Finance committee approves FY2026 budget policy; 4% COLA set, finance director to quantify payroll impact

The Davidson County finance committee approved the fiscal year 2026 administrative budget policy and affirmed a 4% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) guideline for employees, and asked the finance director to estimate the payroll cost impact including IMRF and Social Security contributions by next month.

The committee’s motion to approve the budget policy passed after discussion about how personnel requests should be handled during the budget process. The policy changes require department heads to provide two scenarios for personnel requests — one with the requested increase and one without — and to calculate IMRF and Social Security costs for any requested increases.

A committee member asked for a calculation of the total payroll impact from the 4% COLA plus employer-side IMRF and Social Security costs. The finance director said she could provide a rough estimate and committed to deliver department-level payroll calculations for the committee by the next meeting. “I can do that by next month,” she said.

Discussion also touched on the general fund’s complexity and the timing of revenue estimates, with the finance director explaining that tax and revenue timing (including real-estate levy timing) means revenue estimates are finalized later in the budget process and some levies can be adjusted to meet general-fund needs.

The motion carried with the committee approving the budget-policy document as presented. The policy clarified distribution timing for budget materials and added the personnel-request scenario requirement to improve transparency in departmental requests.