Whenever a full time employee is required or otherwise authorized to obtain a special license granted by the state, federal or local government or administrative agency, and where said requirement necessitates the attendance of classes in order to obtain that license, payment for the costs of attending classes shall be borne as follows:
(a) The City shall bear the costs of all expenses involving schooling and obtaining a license and the cost of any examinations relating thereto for the person seeking the license for a first time;
(b) In the event an individual fails to pass a course or fails the examination, the employee shall bear the costs of said course or examination. In the event the employee passes the course and examination on the second attempt, the City will reimburse the employee for the costs of the course and the costs of the examination;
(c) In the event the employee fails the course and/or examination a second time, the employee shall be solely responsible for the costs of any additional course work and/or examination relating thereto regardless of whether he is successful or unsuccessful in passing the course and/or the examination;
(d) The City shall pay the costs for the renewal of all licenses either authorized by resolution or required as part of the job description of any employee.
(e) Reimbursement for graduate, college or university class work shall be as follows:
(1) All course work must be pre-approved by the Department head.
(2) Payment for prior school year including summer courses will be made with the first pay period in October;
(3) Payment will be made based upon the number of approved hours to a maximum of sixteen semester hours of twenty quarter hours;
(4) An employee will be reimbursed for the hours taken and passed with at least a grade of C or receive a pass in a pass/fail course provided an official transcript and a pass fee slip are delivered to the Finance Director on or before September 30. Failure to provide an official transcript and a paid fee slip will result in no reimbursement to the employee;
(5) The amount of reimbursement may not exceed the actual amount expended by the employee for said course work. Reimbursement shall be for tuition costs and a maximum of fifty dollars ($50.00) per course per employee for fees and/or books. All other fees are the responsibility of the employee;
(6) The City shall set aside the total sum of nine thousand dollars ($9,000) per calendar year for reimbursement. In the event those funds are insufficient to provide full reimbursement to all employees, the monies shall be prorated among the qualifying employees;
(7) Any balance in the college reimbursement fund shall be returned to the general fund at the end of the year.
(Res. 1997-58. Passed 12-29-97.)