Christopher Moses, director of the Department of Human Resources, presented the department’s 2025 operating budget and outlined staffing, benefits and technology proposals intended to centralize talent and improve efficiency across city departments.

Moses said the HR department’s 2025 proposed budget totals $11,781,557, with $3,937,913 coming from the general fund (about a 7.5% increase) and $7,843,644 funded from the Employee Benefits Fund (about an 11% increase). He attributed the benefits fund increase in part to moving event and wellness credit expenditures into the fund and to planned investments in talent acquisition and training infrastructure.

The department requested two new positions funded from the Employee Benefits Fund: a human resources analyst to strengthen talent acquisition and targeted recruiting, and an employee programs coordinator to work alongside an upcoming full‑time ADA coordinator to centralize disability and accessibility programs. Moses also said the department is filling a vacant deputy director post and reallocating positions to staff a new Dayforce optimization section (Dayforce is the city’s payroll and benefits platform). He said the Auditor’s Office will fund the initial Dayforce implementation work in 2025, with HR budgeting for it in future years.

Moses described recent achievements including a compensation study covering 460 classifications, $4.3 million in savings in risk management through proactive claims management, and completion of collective bargaining cycles for four of six unions. He said the HR department continues to budget for the public safety physical‑fitness testing contract (an expanded estimate of about $300,000) and other citywide training investments.

Council members asked about health‑care cost trends, collective bargaining impacts on personnel costs and strategies to control long‑term personnel expenses. Moses said healthcare costs are expected to rise and that most city labor costs are set by multi‑year collective bargaining agreements; he argued better technology, unified HR platforms and centralized talent functions can reduce redundancies and improve reporting across departments.