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__ Ms. McKeehan said these are actuarial estimates from PERS in terms of what they are going to charge the City. Mr. Renholts thought that instead of charging $723,000 in the second year, PERS is only going to charge $49,000 for the same benefit. Ms. McKeehan said that referred to the incremental increase from the previous year. The point of that chart is to show the actual costs which are located in the columns to the left of the chart. She also noted the percentages represent payroll charges. Linda Gregory, 2000 Embarcadero # 110, Oakland, professional staff representative for the Pleasanton City Employees Association, said the tentative agreement before Council was reached after serious consideration and negotiations in good faith with the City's representative with the assumption that the terms being discussed had the support of the Council. There was a decisive, though not unanimous, vote of the membership to ratify the agreement. It was not unanimous because some people are wary of long term agreements. She hoped Council would vote decisively to approve the agreement and implement its terms. In her long career of representing public employees, it has seldom been her pleasure to represent a group that has a greater sense of personal investment in the services that their city provides. The Pleasanton employees have a strong work ethic and sense of pride in how well the city is run. This agreement is an investment in those employees and one which will benefit the city over a period of time in stability and the ability to have better control over the ability to recruit and retain. For all these reasons, she urged Council to approve the agreement at this meeting. Diane Churka, 507 St. John Street, indicated she was grateful to Ms. Ayala for bringing this issue to an open heating. She was concerned about this because it was not possible at this time to know what funding cuts will come from the state. She noted Contra Costa spent $13 million to construct a school, and is still waiting for reimbursement from the state. The Orinda School District has been waiting for state funding for two years. She asked what would happen to Pleasanton's budget if it does not get promised state funding? The City Manager has done a masterful job in maintaining the City's treasury. She noted the State budget once had a surplus of billions and a few months later is now has a deficit. She was concerned about the projections made by the staff. The stock market has hit unprecedented lows and it is unknown how much lower it can go. The country is at war on terrorism and the President wants to attack Iraq and she was concerned how that would affect the economy. A news report said it would cost nine billion dollars a day for the war. What would happen if Saudia Arabia lodged an oil embargo? How would that affect Pleasanton and how are we going to finance a military build up? How can we predict a rosy future with all this uncertainty. She said the Consumer Price Index in the last ten years has risen less than one percent, yet this contract provides a 4% increase over the long tenn. She was also concerned about a retirement age of 55. She did not think it was appropriate to equate the retirement age of firemen and police officers with the rest of the city employees. At a time when Americans are living longer and Social Security is delayed to older ages, how can Pleasanton lower the bar? Last week a family leave bill was adopted by the state, how will that affect the City staff?. None of these questions have been answered in the staff report. The City Manager said the instability of the economy meant it is a good time to negotiate this contract Pleasanton City Council 10 Minutes 10/01/02