Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Personnel Compensation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Town HR outlines merit-focused pay plan; council presses for market comparisons
Summary
Purcellville’s HR director said the FY26 budget holds 94 FTEs, freezes five vacancies and proposes shifting from COLA-plus-merit to a merit-focused approach, with an average funded increase of about 1.5% for FY26; councilmembers asked for more modeling and department-level impacts.
LaDonna, the town’s director of human resources, told the council the proposed FY2026 budget keeps total town positions at 94 but freezes funding for five vacant roles (four in police and one in the water fund) and focuses on a transition from a COLA-plus-merit model to a merit-based compensation structure.
She said demographic and tenure data (about 45.5% of staff over age 50 and an average of ~15 years’ service for many positions) create recruitment and succession-planning pressures. Under the FY26 proposal LaDonna described, measures meant to preserve fiscal balance reduce the initially recommended increases so the budgeted funding results in an average pay increase of about 1.5% across staff for FY26 performance adjustments.
Council members questioned whether the proposed funding would close the town’s reported 13.5% median pay gap versus neighboring jurisdictions and whether a funded 5% merit pool (discussed as an ideal) would produce meaningful differentiation among high and mid performers. LaDonna said a fully funded 5% pool could allow top performers to earn up to 6% in reviews but the budgetary proration and timing of reviews mean averages would likely be about half in practice.
No personnel hires beyond existing filled positions were proposed for FY26; LaDonna and councilmembers agreed to follow up with department-by-department breakdowns and the cost implications of higher-funded merit pools and any alternative pay strategies.
