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CASPER, Wyo. — Natrona County could face a $657,000 minimum price tag to overhaul a pay structure that has left veteran employees’ wages lagging 10% behind the market.
A $65,000 study presented by Baker Tilly on Tuesday revealed that while starting pay remains competitive, a lack of clear raises has turned the county into a training ground for other agencies, prompting a proposed shift to a streamlined 26-grade system to stabilize the workforce.
Representatives from Baker Tilly said the study evaluated 118 county positions against 10 peer organizations and private industry data. The firm found that while the county’s starting salaries are competitive to draw in new hires, wages lag the market by an average of 6% at the midpoint and more than 10% at the maximum earning levels.
Baker Tilly Senior Consulting Manager Sarah Towne recommended replacing the county’s current 64-grade pay scale with a streamlined 26-grade system featuring 11 annual steps. A separate five-grade step system was also proposed specifically for sworn officers in the sheriff’s office to eliminate wage compression between ranks.
Throughout the presentation, Towne said the study evaluated the market value of the position itself, rather than the performance of the person currently holding it.
“Our goal is not to give all employees an increase,” Towne told commissioners. “It’s to make sure that the pay structure and the positions are market competitive.”
The objective methodology sparked debate from Commissioner Dallas Laird, who expressed a strong desire to see extraordinary, long-standing employees rewarded individually based on merit rather than a standardized metric.
“I know what people are worth. I really do, most of all of them, and they’re like a family,” Laird said. “I don’t want to change that personally.”
Towne countered that establishing a fair, transparent baseline based on market data is best practice before applying subjective merit-based pay, saying the county currently lacks a formal system for standardized performance evaluations.
County administration expressed strong support for adopting the changes, saying Natrona County has not implemented a comprehensive wage study since 2006. County Clerk Tracy Good said that having predictable step increases would be a motivator during the hiring process.
“Historically, at the budget session, we have said ‘OK, let’s fund all of this and what do we have left for employees,’ and I really don’t think that’s the way we need to approach this,” Good said. “I think employees need to come first, we need to work from the top down, and I think this is a very good start.”
Commissioners could choose from three implementation scenarios ahead of the upcoming budget season. The minimum option simply to bring all current employees onto the new pay scale without decreasing anyone’s salary would require a $657,000 initial payroll adjustment. However, Towne recommended the county adopt the second option, which would intentionally place employees on steps corresponding strictly to their years in their current roles to reorient the workforce to the new system.
Commissioners didn’t vote on an implementation scenario Tuesday as the discussion was part of the board’s afternoon work session. They plan to review the data and a forthcoming benefits comparison report before making a final budgetary decision.
