City staff say salary study shows roughly $5 million gap; HR proposes pay, leave and scheduling changes

Human resources staff told the City Council’s budget workshop that a comprehensive salary and classification study shows the city faces a roughly $5 million shortfall to align all positions with market pay.

The presenter, Veronica (Human Resources presenter), said the study produced a range of options. To bring all employees to 100% of market would cost approximately $5.0 million; removing the Dallas‑Fort Worth market from comparisons for some public‑safety roles reduces the total to about $4.1 million. Applying rank‑separation priorities for police and fire could reduce the ask further — Patrick’s office estimated about $3.7 million under one such model.

Veronica urged an immediate, focused step: move employees who are more than 30–40% behind market to reduce the group of significantly underpaid staff so the city does not have to fund the entire shortfall in the next fiscal year. She also described a proposed vacancy‑control process to review whether unfilled positions should be refilled and recommended some low‑cost, non‑salary retention changes: an expanded vacation schedule (three weeks at year five, four weeks at year seven, six weeks at year 10), recognition of Juneteenth as a city holiday (raising paid holidays to 13–14 depending on calendar adjustments), and an 80‑hour paid parental leave policy for birth, adoption or foster care placements.

Why it matters: The council must balance competitiveness with fiscal capacity. Veronica said the $5 million figure is the full cost of a market alignment; staff recommended targeting the worst gaps first and combining pay adjustments with non‑monetary retention items and vacancy control to manage near‑term budget impact.

What’s next: Veronica said the city is meeting with department leaders and employee associations (meet‑and‑confer) to refine priorities and will bring recommendations into the budget cycle. Council members asked for phased options and details on the short‑term fiscal impact if the city funds partial moves this year.

Representative quote: “Right now it’s about $5 million needed in order to satisfy 100% of market for everybody in the organization,” Veronica said during her presentation.

Ending note: Council members asked for scenarios that show phased funding and the one‑year impact of moving the most under‑paid staff up to 15% behind market rather than funding full alignment immediately.