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Alamosa leans toward pay-for-performance increases and adds staffing placeholders amid tight budget
Summary
Officials proposed up to a 4% pay-for-performance pool for 2026 instead of a full COLA, and staff signaled new staffing placeholders for wastewater certification and a future combo fire model, while noting grant expirations affect some department line items.
At the work session, staff proposed a pay-for-performance increase of up to 4% for 2026 rather than a cost-of-living adjustment tied to the five-year CPI average. The city manager said a COLA would have equated to about 4.5% for 2025 and that staff preferred pay-for-performance this year because of organizational needs.
Councilors pressed whether repeatedly choosing one approach over multiple years could leave some employees behind; staff advised alternating between pay-for-performance and COLA in multi-year planning when resources are limited.
Staff also announced targeted staffing changes: the wastewater treatment division will add one full-time equivalent for succession planning and certification, and the fire department is being prepared for a future 'combination' model that would supplement volunteers with three to four full-time hires to maintain response times as volunteer availability declines. The city manager said placeholders were included in the 10-year forecast to permit future hiring if needed.
Other personnel notes: staff said some decreases in police line items reflect grant expirations rather than cuts to core operations and that $17,000 in public-safety software was added to support operations. Staff emphasized that operational service levels are not being reduced in the 2026 proposed budget.
Next steps: staff will continue to refine compensation recommendations and include vacancy and succession-planning details in forthcoming materials to council.
