Minutes 06/05/1979 - Laserfiche WebLink

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23Z June 5, 1979 It is the opinion of the Municipal Finance Commission that the City of Portsmouth conforms~to the policies suggested in the President's anti-inflation program. The fi¥~ suggested voluntary actions are: 1. Compliance with the voluntary wage/price standards -- The City has complied with the 7 percent wage guidelines; and, where applicable, price_guidelines.. substantiallTM the ~.~_Im~{~vemen~_of State and local regulatory practices -- This is intended to assure that legitimate regulatory goals are met at the lowest possible_costs and that anti-competitive regulatory activities are eliminated. A number of items are cited in the anti-inflation literature as possible actions which can be taken to achieve th6se goals. Some of the ones which the City of Portsmouth has already adopted include: adopt one of the principal building codes; improve long-and-short ~e~m planning, so that sewer capacity is not exceeded, resulting in costly catch-up construction; review laws patterned after the Davis=Bacon-Act to assure that wage-rate determinations properly reflect prevailing wages; apply the voluntary pay and price standards in setting ra~es or approving changes; and con- sider regulations that would foster competition among financial institutions. Adoption of anti-inflationary budget and tax policies -- The City continually addresses this general objective in its budgetary process. 4~ Insti~Uti6~ Of actions to improve productivity -- The City also continually seeks to accomplish this objective through its budetary process and its on-going management practices. Examples of recent actions instituted by the City to achieve improved productivity include: change to 2-man garbage ~rucks; automation of general ledger and revenue ledger accounting records; incorporation of ~the dental and rental housing inspection programs into the shared budget for the Public Health Department; and the development of a stB~dard design for fire stations and recreation centers. 5. Ad~R~ion ~f...anti-inflationary procurement policies Toward this 6bjec{ive, the City utilizes a bid process are made to the lowest responsible bidder. for purchasing whereby awards ~cerning t~ last item enumerated above, procurement policies, the President's program also suggests that local governments adopt a policy to purchase goods and services, abo~e a certain threshold dollar amount, only from companies which are in compliance with the wage/ price standards. The Federal government has adopted suchapolicy for purchases above the $~ million level. _The Municipal Finance Commission does not recommend that the City of Ports- {o~{~'~o~t ~a ~i'i~~ i~ntical to the one suggested. Rather, the Commission acted unanimously to recommend to the Ci~ty Council that a policy be instituted to require bids for contracts over $500,000 to indicate whether the bidder is in compliance with the wage/price standards. Such information may then ~e used as a factor in determining which bidder shall be awarded the contract. In summa~y, the Commission is of the opinion that the City of Portsmouth currently is in~ substantial compliance with the President's anti-inflation program, and that the above recom- mended procurement policy would further enhance the City's conformance to the voluntary pro- gram." Motion of Mr. Gray and seconded by Mr. Early, the report to by unanimous vote. be received, and was adopted Motion of Mr. Oast and seconded by Mr. Gray, to instruct the City Manager to implement th~_.~ol%.cy as ~ugg~ested by the Municipal Finance Commission, and was adopted by unanimous vote The following reports from the City Manager were presented: 79-206 - ~'Co{s~deration of an ordinance to provide for the classification of employees; prov~e' ~ mompr~h-en~iwe plan for employees; and to regulate the administration of the 1979-~ Cte~i.ficat~on and~pay Plan of the City of Portsmouth. Submission of a report from the City Manager on the Meet g Discuss sessions held with employee groups, outliaing their requests and any recommendations that have been made or incorporated into the Pay Plan for 1979-80. This report is being submitted to the Council in accordance with Resolution ~16 adopted March 11, 1975, setting forth the procedures for Meet and Discuss. Carl B. Hough, 8 DeKalb Avenue, President of Portsmouth Central Labor Council, spoke in support of a $50.00 bonus for all firemen. Gary O'Dell, 2020 Greenwood Drive, representing the Firefighters, in-support of a $50.00 bonus for all personmel who respond to the Emergency medical situations. On motion of Mr. Elliott and seconded by Mr. Oast, the following ordinanse was adopted on first and final reading, and by the following vote: "AN ORDINAJWCE TO PROVIDE FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF EMPLOYMENT; TO PROVIDE A COMPENSATION PLAN FOR EMPLOYEES; AND TO REGULATE THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE 1~-80 CLASSIFICATION AND PAY PLAN OF THE CITY OF PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA"