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Regular City Council Meeting <br />August 14, 2003 <br />Page 6 <br /> <br />Councilwoman Neeley asked if it is standard that cities our size pay 100% of the <br />employees insurance. Mr. Anderson said that in most of the cities he knows, this <br />is pretty common. The variable portion comes in on how much the cities ask <br />them to pay on the dependent coverage and there has been a lot of changes <br />because the health cost has gone up so much. Mr. Anderson advised that the way <br />the city is set up with TML, they have negotiated discounts. In some cases, it is <br />hard to apply the percentage whether it is costing the city more on 90/10 or like <br />Kimberly Clark's 84/16 because of the negotiated discount, but they have <br />requested that the lower index works, which is the providers, they negotiate <br />special prices to go from 80% to 90% and for out of network down to 50%. <br />What they want to do is encourage employees to go where they can get a discount <br />off the top. <br /> <br />Mayor Fendley questioned the overtime in the Police Department. Chief Louis <br />explained that when the city allowed them to put on the additional change in <br />shifts this spring, they went to 12 hour shifts. He said they hoped to see a <br />decrease in that overtime. They have only had a few months to look at it and it <br />has decreased a little, but they hope over a 12-month period to see a substantial <br />decrease in the overtime pay. He said another thing you have to look at is <br />weather problems, and emergency situations that come up throughout the year, <br />so they do have extended overtime. Chief Louis said even if officers are added, <br />he could not guarantee the overtime would decrease significantly, but they do <br />hope that the 12 hour shifts will help decrease the overtime. <br /> <br />Councilman Guest wanted to know how many officers the Police Department lost <br />in the last 12 months due to getting a better job. Chief Louis advised that he lost <br />one to the DPS and probably one more, and they are about to lose one more to <br />the DEA. Chief Louis felt that they would see that accelerate because of the <br />salaries of the cities surrounding Paris and the competition is going to be a <br />drawing card for some of his officers to leave. He thought that if Paris's pay <br />scale was more in line with other cities the officers would stay. Councilwoman <br />Neeley asked if the city starting pay is a little better than some of the other cities, <br /> <br /> <br />