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Budget overview: proposed 1.25% pay-table lift, step increases and major pension/insurance cost pressures
Summary
County finance presented the mayor's preliminary FY27 budget recommending a 1.25% pay-table lift plus typical step increases (most eligible employees would see about a 3% total increase), 14 new general-fund positions, ambulance staffing tied to new EMS/forensics capacity, and a budget that includes a preliminary 20% employer medical-insurance cost increase and substantial pension cost growth.
At the May 7 meeting the county's finance staff walked the Budget, Finance and Investment Committee through the proposed FY27 budget book and schedule. The mayor's preliminary proposal for county funds includes a 1.25% lift to the pay table combined with routine step increases (typically 1.75% when eligible), meaning most eligible employees would realize about a 3% combined increase if they meet step criteria.
Finance staff highlighted several other items: the mayor proposed 14 new general-fund positions, one new solid-waste position, and 14 ambulance positions tied to the opening of a new EMS station in Smyrna and the county's upcoming forensic center. The ambulance positions were presented as eight emergency medical services posts for the new station and six positions related to forensics; staff said details and separate cost breakdowns would be provided when those departmental budgets are presented.
The committee was warned of significant employer-side cost pressures. Finance preliminarily budgeted a 20% increase in employer medical-insurance costs (the employee-side rates were not set at the time of the presentation) and projected pension-related increases of roughly $2 million for the general fund this year. Finance recommended considering pension reforms and noted that any plan change would require coordination and a minimum six-month implementation window; the county's consulting conversation with the State Department of Treasury was offered to the commission as a resource.
Finance also said the mayor's budget contained no proposed county property-tax rate increase. The presentation included an initial suggestion to reallocate certain pennies among funds to balance the book; the actual county certified property-tax rate for reappraisal year 2026 had not been released at the time of the meeting, so revenues and per-penny values remained provisional and will be updated when the state-certified rate is available.
Finance concluded by noting the debt-service fund remains strong but that planned capital projects, including a potential future jail, are part of the management strategy for that fund. Staff and commissioners agreed to continue department-level hearings and to schedule a pension-policy discussion on May 27 (or June 4) with the full commission if the committee requests it.
