Sun Valley council discusses full staff health coverage, signing bonuses and merit increases in 2019 budget review

During review of the proposed 2019 budget, the Mayor raised the possibility of the city paying 100% of healthcare charges for staff and a portion or all of family coverage as a recruitment and retention incentive. Council members also discussed offering signing bonuses for new recruits across departments and increasing the administration merit pool to $125,000.

The council debated those personnel-cost items alongside revenue assumptions — members discussed using a revenue multiplier of 1.6–1.7 for 2020 planning and settled on 1.65 for the planning estimate. The council asked departments to prioritize online training where available and directed staff to continue refining capital-expenditure and personnel-cost estimates for the next budget iteration.