Quick Notes:       SCEA LOCAL #1 SITE REPRESENTATIVE MEETING

Thursday, November 5, 2009

 

 

I.                    Introductions: Kevin Yount from the Community Services Department attended the meeting as a new site representative and introductions occurred.

 

II.                 Officer and Director Elections: According to the SCEA Bylaws the Vice President and the Secretary/Treasurer are elected in odd years.  Ben Harper current Vice President and Lorie Thomas Secretary/Treasurer have both indicated their interest in seeking reelection.  Notification that nominations are being accepted for these positions will be sent to the membership shortly.  The membership in each department will also be informed that November is the month to consider their Director position on the Board of Directors.

 

III.               Surcharge on State Income Tax Rate:  Notification was given to employees regarding this matter through the Auditor’s Department.  There is confusion regarding this matter.  It is the Union’s believe that this is a surcharge of 10% on the tax rate and not 10% of the employee’s wages.  It is also the Union’s believe that this surcharge is in place only during the months of November and December 2009.  Thereby, allowing the employee to recover this surcharge when they file their 2009 tax return.  This was a gimmick put in place by the Legislature to accelerate collection of income taxes.

 

IV.              Membership Vote to Defer Salary Increase:  215 members participated in the recent balloting to approve the tentative agreement, which included the deferral of the salary increase (anticipated to be 3%) from December 2009 to December 2010.  117 voted in favor and 98 voted against the tentative agreement.  We are in the process of finalizing a Memorandum of Understanding to reflect the tentative agreement.

 

V.                 State Budget: The State Legislature has not given any indication yet as to their intent to resolve the mounting budget deficit.  At this time, it is unclear whether they will take any further action before the first of the 2010 calendar year.  Most economists are still concerned with the high unemployment rate and poor consumer confidence.  While there are signs of recovery, there is still serious concern that the recession is still in place.  The Board of Supervisors will be considering next Tuesday the approval of participating in the Proposition 1A Property Tax Securitization Bond Sale.  Participation in this program will provide a backfill of the property tax money the State will be withholding from the County, which amounts to about $2 million. 

 

VI.              Pension Reform Efforts:  The anti-public employee pension forces are still active on a statewide basis.  Marcia Fritz, President, California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility is speaking today at Ruthy’s here in Yuba City.  This group has been active in promoting reductions in public pension plans.  The League of Cities and some counties are also promoting a legislative change to reduce public pension formulas.  Our Union is participating with other unions in developing marketing messages in anticipation of legislation and/or ballot initiatives.  In general, a survey conducted by the unions shows that the public is concerned about rising costs, becomes easily confused when the complexity of public pension fund formulas are introduced to them, but in general do not see the average public employee pension as being excessive.

 

 

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