Duchesne County moves to allow Roth 401(k)/457 options, approves public-safety contribution increase

Kevin, a Utah Retirement Systems (URS) representative, told the Duchesne County Commission the county can add Roth options to its 401(k) and 457 plans and implement automatic enrollment for new hires without increasing county costs, if the commission agrees to revise its service agreement with URS.

Why it matters: The change would let county employees make Roth contributions through workplace plans — not just Roth IRAs — expanding the amount higher-income households can save tax-free in retirement. URS staff also proposed an employer “pickup” increase for public-safety tier contributions that would take that county-paid rate from roughly 4.73 percent to about 5.98 percent.

Kevin said the proposal is essentially two parts: adopt Roth options for the county’s 401(k) and 457 plans, and add automatic enrollment (with optional automatic escalation) for new hires. He described Roth contributions as tax-free on withdrawal if eligibility rules are met and said there is no extra cost to Duchesne County to offer the options; what’s required is a revised URS service agreement. “It doesn’t cost the county any extra to offer these options for employees,” Kevin told commissioners during his presentation.

Commission discussion focused on the budget impact of the public-safety rate increase and on data supporting automatic enrollment. Kevin presented county figures showing 73 Tier 2 hybrid employees on the books, with 59 of those (about 80 percent) not contributing to retirement under the current default. He framed automatic enrollment as a behavioral nudge that increases participation without removing employee choice: employees may opt out at any time.

Formal action: Commissioner Speaker 4 moved to set the public-safety employer percentage as presented and proceed with the proposal. The commission conducted a voice vote; the transcript records unanimous vocal assent. Commissioners directed staff to finalize the service-agreement language, prepare required employee disclosures for new hires, and coordinate with HR and the county attorney prior to implementation. Kevin said the URS service-agreement deadline discussed in the meeting was March 6 and that the system-wide effective date, if approved, would be in April.

Details and next steps: The commission asked staff for supporting data on budget impacts and counts of affected employees before final administrative steps. Commissioners agreed staff and URS would work through the specifics of auto-enrollment level and any automatic-escalation cap; one suggested common private-sector defaults (3–6 percent enrollment, 1 percent annual escalation up to a cap such as 10 percent). The commission also instructed staff to prepare the disclosures that new hires would sign at onboarding.

What the vote means: The commission moved forward with both parts — the public-safety contribution adjustment and the broader adoption of Roth options and automatic enrollment — and asked staff to bring final service-agreement documents and disclosures for administrative completion. The transcript records the motion to carry the items forward and a voice vote of assent but does not include a roll-call tally.

Ending: Commissioners said staff will return with the service-agreement paperwork, supporting numbers on budget impact and employee counts, and recommended default settings for automatic enrollment and escalation.