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Votes at a glance: Clay County board approves HRA levy, insurance changes, paid family medical leave and departmental reclassifications
Summary
At its Sept. 2 meeting the Clay County Board of Commissioners approved a series of routine and substantive items: consented to a $300,000 HRA levy, approved ancillary insurance recommendations, selected a private paid family medical leave carrier and authorized reclassification and hiring steps for public-health and detox management.
The Clay County Board of Commissioners took multiple formal actions during its Sept. 2 meeting. Most motions were adopted by voice vote. Key outcomes:
- HRA levy: The board granted consent for the Clay County HRA to levy a $300,000 special benefit tax for 2026. (See separate article for full detail.)
- Ancillary insurance committee recommendations: The board accepted the insurance committee’s recommendations for 2026 ancillary benefits, including new or replacement carriers for hospital indemnity, critical illness, accident, dental, vision, long-term disability and short-term disability. The committee recommended moving dental and other coverages to UnitedHealthcare for 2026; the board approved the package by motion and voice vote.
- Paid Family Medical Leave: The administration recommended selecting UnitedHealthcare to administer a private paid family medical leave plan for 2026. Administration reported a projected total cost of about $333,000 under the UnitedHealthcare proposal (based on 713 employees at the time of the quote), split roughly 50/50 between employer and employee under current assumptions; the board approved moving forward with UnitedHealthcare.
- Detox reorganization and public-health staffing: Commissioners approved reclassifying the county’s detox/withdrawal-management operation as a stand-alone department, reclassifying the detox director position, and authorized filling the public health administrator vacancy after the announced retirement. The motions passed by voice vote.
- Personnel and routine approvals: The board approved the agenda, bills and vouchers, and minutes from the Aug. 19 meeting by voice vote; it also approved hiring a motor grader operator (internal posting per union policy) and authorized backfill where applicable.
Votes were recorded by voice; where roll-call detail was not specified in the record the action is noted as adopted by the board in session.
Why this matters: The HRA levy and paid-family-leave decisions have direct budget implications for county operations and property taxpayers; the departmental reclassifications change administrative responsibilities for public health and detox/withdrawal management.
