Governor Snyder's Latest Ideas (MI)

[Tripod]

I'm still trying to digest a couple of his idea's. I am concerned about the direction we are going for public safety. Here is a link.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/sn...1_348148_7.pdf

[Tripod]

Here is the section that deals with employee compensaton.


Finally, municipalities must begin to address employee compensation in order to continue to qualify for the Economic Vitality Incentive Program. For any new, modified or extended contract, all public employee compensation should be subject to the following criteria:
a) Placing all new hires are on a defined contribution plan or a hybrid retirement plan that caps annual employer contributions at 10 percent of base salary.
b) Where applicable a 1.5 percent multiplier should be used to determine employee pensions. A 2 percent multiplier should be used for employees who are not eligible for social security benefits.
c) Implementing controls to avoid pension spiking such as using a three-year salary average that does not include more than a total of 240 hours of paid leave and overtime to determine benefit levels.
d) If health care is offered, all new hires must be on an 80/20 employer to employee health care premium split. Alternatively, a dollar amount could be assigned to local health care plans and compared to the state healthcare plan if it is an HMO or includes other cost saving measures such as co-pays or deductibles.
Municipalities will receive one-third of their funding for each category of best practices they meet. The three categories are accountability and transparency, consolidation of services and employee compensation. Local units must meet every criteria described in a specific category by the defined timeline to fully benefit from the program. Municipalities that do not meet the criteria will see reduced funding in their scheduled payments. Until the specified dates and new contracts begin, communities will continue to receive six payments as previously scheduled at the new funding level.
These proposed reforms will accomplish several goals for Michigan. Most importantly, local leaders will have the ability to control short- and long-term costs. By controlling costs, local governments can maintain critical public safety, infrastructure and quality of life services. The continued provision of these services will enhance the long-term competiveness and economic vitality of Michigan’s commercial centers and the entire state.

[pasobuff]

Here is the section that deals with employee compensaton.


Finally, municipalities must begin to address employee compensation in order to continue to qualify for the Economic Vitality Incentive Program. For any new, modified or extended contract, all public employee compensation should be subject to the following criteria:
a) Placing all new hires are on a defined contribution plan or a hybrid retirement plan that caps annual employer contributions at 10 percent of base salary.

I don't see a problem with that - as long as you get back at least what you put in it -

b) Where applicable a 1.5 percent multiplier should be used to determine employee pensions. A 2 percent multiplier should be used for employees who are not eligible for social security benefits.

not sure what that is?

c) Implementing controls to avoid pension spiking such as using a three-year salary average that does not include more than a total of 240 hours of paid leave and overtime to determine benefit levels.

No problem with this.....

d) If health care is offered, all new hires must be on an 80/20 employer to employee health care premium split. Alternatively, a dollar amount could be assigned to local health care plans and compared to the state healthcare plan if it is an HMO or includes other cost saving measures such as co-pays or deductibles.

as long as this is an up-front deal, it is still probably a lot cheaper than in the private sector.....

Municipalities will receive one-third of their funding for each category of best practices they meet. The three categories are accountability and transparency, consolidation of services and employee compensation. Local units must meet every criteria described in a specific category by the defined timeline to fully benefit from the program. Municipalities that do not meet the criteria will see reduced funding in their scheduled payments. Until the specified dates and new contracts begin, communities will continue to receive six payments as previously scheduled at the new funding level.
These proposed reforms will accomplish several goals for Michigan. Most importantly, local leaders will have the ability to control short- and long-term costs. By controlling costs, local governments can maintain critical public safety, infrastructure and quality of life services. The continued provision of these services will enhance the long-term competiveness and economic vitality of Michigan’s commercial centers and the entire state.

Good - give a viable incentive to reduce costs.....

oh - and I'm a public employee - been one for going on 17 years now - one of the MAIN reasons I chose this path was the benefits - the other the stability of having a job for the long-term....I'd rather have a little more taken out of my pay up front, and KNOW I am keeping my job as long as I need it vs. not knowing if I will get a pink slip one day......

[big_leauges]

I was a career firefighter in Michigan, who was laid off last summer before Snyder took office. I now realize I have no shot of getting hired again in Michigan, and it is only gonna get worse around here. The cops right now are vultures and loving the chance to go PSO, that's what happened to me.