Click the hyperlinks above to contact an insurance or financial services representative directly.
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In This Issue:
- FMPTF Welcomes City of Dade City
- March and April Seminars Cover Human Resources and Risk & Safety
- Village of Estero Closes Bank Loan Through FMLC
- Florida Municipal Insurance Trust Gives Free Access to Employment Law Attorney
- “To Fee or Not to Fee, That Is the Question”
- Employee Heart Health – Why Should They Care?
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FMPTF Welcomes City of Dade City
by Rodney Walton
The City of Dade City is the newest member of the Florida Municipal Pension Trust Fund. The FMPTF’s Defined Contribution and Deferred Compensation Retirement Plans were recommended by the Dade City Request For Proposal Review Committee to the City Commission.
The Florida League of Cities’ 401(a) and 457(b) retirement plans were ranked number one by all members of the committee. The commission then voted unanimously to adopt the plan to begin transferring the employees’ $2.7 million assets to be under the FMPTF’s administration.
Dade City (population 7,233) employs about 80. The city is one of over 100 members of the FMPTF. “The FMPTF looks forward to providing great service to the City of Dade City for years to come,” said
Paul Shamoun
, director of financial services at the FLC.
Rodney Walton is a financial services account executive for the Florida League of Cities.
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March and April Seminars Cover
Human Resources and Risk & Safety
The Florida League of Cities, administrator of the Florida Municipal Insurance Trust, will hold Human Resources and Risk & Safety Management Seminars covering a variety of topics:
- Northwest: March 26 at Emerald Coast Utilities Authority.
- Northeast: March 28 at Green Cove Springs.
- South: April 2 at Oakland Park and April 4 at Greenacres.
- West: April 16 at Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.
- East: April 18 at FLC University, Orlando.
Each seminar will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. There is no registration fee, and lunch is provided. The list of topics and registration details will be available soon. For more information, contact
Dorothy Rollins
.
Phone: (407) 367-1798.
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Florida Municipal Loan Council Helps
With Financing and Refinancing
The Florida Municipal Loan Council offers municipalities long-term financing options through its fixed-rate bond program and bank loan program. Proceeds can be used for capital improvements, renovations, fixed asset additions and the refinancing of existing debt. The minimum loan size is $1 million. There are flexible terms of repayment, up to a 30-year maturity.
Since its inception in 1998, the FMLC has issued more than $1 billion in loans and has proven to be advantageous to cities of all sizes. The Florida League of Cities, as administrator, handles all the administration, the hiring of bond professionals and post-issuance compliance including continuing disclosure, investment of proceeds and arbitrage rebate calculations.
Click
here
for an application, and click
here
for more information on the FMLC. Please return applications via email to Molly Button at
mbutton@flcities.com
. Contact Button if you have questions about the program.
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FMIT Provides its Members
Free Access to Employment Law Attorney
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Are you aware that the Florida Municipal Insurance Trust has launched a new service for members who need legal guidance on liability issues regarding employment-related matters?
For members insured by FMIT for employment practices liability, this new Employment Law Advisor (ELA) program offers access to a Florida-based attorney with significant public-sector employment law experience. And, the best part is there is
no cost
to you or your organization.
Some of the employment-related matters the program is intended to address are hiring; discipline; promotion/demotion; transfer; reassignment; layoff; termination; and complaints of discrimination, harassment, unfair treatment and retaliation. Members can speak with an attorney Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) by calling (888) 368-FMIT (3648). Help is only a phone call away. Save the ELA phone number in your contacts today!
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“To Fee or Not to Fee,
That Is the Question”
by Vernell K. Goodridge
Attorney fees are rarely discussed between an employer and its carrier in workers’ compensation unless possibly you’re self-insured. An employer usually buys an insurance policy, and the insurance carrier deals with a claimant’s attorney fees as a “part of doing business.” The conversation usually doesn’t exist between the two entities on this topic, but it should.
When you talk about the workers’ compensation system as a whole, you must talk about attorney fees and not just simply from the carrier’s perspective. A broader conversation needs to take place. Although attorney fees are an insignificant amount in the entire context of the workers’ compensation system, they indirectly impact the total system significantly.
Ultimately, legislators have two roads to choose when it comes to impacting attorney fees. They can enact legislation that limits a person’s ability to hire legal counsel to pursue benefits, or they can enact legislation that forces carriers to pay benefits. Something in the middle is ideal, and that’s what they keep striving for. Click
here
to read an article from the Workers’ Compensation Institute on what the Legislature might take up in this upcoming session when it comes to attorney fees, if the issue is addressed at all.
Vernell K. Goodridge, CWC, ACA, CWCL, is the workers’ compensation claims manager for the Florida League of Cities.
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Employee Heart Health
– Why Should They Care?
by Gwen Mahabir
Cardiovascular disease accounts for over 800,000 U.S. deaths annually. Direct and indirect costs tied to cardiovascular diseases and strokes tip over $329 billion each year. To help spread awareness to employees who may be living with heart disease or are at a risk:
- Educate. Include a section on Heart Health in your employee newsletter. Include simple tips, such as taking a 10-minute brisk walk during their lunch hour or participating in a free tobacco cessation program.
- Sponsor employee health screenings. Holding a free onsite health screening gives employees the opportunity to speak one on one with someone who can break down their biometric numbers and help them become proactive in changing detrimental behaviours.
- Participate in National Wear Red Day. At this annual event on the first Friday in February, employees wear red.
Gwen Mahabir is Hometown Health manager for the Florida League of Cities. Contact
Mahabir
for more information about the health initiatives offered through the FMIT group health insurance program.
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