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Compensation review finds half of pay ranges lag market; police pay and recruitment singled out

Cottonwood Heights City Council (retreat) · February 13, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

A consultant's compensation study reported at the Cottonwood Heights retreat found roughly half of civilian pay ranges trailing peers and highlighted police officer and sergeant pay as a key retention risk, recommending modest structural changes and targeted starting-pay increases to improve recruitment and retention.

A compensation and benefits review presented by Clay Johnson of GBS at the Cottonwood Heights retreat found that about 50% of the city's civilian pay ranges are below market, with trailing ranges averaging about a 9% gap. The consultant said the pay-range analysis, rather than individual salaries, was used because ranges provide a stable basis for long-term pay decisions.

Police pay concerns

Johnson focused on sworn positions for two reasons: those roles make up roughly 25% of city employees,…

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