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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReso 1989-13956 RESOLUTION NO. 13956 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA AMENDING ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE NO. 506 RELATING TO CLAIMS ADMINISTRATION The City Council of the City of Chula Vista does hereby resolve as follows: WHEREAS, Administrative Procedure No. 506 and Resolution No. 8517 only authorize the Risk Manager to administer tort claims filed against the City, and give settlement authority of up to $1,000, and up to $5,000 with City Manager and City Attorney approval, and WHEREAS, the Council has enacted Ordinance No. 2293 effective March 16 , 1989 requiring claimants presenting claims excepted from the tort claims act procedures to comply with the same procedures as to their "excepted claims", and incorporating said claims provisions by reference in all contracts entered into by the City, and WHEREAS, it is desirable to increase the settlement authority of the Risk Manager to $5,000, and up to $10,000 with the approval of the City Manager and City Attorney. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Chula Vista that the attached revised Administrative Procedure No. 506 is approved and adopted, effective February 7, 1989 , 1989. Presented by and Approved as to form by D. Richard Rudolf, As~.~_.s~t~nt C~ft~y/YAttorney 5157a SECTION ~0~ ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE o T! SUBJECT: PAGE 1 of 6 CLAIMS AND COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE CITY REF. I. PURPOSE To provide instructions for the proper processing of claims and complaints against the City. These procedures apply to tort claimsr contract claims (Government Code Section 930.2) and all Government Code Section 905 "excepted claims". II. DEFINITIONS A. Claim - A demand for something due or believed to be due. B. Claimant - One who asserts a right, demand, or claim. C. Complaint A formal allegation against a party; the first or initiatory pleading on the part of a plaintiff in a legal action. D. Plaintiff - The complaining party in a litigation; one who sues to obtain a remedy. III. POLICY A. The City's Risk Manager, assigned to the Personnel Department, is responsible for coordinating all claims and complaints against the City. Preliminary and necessary investigation will also be conducted by the Risk Manager and coordinated with the claims administrator. The Risk Manager will consult with and seek the advice of the City Attorney in unusual situations B. The Personnel Department is responsible for receiving and logging all claims. ~b(~/~~/~/~lX ~I~///~///e/]4///~//~///~///~f~///~f C. The City Clerk's Office and/or the City Attor~ey's Office are the only representatives of ~he City that may receive complaints, and summonses against the City. ~M ~ ~ ~ / ~ /~ ~ / /f/c~ / ~ ~ / /CoI~ / RX ~/ /~ / /~V / ~M ~ IV. PROCEDURE FOB CLAIMS ADMINISTRATIOM A. Receiving Claims and Distribution within the City. ISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ,ATE S PAGE 2of6 CLAIMS AND COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE CITY REF. The Personnel Department shall receive and maintain the original copy of all claims ~//~M~ filed against the City (regardless of the department receiving the claim) and is responsible for maintaining a log of all claims ~//~/1414~/~. Claims should be filed on Form No. F-244 and signed by the claimant or person acting on his behalf, provided, however, claims may be received in any form if they contain the minimum information as set forth in B of this policy. Upon receipt of all claims, the Personnel Department ~~ will time stamp the claim and forward the claim to the Risk Manager. I I I I I PI I ' rlV V I I J I I I A i&I I I t X I I I Z Z I I I ~//~/~/~/~/~b~/~N/~//E~//~f~Y~ B. Contents of Claim 1. Name and post office address of the claimant 2. Post office address to which person presenting the claim desire~s notices to be sent 3. The date, place and other circumstances of the occurrence which gf~ve rise to the claim 4. General description of the indebtedness, obligation, injury, damage or loss as it may be known at the time of presenting the claim 5. The name or names of public employees involved in the injury, damage or loss as it may be known at the time of presenting the claim 6. The amount claimed if it totals less than $10~000 as of the date of the presentation of the claim, including the estimated amount of any prospective together with the basis of computation f the amount of the claim. If it exceeds $10~000~ it shall not include a dollar amount~ but shall state whether jurisdiction would rest in Municipal or Superior Court. SECTION 506 ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE DATE SUBJECT: PAGE 3 of 6 CLAIMS AND COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE CITY REF. C. Assigning Claim Numbers Upon receipt of a claim by the Risk Manager, she/he shall: 1. Designate the date received on Form F-244 2. Establish a master claim file indexed with the individual's name and claim serial number. The serial number will consist of two letters and three digit groups (f~e.