ATHENS — A Georgia-based consulting firm will evaluate city of Athens employees’ job classifications and salaries, comparing those with other cities in the market, and is expected to present a plan to city officials by July 1.
The Athens City Council last week authorized Mayor Ronnie Marks to enter an agreement with Condrey & Associates for a classification and compensation study, at a fixed cost of $47,500.
“We’ve been chasing after cities around us and their salary structures for some time,” Marks said to council members. “We’ve needed to do this for a long time.”
Human Resources Director Marsha Sloss said no action was taken after the last compensation study by another company in 1997.
“This is the first time since 1997 that we’re going to be able to actually look at all our classifications, our pay scale, and see where we’re falling short and where we need to make some adjustments,” Sloss said.
The council voted 3-1 to proceed with the study, with Councilman Harold Wales voting no.
With the city’s human resources department, the mayor and department heads involved, “this is not needed,” Wales said.
Information will be solicited from more than 25 entities for the study, which will start Thursday, according to Sloss. The Condrey & Associates’ plan will include three different options, she said.
“Obviously there’s a cost associated with this” to implement recommendations, she said. “We don’t know what the cost is going to be.”
Sloss said Athens’ pay plan now has 75 to 80 classifications.
“There is a great need for this,” she said.
In November 2018, the Decatur City Council voted 3-2 to approve the changes recommended in a salary study by Condrey & Associates and a committee of city officials. Based on the new salary schedule and market-based pay increases, Decatur city employees’ pay was to increase an average of $1,000 a year and the percentage of topped-out employees was expected to drop dramatically.
The changes were expected to cost the city of Decatur $2.2 million in the first year and $1 million annually in following years.
Sloss said Condrey & Associates has also recently worked with the cities of Dothan, Prattville and Auburn and is the “go-to” firm for entities looking into their compensation and classifications.
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Read More: Athens proceeds with employee pay, classification study | Limestone County