DeBary council approves compensation adjustment for city manager after insurance issue

The DeBary City Council authorized changes to the city manager's compensation structure to address an insurance coverage shortfall.

Wendy Cullen, the city's Human Resource Director, told council the manager's contract requires the city to provide life insurance equal to two times his annual salary — "which is approximately $454,000 worth of life insurance," she said — and that the city’s current carrier cannot provide that level of coverage for an employee over age 65. Cullen presented three options and recommended Option 2: allow the manager to enroll in the maximum life insurance available through the city's plan and increase the city's 401 contribution by 2 percentage points (from the existing 10% for employees); Cullen said if the manager declines voluntary coverage and retains only the $50,000 basic policy, the city would increase the 401 contribution to 14% to offset the loss of insured benefit.

Council members expressed agreement that option 2 provides flexibility without necessarily establishing a permanent precedent for future managers, and emphasized the tradeoff between immediate life insurance coverage and long‑term retirement value. The council voted to authorize the city attorney to prepare contract revisions reflecting Option 2 and directed human resources to prepare any documents necessary to update retirement plan contributions. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.