Commissioners debate funding a 2% COLA alongside step increases as health-insurance costs rise

Commissioners spent a substantial portion of the session debating how to allocate limited budget resources between a across-the-board cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), the existing step-pay plan and the county's rising health-insurance costs. County finance staff told commissioners the recommended budget currently includes step increases but not a separate 2% COLA. "If you added 2% COLA, we add $640,000 to the budget," a staff presenter said. Commissioners and staff also discussed that a 2% COLA implemented October 1 would affect pay differently than step increases tied to anniversary dates. Staff said the county currently pays roughly 80—85% of employee health-insurance premiums and that the county's portion of increased insurance costs this year was about $896,000 (representing a county-side increase); total county insurance costs were described as "$3.5—4,000,000 something like that." Commissioners expressed competing priorities: some favored funding both a 2% COLA and the step plan to maintain pay competitiveness and morale; others warned about the resulting budget increase, the goal to reduce the budget by 5% and risks of having to delay hiring or cut other items. Several commissioners said they preferred both COLA and step increases but acknowledged the board must find roughly $600,000 to $750,000 if both are adopted. No final vote was taken during the work session. Several commissioners indicated a preliminary consensus in favor of funding both a 2% COLA and the step plan, but the chair described the session as a guidance discussion and said the board must resolve the unresolved items before final adoption.