Brian Head approves pickup of 5.98% employee contribution for Public Safety Tier II retirees

The Brian Head Town Council on June 9 voted unanimously to pick up the 5.98% employee contribution required under subsection 49-23-301(2) as enacted in SB 56 (2020) for all town employees participating in the Public Safety and Firefighter Tier 2 Contributory Retirement System, effective July 1, 2026.

Shane Williamson presented the resolution and Council Member Tidwell asked for clarification of Tier 1 and Tier 2 differences. Chief Dan Benson told the council that the Utah Legislature restructured public-safety retirement benefits in 2012; the change initially put some transitional hires into a reduced Tier 2 benefit (37.5%), making recruitment and retention difficult. Benson said the Legislature later adopted a '25-50' structure that provides 50% after 25 years for more recent hires, but that some transitional employees remain in the reduced tier and cannot be reclassified by rehiring. Picking up the 5.98% employee contribution, Benson said, is a town-level measure to partially offset those disparities and retain staff while urging the Legislature for an equitable solution.

Council Member Tidwell moved to adopt Resolution 26-575 to formally pick up the employee contributions of 5.98% under the cited statute; Council Member Logan Cruz seconded. The motion carried 4-0-0. The resolution takes effect July 1, 2026.

The council’s action applies to town public-safety employees participating in the Tier 2 contributory system; the meeting record does not specify the number of affected employees or the estimated fiscal cost to the town over time.