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Arvada proposes targeted 2026 pay plan changes, council raises budget caution
Summary
HR presented the 2026 pay plan with market adjustments split between 4% for challenging job families (trades and police) and 2% for other families, 23 reclassifications, step increases, six new positions and a multi‑million dollar budget impact; councilors urged fiscal caution and tracking of reserves.
City HR and finance staff presented recommended updates to Arvada’s 2026 pay plan on Oct. 28, 2025, and asked the council to approve the package at the Nov. 18 business meeting. Ms. Balmer, the presenter, said the budget already includes the recommended adjustments and described the pay plan’s goals as retaining an “employer of choice” while remaining fiscally responsible.
Key elements presented include market range adjustments concentrated on hard‑to‑fill job families: a proposed 4% adjustment for labor trades and police job families and 2% for the other job families based on market movement; about 23 reclassifications for jobs whose responsibilities changed; routine step increases for roughly 71% of employees; six new positions; and several limited‑term positions extended in the budget. Balmer described the approach as data‑driven and tied to external salary surveys and local market measures.
On cost and benefits, the presenter said the budget included roughly 3.13% for range adjustments and flagged health‑care cost pressures: the city is seeing an approximately 20% rise in health‑care costs, with employee impacts estimated at about $4 to $23 per paycheck depending on coverage. Councilors asked about the share charged to enterprise funds versus general funds; finance staff estimated a little over 60% of the personnel increase falls to the general fund with about 20% in enterprise funds, leaving around $1 million of the increase in enterprise funds and the remainder funded by general fund revenues and reserves or operational changes.
Several council members praised the pay plan’s focus on retention but urged close attention to the city’s fiscal position. Council member Marriott cautioned that the city’s net position has been negative in recent cycles and urged earlier decisive action to reduce costs if necessary. Staff said some of the impact will be covered by reserves and by operational adjustments; the recommended pay plan remains in the adopted 2026 budget with final council action scheduled for the November meeting.
