Council selects 10 comparator cities for labor market study; motion approved with one no vote

Sachse — The Sachse City Council on Feb. 17 approved a preliminary list of comparator cities to be included in a Baker Tilly labor market assessment that will inform the city’s compensation and benefits study.

City staff and Baker Tilly consultant Sarah Towne described a five-phase classification and market study process and presented data used to narrow an initial candidate list. Towne said the firm and city staff analyzed demographic and economic indicators — population, median household income, general fund size, full-time employee counts and a cost-of-labor geographic index — to identify a dataset that reflects who Sachse competes with for talent.

Towne presented a preliminary list of 13 and said the council needed to select 10 peers for the market assessment. At the meeting the council discussed growth trajectories, revenue bases and turnover data. Towne explained turnover data provided by the city showed multiple mentions of employees moving to Wylie, Garland, Richardson, Allen, Rockwall and Royce City over the past three years.

After discussion the council agreed on the following 10 comparator jurisdictions for this market study: Richardson; Farmers Branch; Rowlett; Wylie; Rockwall; Anna; Princeton; Celina; Murphy; and Royce City. Baker Tilly will request base pay and benefits data from those peers and combine that with published salary sources and private-sector benchmarks to build market pay midpoints.

Councilmember Pressenberg made the motion to approve the list; Councilmember Howard seconded. The mayor announced the motion carried, with Councilmember Millsap recorded as voting no. The consultant said the city will continue with pay-plan development and expected project completion in April, with further presentations to council once market data is consolidated.

Council debate centered on which jurisdictions are appropriate comparators given Sachse’s size constraints and expected near-term growth in the region. Some council members said they preferred neighbors such as Wylie and Murphy and noted Garland and Richardson’s larger commercial tax bases; others said rapidly growing cities (Anna, Princeton, Celina) should be included for a near-term snapshot because the North Texas market is changing quickly and peer lists may need updates more frequently than every five years.

The list approved at the meeting is a step in the consultant’s stated process to establish a compensation philosophy (market match, lead, or lag) after actual market data is gathered.