~., CV 79-10-001). i) CV = Chula Vista ii) 79 = Fiscal Year of Claim iii) 10 = Activity Number of Related City Department, as follows: 00 - Miscellaneous 01 - Council, Commission, Clerk, Attorney 02 - Administration, Community Development, Personnel 04 - Finance 05 Purchasing 06 Planning 10 Police/Animal Regulation 12 - Fire 13 - Building and Housing 14 - Public Works 15 - Parks and Recreation 16 - Library iv) 001 = Sequential listing of number of claims filed against related department during the Fiscal Year SECTION ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE DATE 506 SUBJECT: PAGE 4 of 6 CLAIMS AND COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE CITY REF. D. Late Claims Most tort ~claims against the City must be filed within Ig~/~ six months after the date of loss. Claims by public employees for feese salariese wagese mileage or other expenses or allowances must be filed within 100 days of the accrual of the cause of actione as to unrepresented employees; ore as to represented employeese within the time specified in the applicable grievance procedure. Claims by the State or another local pubic entity for partial or total equitable indemnity must be filed within six months of the date the other entity was served with the complaint giving rise to the claim. The Personnel Department shall also date-stamp all late claims f~//~4~/~//~ ~//If~X~ The Risk Manager shall evaluate whether the grounds requiring acceptance of the late claim set forth in Government Code Section 911.6 have been satisfied. In no event will a claim older than one year from the accrual of the cause of action be recommended for approval or be paid. The Risk Manager shall prepare an A-113 to place the late claim on the Council agenda for Council action; rejection or acceptance of late claim. E. Notification of Parties The Risk Manager will review all claims as to sufficiency of information and will coordinate any required investigations between the City, the claims administrator, and any other involved parties. A claimant filing a claim which lacks sufficiency as required in IV B shall be notified X~f~X~ within 20 days of receipt of such claim by the Risk Manager. In all cases, upon receipt of the claim, the Risk Manager will notify the claims administrator, the claimant, the City Attorney and the City Council when appropriate. Upon receipt of a ~~M//~ ~ claim~//f~///J~e///~//~M~ which exceeds $10,000, an A-113 will be forwarded by the Risk Manager to the City Clerk's office to place the claim on the Council agenda for Council action. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE SECTION 506 DATE SUBJECT: PAGE 5 of 6 CLAIMS AND COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE CITY REF. F. Master File of Claims The Risk Manager will maintain files of active claims, update files, and act as liaison between departments and outside parties. A tickler file will be maintained as necessary. G. Investigation The Risk Manager will investigate claims as appropriate. ~M~//RX~//~t~//~/I/]/I//~//~Q~/~//~f//~~ ~f~M~//~//~M~//~X~Y//~fM~//X~//~//~ I~ H. Resolution of Claims The ¢f~F~//c/q/~4~/~lvl~/~/d~//~M~//~ Risk Manager may exercise independent settlement judgment on all claims up to and including $X!,000. Claims from $t5,001 to $~10,000 may be settled by the ~f~f~f~f//~ Risk Manager with concurrence from the City Manager and the City Attorney. Claims over $~1~,000 shall be settled by the City Council following receipt of a recommendation from the ~Mf~ Risk Managerr approved by the CitX Manager and Cit~ Attorney. In all cases, it shall be the responsibility of the Risk Manager to notify the claimant of the action taken in accordance with ~f~/~ the applicaDle sections of the Government Code. V. COMPLAINTS A. Time Limits Generally, suits for damages must be brought against the city within six months of the date a claim is deemed acted upon; yet, a plaintiff may have a year or more to take action, depending on the circumstances of the case. ISECTION 506 ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE DATE SUBJECT: PAGE 6 of 6 CLAIMS AND COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE CITY REF. B. Receiving Complaints Complaints and/or summonses can be accepted only by the City Clerk or the City Attorney and their designated representatives. The City Clerk shall forward ~M~/~ a co to the Risk Manager and ~/~Jo~//~[//t~/~~ the original to the City Attorney. C. Procedure for Administration of Complaints 1__~. Upon receipt of a complaint, the Cit~ Attorney shall determine whether to defend or obtain outside counsel in accordance with City Council policy. If referred to outside counselr coordinate representation. 2. Upon receipt of a complaint, the Risk Manager shall: X~!)Time stamp the complaint and forward a copy to claims administratorr and S~ME//~//~///~////~f~/~//~M~ ~ii) Update files and act as liaison between departments, City Attorney~ outside legal counsel and outside parties as necessary. 5162a ADOPTED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA, CALIFORNIA, this 7th doy of. Feb~:uary 19 89 by the following vote, to-wit: AYES: Councilmen: McCandliss, Nader, Moore NAYES: Councilmen: None ABSTAIN: C(x~cilmen: None ABSENT: Councilmen: cox, Malcolm ATTEST STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO ) ss. CITY OF CHULA VISTA ) I, JENNIE M. FULASZ, CMC, CITY CLERK of the City of Chulo Vista, Colifornio, DO HEREBY CERTIFY thor the obovs ond foregoing is 0 full, true and correct copy of RESOLUTION N0. 13956 ,ond thor the some hoe not been omendedor repeoled. )ATED City Clerk ~C-6GO- Mp'r