Larimer County staff recommend 2% market adjustment and 3% merit increase for 2026; budget impact estimated at about $5 million

Larimer County human resources and budget officials presented a staff recommendation on June 18 that would raise the county’s 2026 pay plan by a 2% market (pay-structure) adjustment and provide a 3% merit increase for eligible employees, a package county staff say would result in an effective budgeting target of about 3.5% and roughly $5 million in total personnel cost pressure.

The recommendation matters because county officials say the county faces a multi-year revenue constraint created by recent state action and must reduce overall spending by $6 million to $8 million over the next couple of years. "The legislature last year capped the county's revenue over a 2 year period, which will create a long term deficit for the county," said Lorenda Volker, Larimer County manager. County staff said those constraints make the budget trade-offs sharper even while they aim to keep pay competitive to retain staff.

The proposal and data sources Bridget Paris, Larimer County human resources director, said the county’s compensation team used a new data-sharing survey called Colorado Public Employers Compensation (CPEC) — described in the meeting as a public-employer run data warehouse — plus additional market sources the…