Ulster County audit committee reviews Baker Tilly salary study, hears proposal for single 34-grade pay structure

Baker Tilly presented the results of a countywide salary study to the Ulster County Audit Committee on March 18, recommending a single pay structure of 34 grades and nine steps and laying out three implementation scenarios with estimated one‑time first‑year costs.

The study, performed after Resolution 26 of 2022 required a compensation review once every four years, used position analysis questionnaires, a 9‑factor job evaluation tool, and a custom market survey. Jada, a consultant with Baker Tilly, told the committee the firm included internal equity and external market data in its recommendations and that the work covered about 1,426 employees and 424 benchmark positions surveyed.

Why it matters: committee members said the study will inform collective bargaining, hiring and retention discussions and budgeting. Legislators pressed the consultant on apparent discrepancies between local hiring pressures — notably in corrections and dispatch — and the market matches returned by the consultant, and on missing data from several peer municipalities.

Key findings and proposal Baker Tilly described a single pay structure with 34 grades and nine steps, a 5% midpoint differential between most grades, and a consistent 3%…