Fort Worth officials to seek $15M cut in employee healthcare expenses
FORT WORTH -- Not even halfway into its budget year, the Fort Worth City Council has been warned the city may have to reach deep into reserve funds in a few months to cover rising costs of its employee healthcare plans.
Brian Dickerson, the city’s human resources director, said cost estimates suggest the city could go between $7 million and $22 million over budget, even after officials took “ an aggressive stance toward our budget this year.”
The amount the city goes over budget will depend on how effective changes made to the health plan this year will be, as well as what happens in the marketplace, he said.
This comes on the heels of the city twice dipping into reserves at the end of the last fiscal year for $11.8 million after going $15.2 million over budget because of rising healthcare costs. The $3.4 million shortfall was made up with revenues from premiums.
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