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Commission debate centers on $20 million COLA, pension funding and staffing increases
Summary
Commissioners clashed over a $20 million cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), its effect on the city's pension funding and recent additions to staffing levels; staff said pension funding ratio fell from roughly 75% to 74.5% under current assumptions.
A heated exchange at Coral Gables' July 2 budget workshop focused on the fiscal trade-offs of a previously approved roughly $20 million COLA and a recent round of staffing increases.
Commissioners and staff agreed the COLA is part of a collective bargaining outcome and cannot be reversed by the commission. Finance staff explained the city budget includes negotiated raises and that changes in the extra pension payment planned for FY26 reduce the additional payment this year compared with the prior year. Staff reported the pension plan's funded ratio is projected to fall to about 74.5% from about 75% under the…
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