University City hears CBIZ compensation study; city to consider FY27 budget adjustments

Joe Ryerson, a compensation consultant with CBIZ, presented the results of a citywide compensation study to the University City City Council at a study session on April 13. Ryerson said the firm benchmarked City jobs against municipal peers, applied a 2.6% aging factor to survey data and recommended repositioning pay ranges around the market 75th percentile.

The consultant summarized key findings: while City pay is competitive at the low end, internal pay “flattens out” and begins to lag as market compensation increases, leading to compression at higher grades. Ryerson said the study recommends eliminating several pay grades, narrowing some ranges and raising minimums so starting pay is more competitive. “So what we would say first is to adopt the salary structures,” he told council members.

Ryerson presented implementation-cost scenarios tied to aligning employees to new ranges and to step changes. He reported roughly $700,000 (about 3.1% of payroll) would be needed to round employees to the nearest step and that the combined adoption cost was approximately $736,000 (about 3.7% of payroll). He described aligning employees to the nearest step as the most cost-favorable implementation approach.

Public-safety positions account for a large share of projected costs. When asked whether the peer set for fire pay included fire-protection districts, Ryerson said the study used municipal peers only and did not include protection districts, which he noted often pay competitively. He also told the council that “over 50% of the costs are be within police and fire,” a distribution he said is disproportionate to headcount.

Ryerson reviewed total compensation and benefits, saying base pay was roughly 10% below the 75th-percentile market target and that, overall, total rewards were about 9% below market. He noted the City contributes somewhat less to health premiums than some peers, observes one fewer holiday than peer data, and does not offer an education reimbursement program that many peers provide.

On handling employees already paid above a proposed maximum, Ryerson said pay is commonly frozen; one-time lump-sum payments are an option but can present legal and audit issues in Missouri. “It is common to do things like a lump-sum adjustment … but that can be difficult within the state of Missouri,” he said, referencing constitutional/auditor constraints on bonuses.

Council members asked whether exit interviews pointed to salary as a primary cause of turnover. Brooke Sharp, acting city manager, said HR conducts exit interviews and she had not personally heard of anyone leaving explicitly because of salary; she agreed staff would follow up with HR for more complete data.

Sharp outlined next procedural steps: staff will share the study with police and fire unions, and budget staff will work with the City’s budget consultant (Chris) to incorporate the compensation changes into the fiscal year 2027 budget. No formal action or vote occurred at the study session; the presentation will inform upcoming budget deliberations and collective bargaining discussions.

The meeting concluded and council recessed to return at 6:30 p.m. for the regular session.