Iowa State employees will get up to a 3% raise; 1,100-signature petition says it's not enough

Iowa State University faculty and professional and scientific staff will get up to a 3% raise next year, but an employee petition with nearly 1,100 signatures is calling for more to keep up with inflation and rising health care costs.

The raises would take effect Jan. 1, 2024, for employees with a satisfactory job performance review. That follows a 1% increase that eligible employees received in July. The July increase was part of a transition to implementing annual salary increases in January to better align with the state and university’s budgeting process, according to an internal Iowa State news service story.

But the January increase also comes with news that employees will have to start paying an annual deductible and have an annual out-of-pocket maximum, as well as pay higher premiums for health and dental insurance and more in coinsurance.

Sara Hayden Parris, associate director of administrative services at Iowa State's student health center, created the petition. She said as of Thursday afternoon 1,090 faculty and staff members had signed.

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Hayden Parris said she's not concerned about her own finances, but "I am very concerned about other people earlier in their careers” or in lower pay grades.

An online ISU fact book shows a head count of about 1,750 faculty in 2022 and about 3,500 professional and scientific staff. The raises also apply to postdoctoral scholars and contract staff whose contracts don't specify performance-based adjustments. Merit employees received a 3% across-the-board increase July 1 as part of their union contract.

An emailed response to the petition sent from ISU President Wendy Wintersteen and other top administrators to Hayden Parris Sept. 28 said of the July and Jan. 1 increases, "This allocation represents the extent of the university’s budgeted resources for salary increases for FY24." It also said that while the size of individual Jan. 1 increases will be based on performance, "a 3% spend is the expected target across divisions."

As for the two other regents universities in Iowa: Employees at the University of Iowa got between a 3% and 4% merit-based pay raise in July, the start of its fiscal year, according to a Human Resources memo. The University of Northern Iowa’s faculty union will receive 3% base salary increases the next two years, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported.

How much are Iowa State University faculty and staff facing in increased insurance costs?

Individual employees will pay a $33 a month premium in 2024 for the university's cheaper BlueHMO health insurance plan. Families will pay $234 a month. That's an increase from $29 a month for individuals and $193 for families in 2023, according to university health plan documents.

Preventive care will be free — $15 cheaper than before — but annual deductibles are increasing from $0 to $250 for individuals and from $0 to $500 for other coverage plans, according to the university's announcement to its employees, which was shared with the Des Moines Register.

Annual out-of-pocket maximums are increasing from $0 to $1,500 for individuals and from $0 to $3,000 for other coverage plans. Co-insurance will increase from 0% to 10%.

Dental premiums for the university's basic plan will go up $1 for individuals to $24 and up $3 to $74 for families. Increases to the comprehensive plan are a little more, according to documents submitted to the Iowa Board of Regents.

Meanwhile, inflation has been eating away at the value of employees' pay.

The inflation spike that started in spring 2021 peaked in June 2022, when the Consumer Price Index showed a 9.5% over-the-year increase, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Even though inflation has cooled since then, it crept back up over the summer to a 3.4% over-the-year increase in August.

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Iowa State says it needs health care cost increases to keep a viable benefits program

Emma Mallarino Houghton, director of classification and compensation and talent acquisition in the university's human resources department, told the university's internal news service in September, "At a time when the university is facing financial pressures, salary increase parameters that allow for up to 3% — in addition to what was rewarded on July 1 — demonstrates a continued commitment to rewarding employee performance at Iowa State."

The Iowa Board of Regents will ask Iowa lawmakers for a 3% increase in higher education funding for the 2025 fiscal year. Some programs' funding is separate, such as $10 million for a rural health care partnership at the University of Iowa that would be funded by a special appropriations request.

The emailed announcement from Iowa State's Office of the President on health care cost increases — signed by top administrators including Wintersteen and Senior Vice President and Provost Jonathan Wickert — said that as health care costs have continued to rise, the monthly premiums collected in recent years have not been enough to cover claims costs.

"Annual incremental changes are needed to help close the gap," according to the announcement.

An internal Iowa State news service story on Sept. 28, "Q&A: Why health care will cost employees more," stated, "The university has worked to minimize the impact on employees by covering the shortfall with one-time funds from other sources."

However, "As costs have continued to rise, this is not a sustainable solution. Premium increases and plan design changes are necessary to maintain a financially viable benefits program."

In 2024, premiums will cover approximately 12% of costs, and the university will cover the remaining 88%, according to the ISU news service story.

"While these changes will impact out-of-pocket costs, ISU employee costs will remain significantly lower than plans offered by other colleges and universities," according to the Office of the President.

Some employees are asking the university for deeper commitments

Hayden Parris wrote her petition to Iowa State administrators, though she said it also has been shared with the Iowa Board of Regents.

The petition specifically calls for a 2% mandatory pay increase for all faculty and staff effective in January, in addition to the previously announced 3% potential increase.

The petition also calls for the university to create a working group "tasked with the development and implementation of a sustainable budget strategy that prioritizes staff compensation and increases."

Hayden Parris said she knows that might mean cuts elsewhere, and even if the state were to increase its higher education funding, she still wants to see further prioritization of employees.

Her petition states, "University Human Resources and Administration will tell you these were necessary measures to address deficits that resulted from years of stable premiums. That's not my problem to solve. And it shouldn't be yours either."

Her words were followed by more than two dozen pages of signatures.

Sarah Bennett-George, Iowa State's Faculty Senate president, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last month, University of Iowa graduate students protested outside the Board of Regents' meeting there and also demanded a wage increase to keep up with inflation.

Phillip Sitter covers suburban growth and development for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@gannett.com. He is on Twitter @pslifeisabeauty.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State raises lag inflation, worker petition signed by 1,100 says