Human Resources presents flat FY27 budget, highlights parental leave and reorganization

Human Resources leaders told the council the department—s FY27 general fund request is $5,410,437, an increase of $161 from FY26 adopting a mostly flat posture while achieving savings through restructuring and vacancy management. Chief Human Resources Officer Debbie Cannon described three major accomplishments last year: introducing a parental leave policy (six weeks recovery for birthing parents plus bonding leave), launching a total rewards view for employees, and instituting a vacation/leave accrual credit program for non-represented employees that roughly 797 employees used.

Cannon explained HR reorganized into two focuses—compliance and employee life-cycle—and is using retirements and vacancies as opportunities to reclassify roles and reduce FTEs while keeping services. The department reported eliminating two positions for FY27 and proposed a $22,000 upgrade to compensation software that replaces an FTE by supporting salary grading and market surveys. Council members thanked HR for improvements such as My SLC integration and asked about recruitment support for departments (HR has five recruiters assigned citywide and a dedicated recruiter for the Police Department). No formal action was taken; staff will continue implementing cross-training and will return with any required policy or technical changes.