New Prague council advances 2026 budget guidance, renews health plan amid compensation-study debate

The New Prague City Council on Tuesday heard staff presentations on the proposed 2026 budget, approved renewing the city’s existing employee health-insurance plan for 2026 and asked staff to continue building the budget around a draft compensation-study recommendation while the final report is completed.

Josh, a city staff presenter, told the council that the packet shows a projected premium increase for the employee health plan of roughly 16.9 percent and automatic deductible increases of $100 for single coverage and $200 for family coverage; staff recommended renewing the current 2025 plan for 2026 so benefits and rates can be finalized. The council voted to renew the plan in a 4-0 vote.

Why it matters: staff said the compensation-study changes — chiefly adding four steps to the pay matrix to create a 15-step structure and an implementation approach that gives all employees a 3.3% increase and moves them to the nearest new step without reducing wages — would affect long-term personnel costs and the levy. Josh said the budget currently presented to the council sits at $5,623,007.35, a 5.84% increase; staff said a $20,000 funding adjustment would lower that figure to roughly 5.4–5.5%.

Council members emphasized that they want the final AutoSolve study, including underlying datasets, before formally adopting the compensation plan. Josh said staff would seek corrections and the final report quickly; several council members agreed they would be comfortable using the study’s concepts for budget-building now but not formally approving the new pay matrix without the final deliverable.

On recruitment and retention, Josh told the council the recommended structure ‘‘seemed to be a way that would allow us to hold on to people without completely breaking the bank,’’ framing the proposal as a tool to reduce turnover in public works and utilities. Several council members pushed back on timing for title changes, recommending that re-titling (for example shortening ‘‘Community Development and Planning Director’’ to ‘‘Community Director’’ or converting ‘‘Accounting Technician’’ to ‘‘Accountant 1’’) be reviewed carefully to avoid unintended reclassification costs.

Other items: the Parkboard revised an initial request and recommended $65,000 in improvements (an estimated $40,000 concrete pad at the hockey rink/Sliding Hill Skate Park plus a $5,000 Memorial Park sign), funded $45,000 from the general fund and $20,000 from park equipment funds; staff said the packet reflects that change. Staff also reported moving ambulance-related expenditures into the general fund with offsetting revenues and noted a $17,000 reduction from the golf transfer fund. The council discussed treatment of one-time interest income and use of reserves; staff said the general-fund reserve is about 50% of annual expenditures.

What’s next: staff will request the final compensation-study deliverable and datasets, return with any clarifying financial breakdowns and bring the revised materials back to the council for formal action. The council approved the agenda at the meeting start (motion by Rick, second by Chuck) and adjourned on a subsequent unanimous vote.