Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget And Compensation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Supervisors weigh 7% pay recommendation amid budget planning; insurance adviser urges conservative increase
Summary
Supervisors heard an insurance market briefing and debated whether to follow the compensation board’s 7% recommendation for staff pay as part of broader budget and levy adjustments. The board scheduled a follow-up session to finalize pay and levy decisions.
Supervisors met to refine fiscal 2026 budget assumptions and consider the compensation board’s recommendation on employee pay.
An insurance consultant, identified in the meeting transcript as Joe, walked supervisors through recent renewals and presented an outlook for next year. “I’d increase those figures by 8%,” he said, adding that “10 to 12% would be very conservative” if the board wishes to guard against market volatility. Joe noted Jefferson County’s most recent renewal ran flat year‑over‑year after the county raised its property deductible, and he projected a 7.85% increase for the FY26 renewal used in budgeting discussions. His presentation covered property, work‑comp and the newly itemized cyber liability line within the county’s renewals.
The briefing immediately fed into lengthier budget deliberations. County finance staff and supervisors reviewed fund balances and proposed levy adjustments to preserve reserves while minimizing tax shocks. Staff recommended transferring roughly 20¢ from general supplemental to rural basic in the county levy schedule; supervisors asked staff to model that scenario and bring figures back.
Board members also debated whether to adopt the compensation board’s recommendation to raise employee pay by 7%. One supervisor said he did not find 7% “outlandish” given no raises were awarded last year and rising costs, while others cautioned the board must ensure any increase is sustainable and uniformly applied. The board discussed options for handling midyear merit or step increases and whether to keep merit/step schedules in place or shift to a different longevity/merit policy to align across departments.
The board did not take a final pay vote at the meeting. Supervisors set a follow‑up budget work session for Wednesday at 08:30 a.m. to review finalized fund‑balance modeling, updated employee insurance figures and conclude the compensation decision.
What’s next: Staff will return with updated levy scenarios and final insurance cost estimates; the board will reconvene to vote on pay and levy adjustments.
