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El Mirage council accepts compensation study, directs full FY27 implementation planning
Summary
Council accepted a consultant's total compensation study and gave staff budget direction to include full implementation of a new salary schedule aligned to the market 60th percentile in the FY27 budget; staff estimated implementation at about $1.475 million.
The El Mirage City Council accepted a consultant's total compensation study on Feb. 18 and directed staff to prepare the FY27 budget assuming full implementation of the proposed salary structure.
Bob Longmire of Public Sector Personnel Consultants told council that El Mirage's salary ranges are, on average, about 7% behind market and that when benefits and paid time off are included the gap grows: "the city is more than 5% behind market for 57% of the positions based on salary only," Longmire said, adding that "when we take into account total compensation... we're more than 5% behind market for about 80% of our positions." Longmire recommended aligning to the market's 60th percentile and provided a proposed salary schedule and range structure with 40% range width and ~7% spacing between ranges.
Council and staff discussed how to close the gap. Longmire noted that employee contributions for family health coverage are higher than the market average (employee pays ~22% versus market ~16%), and that paid time off for new hires is below market averages. He flagged police and fire differences: police sergeant ranges were roughly 11% behind market, while fire captain ranges were closer (about 3.5% behind).
Staff estimated the cost to bring the city to the recommended market alignment at about $1.475 million, with roughly $900,000 of that for general (non-union) unit employees. Council gave direction to include the study results and full implementation costs in the FY27 budget process; one council member registered dissent with implementing the changes now.
What happens next: staff will incorporate the consultant's recommended salary schedule into budget planning and return detailed implementation options (phasing, one-time vs ongoing costs, and whether to layer merit or COLA decisions) as part of the FY27 budget process.
Speakers and attribution: direct quotes are from consultant Bob Longmire and from staff during the presentation. The council's direction was taken as consensus and will be embedded in the forthcoming budget documents.
