City of Groveland Minutes City Council Workshop Monday, April 14, 2025 The Groveland City Council held a workshop on Monday, April 14, 2025 in the E.L. Puryear Building located at 243 S. Lake Avenue, Groveland, FL 34736. Mayor Keith Keogh called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m. with the following members present: Vice Mayor Barbara Gaines, Council Members Amy Jo Carroll, Judith Fike, and Mike Radzik. City officials present were City Manager Mike Hein, City Clerk Virginia Wright, Sergeant-At-Arms Chief Shawn Ramsey and City Attorney Anita Geraci-Carver. As an alternate option, the public was provided the opportunity to attend the April 14, 2025 City Council Workshop virtually in listen/watch mode only. A public notice with instructions to participate was posted to the City's website under "public notices" at www.groveland-f.gov. and in the display board at City Hall. Human Resources Department Overview and Budget Human Resources Director Dr. Deo Persaud provided an overview as attached to these minutes, of the HR department's functions, key metrics, achievements, and upcoming projects. The presentation included details on recruitment, staffing, training, benefits, employee relations, compliance, payroll processing, turnover rates, application statistics, and budget changes. Council Member Radzik inquired if annual harassment training was provided to employees. Mr. Persaud stated yes. Mr. Persaud noted a few of the training courses provided such as cyber security, harassment, and money management. Mr. Persaud reported the training provides for a designated deadline for completion; a certificate is provided to each employe upon completion of each training module. Council Member Radzik asked if safety training was provided to employees. Mr. Persaud stated yes. Council Member Radzik inquired as to how the level of service compared to other cities with three (3) full time employees for one hundred seventy-seven (177) employees. Mr. Persaud stated the HR department was understaffed for the volume of work that was done. He reported the average was three (3) to five (5). Mr. Persaud stated four (4) years he was the sole employee in HR. Thereafter, one (1) person was hired and another person was transferred to HR from the Finance Department. Council Member Radzik asked that staff investigate what the level of service was for other cities. Council Member Radzik inquired if employees were provided with a satisfaction survey, such as Survey Monkey. Mr. Persaud stated he would be happy to provide a survey for employees. Council Member Radzik asked if the eighty-eight percent (88%) noted for the healthcare program was for single employees or families enrolled. Mr. Persaud reported some employees opted out of the healthcare program by signing a waiver and some employees had healthcare elsewhere. 1 APRIL 14, 2025 CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES Council Member Radzik requested a list of other cities who provide healthcare to single employees with no contribution from the employee. Mr. Persaud reported there was a survey currently out with approximately five to six (5-6) responses received. Council Member Radzik asked who handled employee complaints and the average amount of time spent on the task. Mr. Persaud stated, as the Chief Complaint Officer, he processes employee complaints. He noted this takes a lot of time as each complaint is taken seriously. Council Member Radzik requested staff research to see if it would be cost effective to bring in a third party. Council Member Fike inquired if the City currently offered a health savings account (HSA) or flexible spending account (FSA). Mr. Persaud responded no. Council Member Fike felt it would be a great savings tool to offer to employees. Council Member Fike asked if the healthcare providers sent representatives to the City during open enrollment. Mr. Persaud responded yes. Council Member Carroll inquired regarding the three percent (3%) internal promotion rate. Mr. Persaud noted some departments within the city were small. He stated as the City continued to grow preference would be given to employees. Council Member Carroll asked if cross training was provided for employees. Mr. Persaud stated it would depend on the nature of work, most departments do provide cross training. However, it depends on the department. Council Member Carroll inquired as to what a typical day looked like for Mr. Persaud. He reported tasks such as payroll, interviews, as well as assisting other departments as needed. Council Member Carroll asked if Mr. Persaud had a city vehicle assigned to him. Mr. Persaud stated yes, noting the vehicle was included in his budget. Vice Mayor Gaines requested clarification regarding the standard level of service typical for a human resources department. Mr. Persaud responded it would vary across organizations. For example, an organization of two hundred (200) employees would typically have five (5) employees in the department. Vice Mayor Gaines felt the