Council delays decision on citywide pay study implementation until budget meeting

Human Resources Director Kyle Martin and consultant Rob Williamson of Evergreen Solutions presented a comprehensive compensation and classification study and recommended a hybrid "parity" implementation to bring Brooksville pay ranges to market averages.

Why it matters: Council members and staff said the study documents the city’s pay ranges are behind market averages, and staff outlined a proposed funding strategy that reallocates $226,002.40 from parks and other line items to cover the general‑fund share of the recommended implementation. The study estimated the hybrid‑parity implementation would cost approximately $480,230.13 overall with $209,369.39 impacting the general fund.

Council action: After discussing budget impacts and timing, council voted unanimously (5-0) to take no action that night and to include the compensation implementation question in the upcoming FY2026 budget meeting. City staff said that if council accepts the recommendation, implementation timing affects the study’s usefulness as market data evolve.

Details from the consultant: Evergreen analyzed about 73 classifications and compared Brooksville to 21 local peers. Williamson said the firm recommended placing pay ranges at or near the market average, and then using a hybrid parity method — a blend that considers tenure and current classification — to move employees into the new ranges. The consultant advised against the cheaper "bring to minimum" approach because it would worsen internal equity.

Next steps: Council directed staff to include the study materials in the FY2026 budget packet for further consideration and to present funding tradeoffs when the council reconvenes on the budget.