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Natrona County reviews Baker Tilly pay‑study that would reshape pay structure and cost the budget
Summary
Baker Tilly presented a comprehensive classification and compensation study to the Natrona County Commission that recommends a 26‑grade, 11‑step general pay plan, separate sworn structure for the sheriff's office, and three implementation options; consultants estimated one‑time adoption costs and recommended a reorientation option.
Natrona County commissioners on March 17 heard the results of a multi‑month classification and compensation study from Baker Tilly, which recommended replacing the county’s current 64‑grade pay scale with a standardized 26‑grade, 11‑step structure aligned to market midpoints.
Sarah Towne, Baker Tilly’s senior consulting manager and project lead, said the firm benchmarked roughly 106 positions and used a point‑factor job evaluation the firm calls SAFE to score positions by required education, experience, complexity and other factors. "The point and purpose of a classification and compensation study is to understand the value of the position, not the person in the role," Towne told commissioners.
The firm reported the county’s ranges compare unfavorably with market at higher points in pay ranges: "on average, Natrona County is 1.6% above market at the minimum, 6% below market at the midpoint, and 10.4% below market at the maximum," Towne said. Baker Tilly told the commission it calculated market values for most benchmarks and used a match‑market philosophy—aligning grade midpoints with market midpoints—while proposing separate sworn pay tables for deputies and other sheriff’s ranks.
Baker Tilly outlined three implementation scenarios. Option 1 places employees on the closest step that does not reduce pay; option 2 reorients employees based on time in role (the firm’s recommended path); option 3 preserves employees’ current step positions in the new structure. The presentation covered employee counts and one‑time payroll adjustments: the study covered 347 county employees (including library and fairgrounds staff); 125 employees were below the proposed new minimum, 216 would fall within the new ranges and six employees currently sit above the proposed maximum and would be held harmless.
Consultants gave rough one‑time payroll costs for adoption: the sheriff’s office adjustment under option 1 was identified as about $177,000; county‑wide option 1 was shown as about $657,000, with options 2 and 3 running about $1,000,000 and $1.26 million, respectively. Towne said the firm does not recommend pay decreases and that its base analysis covers salary only, not supplemental pay or benefits.
Commissioners pressed on career ladders, merit pay, and how employees stalled at the top step could advance. Towne said career progressions and ladders had been developed during the engagement, but that a separate merit system or performance‑based program was outside the study’s original scope and would be a policy decision for the county.
The presentation concluded with a recommendation that the commission approve the new pay structures and grade assignments and select an implementation scenario that best fits the county’s fiscal and compensation objectives; commissioners said they would consider costs during the coming budget process.
The county will now weigh the Baker Tilly recommendations against budget constraints and is likely to revisit the options during the county’s budget deliberations.
