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Consultant: Kerr County pay grades generally above market but some road and maintenance jobs underpaid
Summary
Consultant Steve Worling told the Kerr County Commissioners Court that the county's average pay midpoints are about 30% above the market but identified 11 job titles below market, including several road-maintenance roles; he recommended targeted adjustments and further local review before final changes.
A consultant hired to update Kerr County's pay structure told the Commissioners Court on Thursday that the county's average pay midpoints sit above local market levels but that a small set of positions remains underpaid.
Steve Worling, a compensation consultant who presented the county's salary study, said the county's "average midpoints of your pay grades are about 30% above the market data," and that the study identified 11 jobs paid under market, including four road-maintenance positions.
The nut graf: Worling said the county has kept pace with general wage inflation since the last comprehensive study in 2019, but the existing step-and-grade structure and unusually broad pay ranges have created mismatches across jobs. He recommended targeted adjustments for specific shortages and a department-head review before the court adopts any final placement changes.
Worling described the study's methods and data sources, saying he collected comparator information from roughly 20 organizations in the region, including a San Antonio-area wage and benefit survey, specialized nonprofit surveys, and national data for unique positions. He told the court that the county's overall pay picture is favorable compared with many clients he serves, but that the step system and a 100% pay-range spread (bottom to top) amplify recruitment difficulties for lower-paid entry steps and create underpayment in fast-moving job markets such as road crews and deputies.
He recommended assigning job classifications to pay grades whose midpoints most closely match the survey benchmarks and said he deliberately did not lower any existing pay grades. The report, he said, flags 11 job titles below market (four are road-maintenance positions and others include a court administrator and an IT position) and provides page-level detail for department review.
Court members asked about stakeholder review. Worling said he had interviewed the county judge, human resources and the auditor but that department heads and elected officials should also review the draft placements to confirm duties and relationships before changes are finalized. He also urged the county to re-run compensation studies more frequently than every five years, suggesting a two-year cadence to stay current.
Ending: The court did not take action at the workshop; Worling's report will be circulated for department and elected-official review and may be returned to the court for inclusion in final budget decisions.
