Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Columbia Falls budget workshop emphasizes employee pay, benefits and two new hires for FY26
Summary
City staff told council members the FY26 draft budget prioritizes pay increases, maintaining high insurance coverage and adding a grant manager and one firefighter, while flagging rising insurance costs and permissive medical levy impacts.
Columbia Falls city staff outlined personnel and benefits priorities for the proposed fiscal 2026 budget at a council workshop, emphasizing a multi-percent compensation increase, continued high employer health insurance coverage and two planned hires.
City staff said the draft budget assumes roughly 5–6% total wage growth for the coming year, including a 2% step increase that applies to all eligible employees and other merit components. Staff told council members the city historically has provided higher-than-average employer-paid health…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