three (3%) internal promotion rate appeared to be very low and the process of promoting employees should be further investigated. Vice Mayor Gaines asked if major surrounding cities, such as Orlando and Tampa, were targeted when positions for Senior Leadership became available. Mr. Persaud stated open positions were advertised to all qualified applicants that could apply from anywhere. For example, a recent hire relocated from Chicago. Vice Mayor Gaines inquired as to the percentage rate of minorities that work for the City. Mr. Persaud noted an approximate ten percent (10%) when he started with the City. Currently, minorities were approximately twenty-eight to thirty-five (28-35%) of employees. Vice Mayor Gaines asked for staff to bring back the percentage of minorities in Senior Leadership positions. Mr. Persaud stated he would follow up. 2 APRIL 14, 2025 CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES Vice Mayor Gaines asked what Human Resources Department does really well. Mr. Persaud stated Human Resources was very engaged with all departments. It was the face of the organization and set the tone from day one for all employees. Mr. Persaud noted payroll functions were very important to employees. He reported the Human Resources Department processed one hundred seventy-eight (178) checks biweekly, as well as addressing and correcting any changes. Vice Mayor Gaines asked if Human Resources had one (1) more person, how would you WOW city employees. Mr. Persaud stated he would engage employees more, schedule more targeted training, conduct employee surveys, and work more with stakeholders. Mayor Keogh referenced slide seven (7) of the presentation and inquired the ratio of terminations versus resignations. Mr. Persaud stated of the twenty-four (24) total, twenty-one (21) people resigned and there were three (3) terminations. Mayor Keogh referenced slide eight (8) of the presentation - Human Resources budget. Mayor Keogh noted significant increases in personnel services for the years 2023 and 2024. However, there was only a slight increase projected for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Mr. Persaud reported in 2023-2024 the Finance Department transferred a position, the payroll technician, to the Human Resources Department. Mayor Keogh asked if there were any large expenses outstanding, as the year-to-date operating expenses were not tracked. Mr. Persaud stated some previous charges were shared costs, such as legal services. He reported he would coordinate with the Finance Department to take a deeper look into this and provide an answer. Mayor Keogh inquired if it was likely that there would be no increase for workers' compensation. Mr. Persaud reported the term was negotiated with a new provider. Mayor Keogh noted reduced training on slide eight (8) and an increase in training on slide nine (9). He asked how that would work. Mr. Persaud reported funds allocated to training would be reallocated to offset an increase in the budget. He added staff was looking into providing more in-person type training. Mayor Keogh referenced slide six (6) = Human Resources Operations metrics and asked why more employees were not being promoted. Mr. Persaud noted the positions becoming available were mostly entry level positions. Mayor Keogh stated most companies maintained a succession plan that included training. He asked if the City had anything similar. Mr. Persaud stated that it was a challenge, as most departments were lean. He reported staff were typically cross trained in certain functions. Mr. Persaud reported as the department continued to grow, he would be happy to create a succession plan. Mayor Keogh stated there was typically a coaching strategy within the succession plan tracked by the Human Resources Department to keep employees on the right path. Mr. Persaud stated the Human Resources Handbook addressed some of these items, such as discipline up to termination, and coaching. 3 APRIL 14, 2025 CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES Mayor Keogh inquired if the disciplinary action plan was followed by the directors. Mr. Persaud stated yes, mostly on the public safety side. He stated it was a challenge to obtain sufficient documentation. Mayor Keogh inquired if orientation was provided for new employees. Mr. Persaud stated yes. He reported former employee Doris Bloodsworth created a presentation on the history of the City that was shared with each new employee. Orientation also included an overview of benefits and policies. Mayor Keogh asked about the twelve (12) hours of training per employee. Mr. Persaud stated annual training was provided to all employees once per month with a deadline to complete the training module. Mayor Keogh inquired if there were any current legal actions against the City. Mr. Persaud stated there had been no employee-related lawsuits since his employment with the City. Council Member Radzik asked if the City should be reserving for any type of HR litigation. Mr. Persaud stated any