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Board approves revised pay plan to address salary compression, authorizes up to $250,000 implementation
Summary
Fluvanna County supervisors approved a market-alignment revision to the FY26 pay plan after staff presented a salary study showing most benchmark positions below market; the board authorized implementation at a program cost not to exceed $250,000, funded from an existing compensation wedge.
The Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors voted to adopt a revised FY26 pay plan and to approve a compensation-implementation approach using already-budgeted funds.
County staff told the board a salary review of 118 benchmark positions found roughly two-thirds of positions below market pay, producing an average weighted midpoint gap of about 10% (staff summarized this as "roughly 90 cents on the dollar" versus comparable localities). To address the shortfall, staff proposed a two-part solution: (1) restructure pay bands to improve spacing between midpoints and reduce compression, and (2) a time-and-service ladder (longevity increments) to recognize tenure. Staff presented estimates that bringing incumbents to new minimums would cost roughly $81,600, and the proposed time-and-service adjustments would add about $149,000, for a combined impact presented at roughly $242,000.
The board voted to approve the revised pay bands effective April 19, 2026, and then approved the compensation-implementation approach for eligible employees at a total program cost not to exceed $250,000, with funds to come from the FY26 compensation-study/salary-adjustment wedge that the board had previously budgeted. The motions were approved by the board and recorded by the chair.
Supervisors pressed staff on policy details: how the longevity percentages would be applied (staff said the adjustments are based on total years of service within a defined tier, not annual compounding), whether minimum service periods would constrain increases (board policy requires employees to be on board a minimum months before implementation), and how the changes would affect recruitment and retention in hard-to-staff roles such as E911/communications and utilities operations. Staff said the proposal was intended as a market-alignment correction, not a long-term merit program, and recommended regular maintenance of the pay structure going forward.
What happens next: staff will implement the revisions consistent with the board motion and the funding authorization; any detailed administrative changes (eligibility cutoff dates, individual award calculations) will be processed through HR and appear in future personnel actions. The board noted the changes were funded from money already set aside in the FY26 budget, so no additional tax increase was required for this action.
