Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Compensation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee disputes state’s wage comparison, asks staff for benchmarking details
Summary
Committee members questioned a state finding that county pay rose 22% over three years and compared it with regional medians; county staff said the state mixed metrics and time windows and will provide benchmarking methodology and payroll data for review.
Committee members pressed county staff over a state finding that non‑union, non‑fire county employees experienced a 22% base pay increase over a three‑year span. Staff disputed that number and said it derived from mixing different time windows and employee groups.
"That's not accurate. It increased 16% for non‑UN employees," Tom said, presenting county calculations and a five‑year average annual increase of roughly 4.4%. Becca, intervening during the exchange, pointed to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and cautioned that the report appeared to compare an "average" county salary with a regional "median," which are not equivalent metrics for benchmarking.
Committee members emphasized that compensation analysis should compare specific job categories and like‑for‑like benchmarks, not a single aggregate county figure. They asked staff to return with the county's benchmarking methodology and the BLS sources the state may have used.
Committee members also probed whether the state included fire‑union wages in its calculation and whether the state used a different fiscal window (which would explain a higher percentage). Staff said union and non‑union employees are treated separately in county benchmarking.
Next steps: staff will attempt to identify the BLS sources the state relied on, assemble category‑level pay comparisons, and present that data in the committee's April working session so members can finalize recommendations for the county commission.