lawsuit loss would be covered under stop loss insurance. Council Member Radzik stated it was important to know how much was being spent on litigation through insurance coverage or if we could be saving towards this little by little. Mr. Persaud stated there was an accounting line in the budget for this item. Council Member Radzik stated he had been concerned about transition training as well. He noted it would be more cost effective to provide training than to spend thousands on headhunter fees. Council Member Radzik expressed his frustrations with items being moved around on the budget each year. He mentioned a lot of footnotes would be needed for this year's budget. Council Member Radzik stated diversity within the city was probably one percent (1%) when he started. He noted the research was important to know if the City was still behind the mark with diversity. Council Member Radzik inquired if outsourcing payroll was considered. Mr. Persaud stated he was an advocate for keeping payroll in-house. Council Member Fike asked how often staff members were reviewed. Mr. Persaud reported there was currently no annual review for employees. Council Member Fike stated we may want to implement a performance appraisal system to be able to track employee performance. Vice Mayor Gaines clarified that she was not only speaking of senior leadership when she asked about promotions. She felt there should be more promotion across all levels of employment. Mayor Keogh asked if Mr. Persaud sat in on employee meetings involving progressive discipline. Mr. Persaud reported yes. City Manager Hein stated the information requested would be provided, as well as a list of internal vacancies to help explain the lack of upward mobility. Mayor Keogh stated the data was important to have to uncover any term/resignation trends the City could learn from. 4 APRIL 14, 2025 CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES City Manager Hein suggested rescheduling the Finance Department's overview and budget due to the length of time utilized for the HR workshop. All council members present concurred. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Keogh adjourned the workshop at 7:07 p.m. Groveland FLORIDA City withNatura/Charm Keith Keogh,Mayor Attest: Virginia Wright, City Clerk 5 7 FY25/26 BUDGET WORKSHOP APRIL 14, 2025 Groveland FLORIDA - APRIL 14, 2025 By Dr. Deo Persaud, PhD HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT BUDGET PRESENTATION 2 Personnel Services Update DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW Human Resources (HR) in city government plays a vital role in ensuring that the City of Groveland Groveland operates efficiently and effectively, FLORIDA meeting the needs of our employees and the community. City with Natural Charm 3 CITY OF GROVELAND ORGANIZATIONAL CHART HUMAN RESOURCES HUMAN 3 FTE RESOURCES DIRECTOR HUMAN PAYROLL RESOURCES TECHNICIAN SPECIALIST Key Functions Department Overview: Recruitment and staffing. Employee training and development. Benefits administration. Employee relations, Labor relations and compliance. Groveland Workforce Planning FLORIDA Compliance with Laws and Regulations. City with Natural Charm Health, Safety and Wellness. Payroll Processing Tax Filings. 5 HR Operations Metrics - FY 2025 Metric Value Turnover Rate (%) 13% Average Time-to-Fil (days) 20 days Training Hours per Employee (Annual) 12 hours Internal Promotion Rate (%) 3% Health Plan Participation Rate (%) 88% 6 HR Operations Metrics - FY 2025 Metric Count Applications Processed 1,300 New Hires 20 Terminations / Resignations 24 Benefits Processed 47 Payrolls Processed 62 Accounts Payable 60 Tax Filings 30 FMLA Cases Processed 18 Workers' Compensation Processed 12 Training Conducted (FY 2025) 12 7 Human Resources Budget 2024-2025 2022-2023 2023-2024 2024-2025 YTD Activity 2025-2026 Budget Budget Total Activity Total Activity Current Budget Thru Feb. Proposed Budget Change $ Change % Personnel Services $ 190,910 $ 240,945 $ 306,400 $ 109,731 $ 310,340 $ 3,940 1.29% Operating Expenses $ 93,129 $ 55,436 $ 118,000 $ 9,831 $ 117,560 $ (440) -0.37% Capital Outlay $ $ $ $ $ $ N/A Debt Service $ $ $ $ $ N/A Grants & Aids $ $ $ $ $ $ N/A HR Department Total: $ 284,040 $ 296,381 $ 424,400 $ 119,562 $ 427,900 $ 3,500 0.91% FY 26 Changes/Highlights 4k increase in personnel services reflects the baseline cost with no changes in staffing, no increase in workers' compensation, and a 10% estimated increase in benefits. $440 decrease in operating expenses is attributed to reduced training/education costs. 8 ACHIEVEMENTS FY25 ACCOMPLISHMENTS NEW PROJECTS Collective Bargaining Agreement Fire Records management & preservation. Department. Benefit redesign (HAS or FSA). Compensation Increases Police & Dispatch. Municipal benefit survey Implemented Benefits & Safety committees. Market analysis (Open Enrollment). Recruited & hired 20 employees. Increased Training. Implementation of Time & Attendance system. 9 Q&A Thank You! Groveland FLORIDA City with Natural Charm 10