Consultant recommends moving Port Arthur pay plan to 21‑step structure; council debates releasing anonymous employee survey data

Evergreen Solutions delivered the findings of a citywide wage and classification study at the Sept. 9 Port Arthur City Council meeting, reporting a broad recommendation to increase the structure and market alignment of the city’s pay plan and to implement changes starting Jan. 1, 2026.

Rob Williamson, project manager for Evergreen Solutions, said the city’s existing pay ranges were narrow — roughly a 24% spread between minimum and maximum — and use a 10‑step plan that pushes employees rapidly to the midpoint and then slows progress. By contrast, the market pay ranges Evergreen used for comparison averaged a 48% spread. Williamson said that structure meant new hires tended to be paid above market minimums but long‑tenured employees fell behind the market as their step progression slowed.

“Your midpoint is behind market,” Williamson told the council. He recommended moving to a 21‑step plan with a 1.5% step differential, instead of the current 10‑step/2.5% step plan, and aligning pay ranges to about the 75th percentile of peer markets. He described options for implementation; a “bring‑to‑market” option would cost roughly 1% of payroll in an initial phase. A more aggressive option — the consultant’s preferred model — would align ranges and move qualifying employees to new step placements with limited additional adjustments for tenure or market position.

Williamson said the study covered approximately 450 employees and 220 unique job classifications and used peer data from 13 of 20 comparable jurisdictions that responded to the market survey. The consultant also reported a robust employee survey participation rate — roughly 72% participation overall and more than 80% coverage of job classifications.

A dispute arose after the presentation about the status of the raw employee survey responses. Several council members asked for the underlying survey text and comments; Evergreen said it had promised respondents anonymity. Council members pushed for access to staff‑level details; the city attorney said he would review confidentiality and labor‑law limits. The city manager and council directed staff to consult the city attorney about whether and how to produce anonymized or redacted survey results for council review.

Council members asked about implementation timing, costs and recruiting impacts, and discussed targeted incentives such as dual‑certification pay for water/wastewater operators. Williamson recommended a staged January 1 implementation and periodic market checks every three to five years.

There was no council vote approving changes at the Sept. 9 meeting. The consultant’s report and proposed implementation scenarios will be part of the city’s budget and implementation discussions; the study also included recommended changes to step progression and suggested a funding plan for phased implementation.