Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Personnel topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission signals support for 1.5% COLA and weighs insurance premium increases
Summary
Staff recommended a 1.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and 1.5% merit pool for 2027; the commission discussed treating COLA as universal and using pay-plan adjustments to retain staff. Finance presented scenarios showing 5% and 10% health-premium increases and their effects on the health-insurance fund balance.
Debbie Pack presented personnel assumptions in the proposed 2027 budget and asked the commission whether to include a 1.5% COLA and a 1.5% merit pool. She said a 1% cost to the general fund is roughly $316,000 and that the proposed 1.5/1.5 assumptions are in the model. “A COLA is typically given to everyone on January 1,” she said, distinguishing it from merit, which is tied to anniversary dates.
Commissioners debated whether COLA should be universal even where performance is substandard; staff explained performance-improvement processes and legal considerations. Pack also walked the commission through health-insurance options: consultants recommended at least a 5% premium increase; a 5% raise would cost a family about $19 a month and lower the insurance fund by about $175,000 under current claims assumptions, while a 10% increase would add about $38 a month for a family but improve fund balance projections. Commissioners voiced support for the 1.5/1.5 personnel assumption and agreed to proceed with the recommended 5% premium assumption as the working scenario for the budget.
