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3507 ORDINANCE NO. 3507 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SANFORD, FLORIDA, AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 3409 AND ITS AMENDMENTS TO AMEND SECTION '10.9 OF THE CITY'S PERSONNEL RULES AND REGULATIONS TO PROVIDE FOR THE METHOD FOR REPAYMENT OF EDUCATIONAL REIMBURSEMENT; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY, CONFLICTS, AND EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the City Commission of the City of Sanford, Florida to amend Section 10.9 of the existing Personnel Rules and Regulations to increase the amount of repayment of educational expenses. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF SANFORD, FLORIDA: SECTION '1: That Ordinance No.3409 and its amendments thereto are hereby amended in Section 10.9 of the Personnel Rules and Regulations is amended and replaced by the attached hereto as Exhibit "A", incorporated herein by reference, and hereby adopted. SECTION 2: That the terms of Ordinance No. 3409 are hereby amended. SECTION 3: SEVERABILITY. If any section or portion of a section of this Ordinance proves to be invalid, unlawful or unconstitutional, it shall not be held to impair the validity, force or effect of any other section or part of this Ordinance. SECTION 4: CONFLICTS. That all ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith be and the same are hereby revoked, SECTION 5: EFFECTIVE DATE. That this ordinance shall become effective immediately upon its passage and adoption. PASSED AND ADOPTED this:--2~Day of ~,L~L~ A.D. 199~. ~TY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SANFORD, FLORIDA CERTIFICATE I, Janet R. Dougherty, City Clerk of the City of Sanford, Florida, do hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing Ordinance No. 3507, PASSED and ADOPTED by the City Commission of the City of Sanford, Florida, on the 27th day of September, 1999, was POSTED at the front door of the City Hall in the City of Sanford, Florida, on the 28th day of.September, 1999. City of Sanford, Florida I CITY OF SANFORD II PERSONNEL RULES & REGULATIONS 10.9 EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM The City of Sanford encourages all regular employees to pursue educational opportunities to the fullest extent possible. Such opportunities include both job-related and/or self-improvement courses and programs. In this regard, the City has established an educational assistance program to help its employees defray the costs associated with the aforementioned pursuit. Thc Cit~ Managers c4~ce The Human Resources Director shall be responsible for maintaining all records associated with this program. (A) ELIGIBILITY All regular full-time (and/or part-time) employees are eligible to participate in the City's educational assistance program. However, it shall be understood that the undertaking of such courses must not conflict with the employee's work schedule. (B) NON-CITY EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE Employees receiving payment or assistance for educational expenses from any other non-city sources (i.e. grants. VA. etc) which do not require repayment are eligible for participation in this program to the extent that such other educational assistance will be considered as primary for the purpose of determining any city assistance entitlement. It is the employee's responsibility to provide to the City an itemized accounting of the amount of assistance and what such non-city sources COVers. Employees rscaiving payments or assistance for educational expenses from any other non-city sources (i.e. student loans) which do require repayment are eligible for participation to the max. imum extent provided for herein and the Citv's assistance shall be considered as primary for the purpose of determining any City entitlement. In this regard it is the employee's responsibility to provide to the City adequate certification of the source and terms of repayment of such non-City assistance. Once the primary source of assistance has been applied to the total educational expenses, the employee may then be eligible for additional assistance from the City to the extent and limits as specified in Sections (B) & (D) of this policy. CITY OF SANFORD PERSONNEL RULES & REGULATIONS (C) INCLUSIONS/EXCLUSIONS The items included for educational assistance consideration are: 1. Tuition costs 2. Testing fees (i.e.: CLEP, etc.) 3. Laboratory fees 4. Books associated with the course(s) (Note: Only "credit related" tasting fees shall be included as opposed to "eligibility" type (i.e. GRE, SAT) testing fees). Excluded items for educational assistance consideration are: 1. Books 2. Miscellaneous supplies and course materials (i.e. pencils, pens, calculators, etc.) Any other items not specifically addressed above shall be considered as excluded for the purpose of consideration for educational assistance. (D) APPLICATION PROCEDURE