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Montgomery adopts Evergreen open-range pay scale, approves TMRS benefit changes
Summary
The Montgomery City Council adopted a new open-range pay scale recommended by Evergreen Solutions and approved changes to Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS) benefits, including an employee contribution increase and updated service-credit provisions.
The Montgomery City Council on Sept. 15 approved two personnel-related actions: adoption of a new open-range pay scale recommended by Evergreen Solutions and an ordinance changing the city's participation terms with the Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS).
On the pay structure, staff and councilors discussed the new "grade" system Evergreen proposed, which places positions in grades (for example, grades 101–115) with a minimum, midpoint and maximum within each grade. Staff explained the scale is intended to provide a baseline for hiring and to show where merit increases or cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) will shift pay ranges; a COLA is applied across the ranges rather than changing a position’s grade. Council members asked for clarification about how grades operate, how employees move within a grade and how ranges adjust for COLA and merit increases during the annual budget process.
After discussion, the council adopted the recommended Evergreen Solutions open-range pay scale. The motion to adopt was made by Mister Johnson and seconded by Mister Olson; the motion carried by voice vote.
On retirement benefits, the council adopted an ordinance amending the city’s TMRS participation that, according to the agenda text, authorizes: 1) an increase to the employee contribution rate; 2) non‑retroactive, repeating cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for retirees and their beneficiaries under TMRS Act 853.404(f)(1); 3) annually accruing updated service credits and transfer updated service credits; and 4) removal of the statutory maximum contribution-rate limit. Staff described the ordinance as a cleanup aligning the TMRS election language with the budget discussion.
The TMRS ordinance was presented and accepted at the meeting. A motion to accept item 12 was made by Mister Olsen and seconded by Mister Donaldson; members voted aye and the motion carried.
What this means: the new pay-scale framework provides the city a documented structure for hiring ranges and pay progression; council members said that specific starting salaries and annual salary placements will continue to be set during the budget process. The TMRS changes alter the municipal retirement plan parameters the city has elected to adopt; the transcript references the TMRS statutory citation used in the agenda materials (TMRS Act 853.404(f)(1)). No dollar amounts for the employee contribution-rate change were specified in the meeting transcript.
Background and next steps: staff said the pay grades will be used to assign positions and to guide hiring and merit decisions. The city did not provide specific implementation timelines for individual salary changes during the meeting; departments will incorporate the new structure into upcoming budget work and human-resources processes.
