Leander council adopts FY25 compensation study, moves police and fire pay toward market midpoints

The Leander City Council on June 17 adopted the findings of a fiscal-year 2025 compensation study and approved a set of pay-plan changes recommended by consultant Public Sector Personnel Consultants (PSPC).

Sam Hines of PSPC summarized the study for council members: the firm benchmarked 150 of 254 city job titles against 16 comparator cities and private-sector data where comparable, and recommended narrowing general-service salary range widths from 60% to 45% (midpoint unchanged) and changes to police and fire pay structures. Hines said the majority of Leander's job midpoints were already competitive; he identified public safety ranks as most behind market and proposed step-plan adjustments so sworn ranks would be within +/-5% of the market midpoint.

What council approved - A new general-service salary schedule that narrows ranges to 45% width while keeping midpoints, and range assignments for benchmark jobs. - A redesigned police step plan: fixed 10% distance between ranks, increase step percent from 2.0% to 2.5% to better align with fire, and move the assistant police chief to an open-range salary grade. - A redesigned fire step plan: modify rank differentials (for example increasing firefighter's step to the next rank from 10% to 15% in specific transitions), remove some intermediate steps and add an end step so line-level ranks have parity with police.

Cost and coverage PSPC produced annual cost estimates for the proposed adjustments: - General service employees: approximately $167,594 annually (affects 67 of about 313 employees; primary cost to bring employees to new range minima). - Fire department (sworn ranks): approximately $1,140,376 annually (about 17.9% of current fire payroll); PSPC said all sworn fire positions were below market and would be affected. - Police department (sworn ranks): approximately $590,000 annually (about 9% of police payroll); PSPC said all sworn police positions surveyed were below market. - Total estimated annual cost: about $1,401,323 (roughly 5% of current payroll), per the consultant's figures.

Council action and effective date Council voted to adopt the consultant's findings and recommendations, with the effective date set for June 28, 2025. The motion included adding the firefighter cadet/EMT role to the fire schedule; council members praised the study for targeting retention and pay equity.

Why this matters: Council and staff described the update as a targeted, market-focused approach to retain and recruit public-safety staff and to bring other city positions in better alignment with regional competitors. Council members asked about survey frequency and benefit comparisons; the consultant recommended repeating surveys every three to five years and staff said a benefits review had been completed separately and could be shared later.

Provenance: PSPC's presentation and Hines's detailed cost estimates were presented on the record; the council adopted the package on a roll-call motion at the regular meeting that followed the workshop portion.