Administration recommends bridge correction to unified pay scale; board to consider February 1 implementation

Human resources and budget staff told the board that the unified experience‑based pay scale contains an intra‑scale inconsistency: steps 1–14 currently increase by 1% per step while step 15 and above increase by 1.5 percent, so employees with identical years of service can see different percentage gains depending on where they sit on the scale.

Judith Wood, coordinator of classification and compensation, presented two structural options. Strategy 1 would equalize the progression at 1.5% for steps 1–14 (full correction); strategy 2 would bridge the gap by raising steps 1–14 to 1.25%. Crystal Pate, chief financial officer, presented estimated fiscal impacts for FY2027 depending on the effective date: a Feb. 1, 2027 implementation of strategy 2 would cost approximately $4.8 million in FY27, while an Oct. 1, 2026 effective date would carry a larger first‑year cost ($8.6 million) because it covers more pay months.

Administration recommended strategy 2 with a Feb. 1 effective date as a lower‑cost, in‑year correction that still benefits employees in the current fiscal year. Staff said the scale change, once adopted, would apply to future hires and that the adjusted scale will be used for recruitment. Board members asked how the adjustment would affect employees hired after implementation and raised concerns about benefit cost increases (city parity) and the flow‑through effect on employees already on higher steps. Staff said the board will see a fiscal amendment item tied to final state funds on the August board agenda and that the corrected scale would be the new recruitment standard for next year.

Planned next step: the administration will present an action item for board consideration on August 11 tied to final state budget allocations; adoption will require the board to confirm funding and implementation timing.