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 county plans to purchase next year. Paris said CPEC’s April 2025 collection is the third reporting period for that tool and that Larimer participates as a founding contributor. "For 2026, we will be recommending a 2% pay structure adjustment ... and a 3% merit increase for employees," Paris said.

Paris and Compensation Specialist Eileen Breedingham gave several quantifiable details: Larimer’s pay ranges are roughly 40% wide; staff estimated more than 300 employees are at the top of their range and thus would not receive merit-based step progression; the county employs about 2,100 full-time equivalent positions; and roughly 1 percent of base pay across all funds equals about $1,900,000. Paris and budget staff said because merit payments come on employee anniversaries and because some employees are already at range maximums, the budget office uses a blended budgeting target of about 3.5% rather than the simple sum of 5%.

Budget context and constraints
Matthew Bohannon, budget team lead, explained the 3.5% budgeting figure: "So County Math 2 plus 3 equals 3 and a half and let me explain so" — he went on to say the budget target reflects that not all employees receive a full-year merit and some employees are ineligible because they have reached the top of their pay range. Paris added that about 45% of salary costs come from non-general funds (user fees, grants, enterprise funds) and 55% from the general fund, which increases sensitivity to revenue changes. Staff warned that a 1% pay increase is roughly $1.9 million in total county cost.

Commissioners pressed staff on employee career progression and options for employees who have reached their pay range maximums. Paris and Volker said managers can use one-time performance bonuses, administrative leave or promotions, and that some departments already use variable merit structures to accelerate range progression for employees at the low end. Paris noted lump-sum payments are sometimes used by other jurisdictions; Larimer currently relies on manager-authorized performance bonuses and noncash recognition instead.

Data quality and next steps
Paris said the CPEC dataset is improving but still new: April 2025 was the third collection and while individual-job data are reasonable, Paris said she is less confident using CPEC yet for year-over-year trend analysis. The county plans to add a larger public/private survey next year to strengthen market benchmarking. Paris asked the board for direction; the budget office will translate the commissioners’ guidance into targets for department budget-builds. The work session produced no formal vote — staff said the session provides direction for budget preparation and the board will make final decisions when it adopts the 2026 budget.

What commissioners said
Commissioner Kefalas, who led much of the questioning during the session, described support for the recommendation and asked staff to explain practical examples (an accountant hired at $60,000, range progression, and how employees typically hit range max after about 8–10 years). Chair Pro Tem Jody Shatter McNally said she supported the recommended direction and that absent commissioners would be briefed. County manager Volker emphasized that the county is seeking to remain competitive on pay even while addressing structural revenue pressures.

Next steps
Staff will fold the commissioners’ direction into the budget-office targets used by departments to prepare 2026 budget requests. Any final pay or policy changes will be subject to the formal budget adoption process later this year. Staff also said they will continue to refine CPEC data use and add larger survey sources to the county’s benchmarking set.