Council approves pay plan, staffing levels and a slate of 2026 professional-services renewals

At the same Dec. 9 special meeting, the Metropolitan Council approved a set of personnel and contract items for 2026.

The council adopted Item 2, the revised 2026 pay plan covering classified, unclassified, nonclassified and contract fire and police employees, to be effective Dec. 27, 2025. The council also adopted Item 3, fixing the number of employees in the parish and agencies, by recorded motion; both motions were announced as carried with no public opposition recorded during the meeting.

The council voted to authorize the mayor-president to renew a set of professional services contracts for 2026, including: - Convenient Care LLC: medical-related services for the Baton Rouge Fire Department — $320,830 annually; $335,000 for fifth-year wellness physicals; $395,000 for cancer screenings; total not to exceed $1,050,830 for the 2026 contract year. - Franciscan Health and Wellness Services Inc.: up to $360,000 annually for 'healthy lives' services. - Health ReMed LLC: up to $100,000 annually for various medical-related services. - HUB International: actuarial and health-benefit consulting services, not to exceed $225,000 annually (Clerk recorded Councilwoman Rocca as abstaining on this item). - Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group / LA Cardiology Associates: diagnostic stress testing services, not to exceed $60,000 annually. During public hearing on this item, Russell Robillard asked who receives the testing; Human Resources Director and a fire-department representative answered the services are provided for the Baton Rouge Fire Department and that the cancer-screening services were instituted pursuant to legislation passed last year.

All listed renewals were approved during the meeting; for most items the clerk announced 'Motion carries' without a separate roll call recorded in the transcript. The HUB International item recorded one abstention by Councilwoman Rocca.