Trustee questions outsourcing of pay study

Village of Grafton Trustee Jim Miller questioned on Monday a plan to pay a consulting firm about $30,000 to conduct a study of village staff salaries.

Miller, who was the only trustee to vote against hiring McGrath Human Resources for the study, said the review should instead be completed by Village Administrator Jesse Thyes.

“He has plenty of time and has an assistant to help him,” Miller said, adding that Thyes performed the village’s last salary study in 2020.

“This is $27,750 we don’t need to spend,” he said.

Thyes pushed back on the idea and pointed out that the 2020 study was a unique situation.

“The luxury we had in 2020 was the pandemic,” he said, which gave him time to research pay scales in similar communities and crunch numbers on the village’s side.

Assistant Village Administrator Jessica Wolff said she is managing the village’s update to its comprehensive plan this year, so she will not have time to conduct the study.

An outside firm would bring expertise to the study village staff doesn’t possess, Wolff said, and could potentially make employees feel more comfortable talking about concerns than if it was performed by her and Thyes.

President Dan Delorit echoed her comments.

“A consistent challenge is when we ask staff to review compensation when their own compensation will be affected,” he said.

In 2020, Delorit said, Thyes was put in the position of approving his own raise.

The study will include market research and meetings with village staff and officials and result in the creation of a compensation policy manual, final report and presentation to the Finance and Personnel Committee and the Village Board as well as employees.

The village received seven proposals for the survey, with quotes ranging from $24,500 to $60,000.

Staff interviewed three firms and selected McGrath because of the quality of its proposal, experience and record of similar studies, according to village documents.

The village has previously worked with McGrath, Thyes said.

The study will include a study of village staff salaries and police positions not represented by its union. Wages for employees of the Ozaukee Central Fire Department and library will not be evaluated in the study because those organizations are governed by their own boards.

The study is expected to take five months.