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Valiant study recommends bringing 20 employees to pay minimum; full compression fix estimated at $344,000 annually
Summary
Consultants from Valiant presented a compensation and classification market study showing most town pay rates are near market but identified ~20 employees below the proposed minimum. Valiant proposed options including bringing below-minimum employees up and a compression mitigation plan; combined cost was estimated at roughly $344,000 (about 2.14% of payroll). Council and staff discussed phasing, COLA vs. merit adjustments and budget timing.
Valiant Consulting Group presented the results of a compensation and classification market study to the Town of Sahuarita council, recommending a market-based pay structure and steps to address employees paid below the proposed minimums and compression among longer-tenured staff.
Mike Canfield, president of Valiant, and partner Kim DeFilippis explained the methodology (a —compensation highway— that slots positions by market comparators) and the principal recommendation: raise roughly 20 employees who fall below the proposed pay minimums to the minimum of their grade and consider a compression mitigation plan for longer-tenured staff. Consultants estimated that bringing those employees to minimum would cost about 0.32% of payroll in base wages; addressing compression in the way recommended would add to that and bring the combined annualized cost to approximately $344,000, or 2.14% of total payroll.
"If you were to bring all of those 20 employees up to the ... minimum of the range, that's about 0.32% of your payroll," Kim DeFilippis said. She and Canfield also urged implementing a maintenance plan — regular reviews, a COLA strategy and training for HR to keep the structure current.
Town Manager Shane Dilley said staff will evaluate budget options, possibly phasing implementation and combining a mid-year COLA with subsequent merit allocations to soften the budget impact. Council and staff noted recruitment and retention pressures in public safety and other departments as a driver for the recommendation.
Next steps: staff will incorporate the recommended scenarios into the proposed budget, present cost options and implementation timing, and train HR on a placement calculator and maintenance process so the structure can be updated periodically.
