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Council weighs staffing priorities and pay strategy; assistant city attorney tops department requests
Summary
Department heads asked the council to prioritize limited new staffing for FY26; the city attorney's office, public safety supervision and a pair of utility operations positions were among the top requests. Council debated a COLA target and whether to direct additional money toward lower‑paid positions.
Kaysville department heads provided a list of staffing requests and priorities for FY26; staff recommended a short list of positions that could be funded immediately or by reassigning existing roles, and the council discussed compensation strategy and health‑insurance pressures.
Staff identified four priority staffing moves: (1) hire an assistant city attorney to address a heavy caseload and increase legal responsiveness; (2) add a deputy or similar second‑in‑command for the fire chief to relieve administrative workload; (3) add patrol sergeants to ensure 24/7 supervisory coverage on patrol; and (4) create water‑system maintenance and meter‑technician roles, potentially funded by reallocating existing positions as staff retire or transition.
City attorney Nick (named in the session) was cited as handling roughly 3,500 active matters; staff said an assistant attorney would help prosecute cases, improve responsiveness and support planning and policy work across departments. In the power/water area staff said a long‑time power employee (Bruce Rigby) plans to retire in July; staff proposed replacing that position with a meter technician while retaining a contracted representative for some services — a change staff said could be budget neutral or result in net savings when outside payments are considered.
On compensation, staff and council discussed the effect of rising health‑insurance claims. Staff said the city is expecting a substantial increase in health costs for FY26 and that the broker projects a double‑digit increase in the coming plan year; the city’s current loss ratio for claims has been well above typical levels. Council members debated a COLA and merit framework: staff suggested scenarios (example: 1.5%–3% COLA options) and councilmembers offered different preferences. Several councilmembers favored a middle approach (roughly 2.5–3.0 percent) with targeted dollars to lift positions below the market median rather than a flat, higher across‑the‑board increase.
Council asked staff to present budget scenarios showing the payroll cost of several COLA/merit options and the cost to fund the recommended priority positions (and to identify budget‑neutral reassignments). Staff said it will return with position‑by‑position market comparisons and multiple compensation scenarios in advance of departmental budget hearings.
