Baker Tilly recommends new pay structure for Cape Coral non‑bargaining staff; city to consider classification schedule Nov. 5

The city’s human resources director and consultant Baker Tilly presented a comprehensive classification and compensation study on Oct. 29 that recommends a redesigned pay structure for Cape Coral’s non‑bargaining employees and associated implementation steps.

Nancy Deutsch, the city’s human resources director, introduced Sarah Towne, compensation manager for Baker Tilly, who described a five‑phase methodology: project initiation and data collection; job evaluation using the firm’s SAFE point‑factor tool; market benchmarking against 10 peer public agencies; pay‑plan design and regression analysis; and a people‑level implementation scenario. The consultant said 123 positions were benchmarked, with market matches sufficient to calculate market values for 98 percent of benchmarks.

Baker Tilly recommends a new 25‑grade open pay plan (grade numbers 30–55 in the study’s proposal) with narrower range spreads at lower grades, larger midpoint differentials (about 6 percent per grade), and pay midpoints calibrated to the study’s stated market target (described in the report as the “70 fifth percentile”). The firm also recommended a new open command pay plan for public‑safety captains and chiefs to avoid compression with bargaining‑unit pay scales.

"Using the existing job descriptions, we go into phase 2 where we start by reviewing all of the titles," Sarah Towne said, describing how job duties and minimum qualifications were used to match positions to market benchmarks. She told council the regression analysis and grade assignments permit position‑level placement without considering the person in the job, after which the city can phase employees into the new structure.

On implementation, Baker Tilly proposed an approach to address internal compression by advancing employees within a range based on years in position (a sample formula was described as a 3 percent adjustment per year in position, capped at 10 years). Baker Tilly told the council the implementation scenario they presented could be accomplished within the city’s current budget and does not require an above‑budget appropriation as framed in the study; the city manager said council must approve the classification schedule before changes are implemented.

The city manager said staff will place the classification schedule on the Nov. 5 council agenda for formal approval.

Ending: Council members asked follow‑up questions about geographic cost‑of‑labor adjustments, the peer agencies used for benchmarks, and whether existing data from the Florida League of Cities or the city auditor should be used or supplemented. Staff agreed to provide the Baker Tilly spreadsheet and to pursue additional peer data if council requests it.