County human resources officials briefed the Milwaukee County Personnel Committee on a multi‑department compensation project and on pay adjustments at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport during an informational presentation.

The county's compensation effort is intended to reduce hundreds of job families to a smaller set of job families and establish pay ranges for each. Tony Mays, director of total rewards in the Department of Human Resources, said the study will place employees “at least to the minimum of that new pay pay scale.” He told the committee the work is about bringing positions to market and creating consistent salary ranges across the county.

Sarah Thompson, director of planning for Milwaukee County Parks, and HR staff said the county has reduced job families to roughly 32–36 and that the study has completed about 70% of departments, with a goal to finish the remaining work by the end of the year. Christine Carlson, manager of compensation, presented the informational report and answered committee questions.

Committee members asked how the adjustments relate to the county's annual increases. HR staff said employees receive a 2% annual increase as a baseline; separate adjustments shown on monthly reports are tied to the compensation study or to department requests and are not identical to the regular annual increase.

Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport Director Brian Jarenzick explained that some airport positions were adjusted because of federal inspection standards and staffing requirements. Jarenzick said vacancy and turnover in maintenance roles have pushed the airport to raise some base pay to avoid hiring new staff at pay rates above existing employees — a situation that can create internal compression and equity problems. He warned of federal enforcement: “the FAA will fine you and they will fine you several, hundreds, if not millions of dollars for non compliance.”

Jarenzick and HR staff said some airport compensation changes are funded outside the county tax levy, noting the airport receives Federal Aviation Administration funds and uses some grant or federal funds for salary adjustments rather than Wisconsin county general funds.

The committee also sought clarification about a line in the report labeled “dual appointment,” which referred to a seasonal parks lifeguard who also serves on the county’s youth commission. Jim Tarantino, deputy director for Milwaukee County Parks, said the item reflected a seasonal lifeguard who is also a youth commission member.

No formal committee action was required on the informational compensation report.

Ending

Committee members requested follow‑up details on certain specific salaries referenced in the report; HR staff said they would provide additional information after the meeting. The Personnel Committee adjourned and scheduled its next meeting for Sept. 2 at 2:30 p.m.