08-08-18 Personnel and Finance (#2)

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®CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK we spent the whole time learning about municipal law. It was very helpful. We had some breakout groups to address matters such as bonds and other such matters that are unique to cities. Councilmember Davis stated, Thank you, I appreciate that. I'm done. Councilmember Jake Teshka stated,Thank you for your presentation. I have a couple of questions. I know you touched on the increase in insurance as being part of the overall budget increase. I don't know, unless I missed it,the cause of that. What is the cause of that increase? Ms. Steele replied, We have a few different factors regarding insurance. So this we had worker's comp claim. That number will be following us for three (3) years I am told, but that is a small portion of it. The other portion is that we have noticed that the amount budgeted for the ili account Fund#226 was not as high as would be prudent for a safe net for the City. B liability g p safety tY Y ty statute there is a limit for one (1) claim and that limit is $700,000. The Controller's Office noticed this trend and, with a stroke of optimism, said we are not spending all that money that is in there, let's reallocate it. You can understand why. She then handed out a copy of the statute to the Council Members which is available in the City Clerk's Office. Jen Hockenhull, City Controller for the City of South Bend with offices on the 12th floor of the County-City Building, stated, While Stephanie is passing that out, I will follow out really quick. So the Liability Fund, Fund #226, you will see more detail on that on September 5th, 2018 when Admin and Finance has their presentation. Not only is the liability portion handled in there but it is also worker comp and safety and risk that we handle in our office. It is one (1) of the few funds that is kind of split between the departments. That fund is for the whole City. Councilmember Teshka followed up,Another reason why it would help to have the whole budget is to see the big picture. If, at some point, we could get all the information together,that would be great. Ms. Steele replied, So then, in collaboration,the Controller's Office has worked on getting the bid numbers in that account back up to where they should be in order to provide the City with a prudent safety net. With one(1)claim,the limit being$700,000,we need to make sure there is an adequate safety net in the event of an unfortunate tragedy. Councilmember Teshka followed up, That leads into my other question and it has to do with the trend of litigation against the City.How does the City accomplish a seventy percent(70%)decrease in pending litigation? Obviously 2013 was an outlier but, even taking that out, we see this trend. Ms. Steele replied, I am happy to answer that question. I am really proud of my team and I think this serves as an example of why. Our liability expenditures are going down,for the most part. I'm proud of our departments. They are getting smarter, wiser, learning from mistakes and they are better training their employees and working more closely with our Legal Department. So our liability is going down even though some claims are going up. Collections are also going up. So we are being more efficient, effective, we are training more, and are overall just smarter. In response directly to the seventy percent (70%) decrease, what we've done is go through and evaluate what are pending claims and cases that have been there for years that are costing the City money that could be resolved. We have taken a very precise and surgical approach to figure out EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227W.Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.9173 TTD574.235.5567Iwww.southbendin.gov 6