FM opts out of FAMLI program

Staff feedback says added costs would provide no real benefit

Fort Morgan is joining many other municipalities across the state in a decision to opt-out of the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program, a decision a large majority of staff appear to support.

Prop. 118, which passed statewide in 2020, established a program for paid family and medical leave, but it is a duplication to benefits presently offered to City of Fort Morgan employees, City Manager Steve Glammeyer said.

While the aim of the program is to “ensure all Colorado workers have access to paid leave,” documentation shared with the Fort Morgan City Council reads, many municipalities are opting out. Although a municipality opts out, an individual employee can still opt-in to the program. The council was cautioned it should reserve some funds in the event that happened.

Premiums are paid based on the employee’s wage, with the employee and government sharing a 50-50 split of the cost. The City of Fort Morgan would have been a participant, and every city employee would have been included, had city council not acted to optout.

“We already offer very competitive paid leave,” Glammeyer said, citing both local and federal programs in which employees may participate.

Additionally, he noted local voters opposed Prop. 118 by a 58 percent margin – 7,781 of the 13,309 votes cast in the county opposed.

“We would be following the will of the people,” Glammeyer said.

The City of Fort Morgan provides 11 paid holidays, five weeks of paid time off and a personal day. Employees may accrue through longevity more than seven weeks of paid time off, a presentation to city council reads. Employees also may participate in the Family Medical Leave Act

(FMLA), which provides up to 12 weeks annually of unpaid leave.

A Colorado Municipal League survey found only three of 45 responding municipalities were planning to participate in FAMLI, presumedly because of the same reasons Fort Morgan opted out. Those were the reasons the City of Brush stated in its decision to also opt-out.

City Council received nine email employee responses forwarded from staff, with each sharing their support for opting out of FAMLI. Among

those were comments that the present insurance is “greatm,” “excellent” and “more than adequate,” and one called opting out a “no-brainer.” One employee said the program would add a “tax” to employees and the city for something they already have, and another pointed out the wasteful use of city resources could prevent raises in the future. Some suggested the program is more aimed at those who may not have the same benefit offerings as Fort Morgan city employees.

City Council supported the staff recommendation to opt-out by a unanimous vote.