(a) There is hereby created a new uniform allowance schedule. The initial schedule shall go into effect for the calendar year 2016 and shall be as set forth on attached Exhibit A. Only employees holding positions set forth on that schedule shall be entitled to a uniform allowance. The schedule shall be adjusted, by ordinance, at Council’s discretion, and shall remain as set forth on Exhibit A until such time as an amended schedule is adopted.
(b) Payment of Allowance:
(1) The Village may purchase uniform shirts for employees of the water, wastewater and street departments in June of 2016 and January of each subsequent year. Uniform shirts may also be purchased for new employees upon hire. The cost of uniform shirts will count toward the uniform allowance.
(2) The Fiscal Officer shall pay the amount of uniform allowance that remains for water, wastewater and street department employees after purchase of the shirts described in paragraph (1) above, and all of the uniform allowance for all other employees, according to the attached schedule, during June of 2016 and January of each subsequent year. This payment shall be made to each full-time employee who is entitled to such allowance.
(3) Part-time employees who are required to work 400 hours to earn the allowance shall be paid the allowance (or for water, wastewater & street employees the remainder of the allowance after uniform shirt purchases) at the end of the first pay period following the earning of a clothing allowance. No more than one clothing allowance shall be paid to any employee in one calendar year.
(c) The Fiscal Officer shall maintain a uniform allowance journal for each employee who is entitled to a uniform allowance, noting the date and amount of uniform allowance received by the said employee on or after January 1, 2016. In these journals, the Fiscal Officer shall also note each Village uniform purchase and each uniform purchase for which the employee provides an adequate receipt or proof of purchase, together with the date of each such purchase.
(d) Purchases may exceed the allowances received in any or all years, and allowances may exceed purchases in any given year. However, the information set forth in each uniform allowance journal shall be provided annually by the Fiscal Officer to the employee, the employee’s immediate supervisor, and the Chief of Police (for Police Department employees) or the Village Administrator (for street, water and waste water department employees).
(e) Failure to provide an adequate receipt or proof of uniform purchases to prove the expenditure of the amount of at least one year’s annual allowance in a three year period shall be cause for suspension of the clothing allowance, as the employee who fails to provide such receipt or proof is not using the allowance for the purpose for which it is intended. A clothing allowance suspended in accordance with this subsection shall be reinstated only upon submission of receipts or proofs of purchase which total the sum of all allowances received through the three year term preceding the date upon which the allowance was suspended.
(f) Employees will receive annually, upon request, a copy of their uniform allowance journal or annual report from the Fiscal Officer, advising of uniform allowance usage.
(g) The following clothing items are acceptable for uniform purchases to be noted in the uniform allowance journals: uniform caps, hats, shirts, coats and jackets identified with a patch, embroidery, silk screen or by other means as being worn by a representative of the Village of Utica or a division of the Village government; uniform pants; patches, embroidery, markings, rank insignia, standard policy uniform accessories; gloves, boots, weapons, holsters, and such other items worn as standard uniform and approved by the appropriate division supervisor.
(h) The following items are not acceptable for clothing allowance purposes and shall not be noted in the uniform allowance journals: socks, except those specific to outdoor winter wear; underwear, except thermal or that specific to outdoor winter wear; shirts, jackets, hats and coats that do not bear the name of the Village or division of employment, and pants not specific to the matching uniform shirts worn by the employee. Exceptions to these rules may apply to the Village Administrator and Chief of Police, upon approval of the Mayor, due to the fact that duty assignments of the Administrator and Chief involve both clerical duties and service to the community.
(i) If the amount of any clothing allowance paid to any employee in a calendar year, less receipts and proofs of purchase noted in the employee’s uniform allowance journal, exceeds five hundred dollars ($500.00) in a calendar year, the Fiscal Officer shall be required to issue an IRS form 1099 to the employee. Regardless of the above requirement, each employee shall be responsible for any income taxes due on clothing allowances paid for which receipts or proofs of purchase are not provided to the Fiscal Officer in the calendar year in which received.
(Ord. 16-012. Passed 5-2-16.)