An employee desiring to participate in the City's educational assistance program must first seek written approval from his/her Department Head to confirm that adequate funds are available from the Department's current budget. Once such approval has been obtained then the employee must submit an Educational Assistance Request form to his/her Department Head within two (2) weeks of initiating the actual course, test, or laboratory work for final approval. Educational Assistance Request forms submitted alter two weeks from the date of initiating the actual course, test, or laboratory work will be considered on a case by case basis taking into account the reason for the delay in submission in a timely manner. The request forn;., shall then be forwarded to the City Manager's office for final approval. The request form shall then be forwarded to the Human Resources Director. Department Heads must also be mindful that whenever they make commitments to employees for educational assistance late in the fiscal year, such commitments may well impact their budget in the next fiscal year. Department Heads must ensure that receipts for all eliuible costs must be attached to the educational assistance request form. The Human Resources Director will provide a consolidated oversight of the Educational Assistance Program. CITY OF SANFORD PERSONNEL RULES & REGULATIONS (E) TERMS OF AGREEMENT Once final approval by the City Managcr Department Head and review by the Human Resources Director has been obtained, a copy of the request form will be returned to the employee along with a reimbursement check for one-half (l/=) of eligible costs tm to a..axi;u,~. of $75 pcr credit hour to include eligible tuition, testing amHaboratory fees, and books. The remaining one-half (~) shall be reimbursed to the employee after the employee has completed the course work and attained the equivalent of a passing grade of at least a "C" or equivalent thereof. For public educational institutions in Florida the City will pay up to a total of $2, fO0 per fiscal year. Failure to complete said courses (s) or failure to attain the aforementioned passing grade or equivalent will result in the employee being required to repay to the City all applicable monies advanced accordingly. For all other educab'onal institutions that are approopriately accredited, the City will pay up to $350.00 per course or a totally $2, f50 per fiscal year. Once the coursework has been completed, proof of such completion must be sent to the City Msnagsr The Human Resources Director. This is the employee's responsibility and failure to do so within one (1) month from the scheduled completion date or receipt of grade report may result in disqualification from future eligibility for participation in this program and possible disciplinary antion. Forthe purpose of defining the term "equivalent" as used herein, such descriptive results as "satisfactory" or "certification" will be considered as meeting the "equivalent" definition standard. (F) Should repayment to the City be necessary while someone is still employed by the City of Sanford, such repayment must be paid to the City, in full, within a twelve (12) month period. Therefore, any amount owed to the City must be repaid in twelve (12) equal installments. Failure to do so could result in disqualification from future eligibility for participation in this program and possible disciplinary action. Should an employee wish to accomplish repayment in a shorter timeframe or by lump sum repayment, such repayment is encouraged. In the case of death, or upon "normal retirement" as defined in Section 8.1 (D) of the Personnel Rules and Regulations, any remaining liability for repayment to the City shall be waived. CITY OF SANFORD PERSONNEL RULES & REGULATIONS In the case of someone terminating employment with the City by mason of resignation or dismissal (voluntary or involuntary) and not due to death or normal retirement, and who owes the City for repayment of educational assistance, such repayment shall be made from any accrued sick leave or vacation leave cash benef'~s due that employee at the time of termination. Any amount owed over and above those accrual benefits must be paid to the City in full within a twelve (12) month period in twelve (12) equal, monthly instellmente. The application program participation shall provide an agreement to be signed by the employee, noterized and stipulating that should the empIoyee's services be terminated during the following periods either voluntarily or involuntarily, the City shall be reimbursed for funds paid the employee for educational expenses as provided in the following reimbursement formula: Termination after Completion Reimbursement To City of Course(s) Within One (1) Year 100% From One (1) Year and 50% One (I) day up to and including Two (2) years From Two (2) years and 0% One (1) day on The remainder of this page Intentionally left blank.