PURPOSE: Boulder County (the “county”) is a caring county government that offers professional growth, an inclusive culture, comprehensive benefits, and daily opportunities to make a difference in the community. The county’s vision is to provide the best in public service to the community in accordance with its guiding values of inclusion, stewardship, service, engagement, sustainability, innovation, and resilience. We are seeking proposals for a qualified Benefits Consultant to work in collaboration with our Human Resources team to assist in the selection, negotiation, contracting, design, implementation, and administration of our extensive benefit offerings starting in January 2025. We are interested in partnering with a consultant that will guide the county through a 5-year plan for benefits consulting.
BACKGROUND: The county has approximately 2,285 benefit-eligible full and part time employees, and anywhere from 250 to 500 hourly employees depending on the time of year. The county is made up of 21 different departments to serve the needs of our community.
The county utilizes a Benefits Advisory Board (BAB) made up of 18 county employees, representing nearly all of our departments, to help make benefits recommendations. The BAB meets virtually on the third Wednesday of each month from 9-11 a.m. from March-August. Meetings are led by our benefits consultants. Each month they review the budget compared to actual claims, present options for consideration (enhancing benefits, modifying premiums, discussing impacts of recent legislation, etc.), and then the BAB has open discussion (including utilizing a Racial Equity Impact Assessment Tool) before voting on recommendations. It is the BAB members’ job to share the monthly meeting info with their respective departments and bring feedback to the next BAB meeting.
In August, the benefits consultant presents all of the BAB’s final recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) in a public hearing known as the Benefits Workshop. The BOCC greatly values the recommendations from the BAB because it comes directly from our employees. The BOCC weighs this information carefully with the budget, and ultimately, they are responsible for making the final decisions for the next year’s benefits package and premiums.
