Centerville council signs off on 'health holiday' from $60,399 insurance surplus; public works seeks two FTEs

Town staff presented two budget items the council discussed on April 2: a proposed distribution of a health-insurance surplus and a public-works staffing request.

Crystal, a town staff member speaking to the council, said the town's self-insured health plan produced a $60,399 surplus because claims were lower than expected. "This year, we are going to be receiving $60,399 back," Crystal said and recommended providing the surplus back to participating hourly and salary employees as two pay-period 'health holidays,' with about $2,055 remaining in the general fund. Council members expressed support for returning the money to employees and discussed using the small remainder for wellness incentives; Crystal and another staffer said they were already developing ideas for incentive programs tied to gym or wellness participation.

Public-works leadership presented a 10-year staffing and contractor-history report and requested two full-time employees to address increased work volume. The director explained that the budget does not currently support hiring at market wages for fully trained staff and that new hires would require a training period; the additional positions were framed as a multi-year capacity build rather than an immediate substitution for contracted work. "You can't expect to just automatically put 2 more people on board and eliminate everything," the director said, noting some contracted emergency work had already been brought in-house.

Other finance details discussed included confirmation of a 12.8% health-premium increase for the coming year and the current employer/employee cost-share of 85/15, which staff said they planned to maintain. Council asked staff to finalize open-enrollment materials and incorporate changes into the FY27 budget documents.

What happens next: staff will prepare open-enrollment and health-benefits materials and include the staffing request and health-holiday distribution in the next budget draft for final council action.