2008 Woodie Awards
Board approves compression salary study at Kerrville resort retreat
By Regis L. Roberts
Issue date: 6/30/08 Section: News
Originally published: 7/11/08 at 4:41 PM CSTLast update: 9/4/08 at 2:03 PM CST
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This will give district employees, based on their pay grade, an incremental increase in salary every year until a "midpoint," or eight years, where pay is raised every other year. This compression proposal also calls for a "longevity plan" that gives employees a one-time bonus of 1.5 percent, 2.5 percent, 3.5 percent and 4.5 percent for service with the district of 19, 24, 29 and 34 years or more, respectively.
The item containing the compression proposal was tabled from the regular board meeting June 17 because of lack of clarification on some aspects that were brought up when James McLaughlin, vice chancellor of administration, presented the results of the compensation study conducted by Fox Lawson and Associates.
McLaughlin said that it seemed like the data were calculated by two different people who were not conferring with each other. This resulted in some missing data, he said.
The goal of the compression phase is to bring employee salaries in line with the local market, he said.
During the retreat, board Chair Denver McClendon suggested that because roughly half of district's employees are paid above their market value and the other half is paid below, the half that is paid above should not receive their increases to make pay more fair. This idea was met with grumbles from those in attendance.
McLaughlin responded by saying it is best to keep everything even across the board and re-evaluate compensation periodically to make sure salaries are fair.
Because the effective date for noncontract employees is July 1, it was deemed necessary to move the discussion of salary compression to the retreat, the earliest date the board would meet before July 1.
The Texas Open Meetings Act, which falls under Government Code chapter 551, requires that a meeting of a governmental body be conducted in a location accessible to the public. While Kerrville - about 66 miles from downtown San Antonio - is not an unreasonable distance from the board's constituency as meant by the Open Meetings Act, it is still out of the way for many who will be affected by the compression plan.
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