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Willmar council debates 2025 health‑insurance increases, delays final approval amid union negotiation concerns
Summary
Human Resources presented proposed 2025 health‑insurance rates and recommended employer contribution increases to offset a roughly 12% premium rise; council members debated bargaining‑unit timelines and whether the additional contribution should extend to unsettled units, then voted to postpone final action to the end of the agenda (motion carried).
Willmar City staff presented proposed 2025 health‑insurance rates and a recommended increase in employer contributions Tuesday night after insurers raised premiums by about 12 percent.
Human Resources Director Lou Anne Sietzma told council the city’s 2025 premium increase for single and family coverage was over 12% and recommended supplementing employer contributions. Packet figures and staff remarks showed the employer contribution for single coverage rising by about $41.67 and for family coverage by about $83.33 (the packet lists an employer single contribution increasing from $611.39 to $653.06 and family from $1,611.12 to $1,694.45). Sietzma said the additional employer contribution would apply to employees who are on the city’s base pay schedule as of the stated effective date.
Council members expressed concern that the additional contribution was tied to unresolved bargaining‑unit agreements. Multiple council members said they feared the increased contribution would be perceived as pressure on bargaining units that have not accepted the city’s base pay schedule. One council member proposed extending the added contribution to all bargaining units as a goodwill gesture; that amendment failed for lack of a second. Several councilmembers pressed staff for more detailed cost figures for affected employees and for clarity about the timeline, noting open‑enrollment deadlines and the city’s reporting obligations for pay equity.
After extended discussion about deadlines and negotiation posture, council voted on a motion to postpone further action on the proposal until later in the meeting (to permit a closed session on labor strategy later in the agenda). The motion to postpone carried 7–0. Staff indicated it will continue negotiations with union representatives and will bring back final documentation for council action at a later meeting.
