What impact will rising health care and retirement benefits for employees have on the FY11 budget?
The proposed budget includes cost increases related to benefits, including retirement and health insurance. These are both very important components of the city’s benefits package and help keep the city competitive in recruiting, attracting and retaining top quality employees. An additional $244,077 is included in the proposed budget to address rising retirement costs, which are due to changes made by Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS) to ensure that the future retirement benefits can be paid as promised. Additional retirement cost increases will occur in each of the next five years. Health insurance costs also are projected to continue to increase in FY11. The city is proposing changes to the health plan, including raising employee premiums, deductibles and copayments for the current PPO plan. A new option also will be provided for employees to participate in a high-deductible plan with a Health Savings Account (HSA). Insurance costs will be increasing to the employee and the ci
