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College Park hears MAG pay study showing city near 48th percentile; finance has budgeted $2.7M tied to a 55th‑percentile plan
Summary
Management Advisory Group presented options to raise College Park’s pay structure to the 55th, 60th or 65th market percentiles. MAG included a 4% COLA in each option; city finance told council it has set aside $2.7 million to cover the 55th‑percentile option (salaries plus fringe).
The College Park council reviewed a citywide classification and compensation study prepared by Management Advisory Group (MAG), which found the city’s pay structure near the 48th percentile compared with regional peers and offered three implementation options to increase competitiveness.
Dr. Russell Campbell, MAG project director, described the methodology—job factor scoring, market comparisons to nearby cities and use of ONET private‑sector data—and said the study found salary compression across departments and a few classification inconsistencies. He recommended policies to limit reclassification requests to the budget cycle, adopt succession‑planning tools and consider a separate public‑safety pay schedule.
MAG presented a baseline 4% cost‑of‑living adjustment in each option. For the 55th‑percentile scenario, MAG listed a 4% COLA of $1,162,580, estimated minimum‑level adjustments affecting 139 employees at about $286,594, and salary‑compression adjustments of about $559,340; MAG described the aggregate effect on payroll as roughly a 6.9% increase. For the 60th‑ and 65th‑percentile options MAG reported larger minimum and compression line items and higher total payroll impacts (figures presented in the workshop packet). MAG said the study did not recommend reducing anyone’s salary and recommended converting open ranges to a step plan if council desired that structure.
Council members asked detailed questions about public‑safety pay, the treatment of long‑vacant 'hard‑to‑fill' positions, the scope of peer comparisons and the fringe‑benefit cost. Council member McKenzie and others expressed interest in the 60th or 65th percentile but acknowledged funding limits. Finance staff said they had added $2.7 million to the budget intended to cover salary increases and associated fringe costs and that the 55th‑percentile option best aligns with that figure; council members asked staff to provide the precise fringe breakdown.
No final decision was made at the workshop. MAG and staff offered to return with additional detail, including breakdowns by job level, implementation timelines and the specific fringe‑benefit dollar amounts for each option. Councilmembers also discussed implementing a step structure or other mechanisms to reward tenure and performance as part of longer‑term workforce strategy.
