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Consultant: Longview civilian pay ranges lag market by about 80% of job classes; police, fire closer to market
Summary
A pay study presented to Longview City Council found most civilian job classifications fall below market comparators while police and fire pay are broadly competitive; consultants will model slotting and the council will consider budget implications in May–June.
Matt Weatherly, a consultant hired to run a citywide compensation survey, told Longview City Council on April 9 that the firm compared more than 3,000 job descriptions across 14 like-sized Texas cities and found the city’s civilian salary ranges lag market comparators. "Punchline first, we've collected data on about 300 civilian job classifications, all 12 of the sworn police and fire classifications," Weatherly said, adding that "if I use plus or minus 5% to define competitive, about 80% of our civilian classifications start to fall low."
Weatherly said the firm selected comparators based on similarity of services, population and other demographics and removed much of the Dallas metro data used in prior surveys. He described the next steps as a slotting exercise: matching Longview job descriptions to the salary table ranges and modeling whether particular classifications should move to higher ranges. "Our next steps include modeling out salary ranges for all of our classifications," he said.
Councilmembers asked how the findings apply to public-works and supervisory roles, paramedic firefighters, and whether private-sector data were included for highly portable positions. Weatherly replied that police and fire compare better to market, that paramedic certification typically adds about $5,000 a year where it applies, and that private-sector comparators were used where the job is portable. He emphasized the presentation was informational only and not a vote item: the firm will offer one-on-one briefings for council members and present budget impacts in May and June.
Mayor and council members framed the study as the basis for a policy decision about how aggressively to close pay gaps. Weatherly warned that moving ranges can create budgetary consequences if incumbents fall below revised minima, and that the final implementation will require council direction during the budget process. The council did not take action on pay changes at the meeting; Weatherly will return with modeled scenarios for council review before any formal adoption.
