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Portola Valley weighs cut in benefit for town staff

Employees of the town of Portola Valley would start paying out of pocket for part of their dependents' health insurance if the Town Council acts on a recommendation from the town's Finance Committee.

The council meets to discuss this and other matters at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, in the Historic Schoolhouse at 765 Portola Road.

The Finance Committee is staffed by volunteers from the community. Town Manager Angie Howard, in a staff report, said she opposes the committee's recommendation for now, citing competitive pressure from other towns that offer better benefits to their employees.

"If the town were to further reduce its overall compensation and benefit package, this would continue to erode the town's competitiveness in attracting and retaining employees," she said in a staff report.

Also on the agenda: a recommendation from the Ad-Hoc Spring Down Master Plan Committee to retain the six-acre meadow as open space, and bids for renewing the mile-long section of trail that begins at the town's border with Ladera on Alpine Road.