Baker Tilly recommends single 34-grade pay structure for Ulster County in salary study

Baker Tilly told the Ulster County Audit Committee on March 18 that a single pay structure — 34 grades with nine steps — would bring consistency and transparency to county compensation and recommended the county adopt the framework and routine maintenance practices.

Jada, a consultant from Baker Tilly, told the committee the study measured positions using a nine-factor job-evaluation tool, compared those scores to market midpoints from peers and published sources, and used a regression with an R² of about 92% to assign grades. "No employee will receive reduction in pay," she said, emphasizing that the figures presented are base pay only and do not include overtime, benefits or other pay elements.

The study team reported it requested full pay ranges from 18 data sources (14 public peers and four private/ subscription sources including the Economic Research Institute and Pay Factors) and used Bureau of Labor Statistics data where applicable. Consultant figures show roughly 424 benchmark positions were requested; about 98 positions lacked sufficient market matches, producing market midpoints for about 76% of surveyed titles. For the 1,426 employees…