go into Executive Session pursuant to Section 2.1-344.A.7 of the Code of Virginia to donsult with legal counsel and staff regarding a specific legal matter concerning an agreement. Roll was called and the motion carried by the fOllowing recorded vote: AYES: Mrs. Humphris, Messrs. Marshall, Martin, Perkins, Mrs. Thomas and Mr. Bowerman. NAYS: None. Agenda Item No. 2b. Certify Executive Session..~ At 7:40 p.m., the Board reconvened into open session and adopted the following Certification of Executive Meeting: MOTION: Mr. Bowerman SECOND: Mrs. Hum_Dhris MEETING DATE: February 13, 1995 . oOOo,Ss February 13, 1995 (Adj°urned Meeting) (Page 9) ~ON or EXEC~V~ ~ETX~ I move that the board certify by a recorded vote that to the best of each board member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the virginia freedom of information act and identified in the motion authorizing the executive session were heard, discussed or consid- ered in the executive session. MrS. HumPhris' Messrs. Marshall, Martin, Perkins, Mrs. Thomas and Mr. Bowerman. . NAYS: None. ABSENT DURING VOTE: None. ABSENT DURiNG MEETING: None. recuested that SP-95-03, Oakwood · Mr. Forrest Marshall _-~_..~4, h~arina to be held by the NOT DOCKETED. ,, rack" ~or a pu~ ...... .~ ' ut on a fast t r u ervlsors on March 15. Foundation, be p ...... ~ ~4 and the Boa d of S p Planning commission on mazu~ ~-- Agenda Item No. 3. Adjourn. At 7:45 p.m., with no further business to be discussed, the meeting was adjourned. chairman