Brooke Gilbert, the city’s HR director, presented three employee-benefits items the board will consider at its Nov. 4 meeting.

On stop-loss coverage, QualChoice conducted an evaluation of preferred carriers and recommended Barton Insurance Group as the highest-rated respondent. Staff recommended increasing the specific deductible from $100,000 to $125,000 because actuarial review showed the city has had a higher-than-desired number of large claims (staff said the city was seeing “closer to 5 or 6” hits per year at the $100,000 level, compared with an actuarial target of 2–3). Gilbert said proposals show raising the deductible to $125,000 would produce about a $70,000 increase for that specific deductible level but result in approximately a 9% decrease in total stop-loss costs for the plan year.

When asked whether the deductible change would affect employees directly, Gilbert replied it would not.

On dental and vision coverage (resolution R25-199), Delta Dental of Arkansas submitted a renewal proposal for 2026 that would keep employee-paid rates and benefits unchanged; the administrative fee holds at $3.19 per employee per month. On group life insurance (R25-200), Gilbert said MetLife — the city’s provider since 2009 — offered renewal at the same rates guaranteed through Dec. 31, 2026 (basic life rate at $0.17 per payroll unit, dependent life at $0.76 per employee per month, and additional death and dismemberment at $0.02). Arkansas law allowing renewal or extension of certain municipal insurance contracts without competitive bids was cited.

All three items were informational at the agenda review and will be before the board for formal action on Nov. 4.