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Liberty Lake council reviews proposed 2026 budget and market salary adjustments
Summary
At a Nov. 24 workshop, Liberty Lake city staff presented the proposed 2026 budget including a 3% market-based salary adjustment (staff noted a 2.7% COLA and 2% steps); council members pressed staff on comparables, attrition and whether to cut salaries or other program expenditures.
Liberty Lake City Council held a special workshop on Nov. 24 to review the proposed 2026 budget, with staff explaining a proposed market adjustment of up to 3% alongside a 2.7% cost-of-living adjustment and a 2% step program tied to satisfactory performance.
City Administrator Mark presented visuals showing the fiscal impact: "the impact per 1% increase is $61,000," and staff said a 3% market adjustment would have a cumulative 2026 impact of about $183,000. Council members asked for verification of comparable cities used in the AWC salary survey and whether benefits were being compared in addition to salaries.
Council members were divided on where to look for savings. Council member Kennedy said he would "rather see cuts elsewhere in the budget, not in salary," arguing that maintaining competitive pay is important to retain staff. Others pressed staff for attrition data; staff said public works had the highest turnover among job families and warned that growing pay gaps risked exacerbating turnover.
Staff framed the presentation as a response to a prior council request for incremental scenarios (1%, 2%, 3%) rather than a direction to cut pay. The council returned several questions to staff for follow-up: to verify population comparables cited in the survey, to clarify benefits comparisons, and to provide a clearer breakdown of the components driving the proposed budget increases.
The workshop continued into line-item review and debate on event and capital items; no final budget adoption occurred at this meeting.
