Finance Committee

CITY OF VERONA MINUTES FINANCE COMMITTEE MARCH 24, 2014 VERONA CITY HALL 1. The meeting was called to order by William “Mac” McGilvray at 6:34 p.m. 2 Roll Call: Elizabeth Doyle, William “Mac” McGilvray, Scott Manley. Also present: Jon Hochkammer, Mayor; Mike Bare, Alderperson; Heather Reekie, Alderperson; Brad Stiner, Alderperson; Dale Yurs, Alderperson; Ron Rieder, Director of Public Works, Bill Burns, City Administrator. 3. Approval of the 3/10/2014 Finance Committee Minutes: Motion by McGilvray, seconded by Doyle, to approve the 3/10/2014 Finance Committee minutes. Motion carried 3-0. 4. Payment of Bills: Motion by Manley, seconded by Doyle, to approve the payment of bills in the amount of $152,462.31. Motion carried 3-0. 5. Potential Ordinance Requiring Equal Benefits for City Contractors: Mr. Burns provided information on a potential ordinance that would require that contractors doing a certain level of business with the City be required to provide equal benefits to an employee with a domestic partner as to an employee with a spouse. Dane County and the City of Middleton have adopted similar ordinances. The City of Middleton ordinance was adopted in 2013 and includes an exemption for vendors doing less than $25,000 of annual business with the City. Mr. Burns reported that he has contacted several of the City’s larger service vendors and that most provide benefits for domestic partners. Mr. Rieder reported that the larger construction contractors in the area also provide equal benefits for employees with domestic partners. Alderperson Manley stated that he doesn’t feel that the City should pursue this any further as it is not the place of City government to mandate what level of benefits private companies should provide to their employees. Alderperson Doyle stated that she is glad to see this come forward. She would support a lower threshold of vendors doing $5,000 of business with the City. Alderperson McGilvray stated that he believe this issue should be discussed at the state level rather than by individual municipalities and that he doesn’t like the idea of exemptions that create different standards for different vendors. Staff will continue to gather additional information on this topic. 6. Adjournment: Motion by McGilvray, seconded by Manley, to adjourn the Finance Committee Meeting at 6:59 p.m. Motion carried 3-0. Respectfully submitted, Bill Burns, City Administrator