Remember when Maricopa City Council members opted not to give themselves a raise earlier this month?
The decision was tied to two broader agenda items: a review of pay and benefits for all city employees and approval of $4.51 million in compensation adjustments. It all stemmed from a study the city commissioned a year ago with Gallagher Benefit Services, according to Assistant City Manager Jennifer Brown.
At the time of the vote, the only publicly available document was a single bar graph that generally illustrated projected personnel and operating costs for the 2026 fiscal year.
Today, city spokesperson Monica Williams told InMaricopa the goal of the study is to “ensure our employees are fairly compensated.”
“Fair compensation improves employee morale, lessens absenteeism and ensures that we retain our best employees, thereby reducing turnover and avoiding the costs associated with position vacancies,” Williams said.
InMaricopa obtained the full 81-page study over the weekend. Here are some key findings:
Six jobs were misclassified under the Fair Labor Standards Act
Six positions were incorrectly classified as exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act, meaning they should have been eligible for overtime pay.
Those roles included dispatch supervisor, engineering inspector, executive assistant to the city clerk and elected officials, executive assistant to the city manager and elected officials, fire inspector and recreation programmer. If not corrected, the misclassifications could expose the city to “legal risks,” the auditors concluded.
City employees are generally paid below market levels
When compared to other cities like Chandler, Buckeye and Surprise, Maricopa’s employee pay is on average 5% below the market median. Some were significantly below market, including chief building official (-33%), fire chief (-25%), library clerk (-25%) and business analyst (-23%)
Overall, 27 positions were shown to be anywhere from 16 to 33% below market average, which included full-time, part-time and seasonal employees.
However, that doesn’t mean these employees necessarily earn peanuts. For example, Fire Chief Brad Pitassi’s salary was estimated to be 25% below market rate but he also was among the highest paid city employees, earning more than $162,000 at the beginning of the year. The same applied to Police Chief Mark Goodman, whose $179,000 salary is ranked 17% below market.
Five positions are paid above market
- EMS coordinator (16% above)
- Police property and evidence supervisor (17%)
- Director of community enrichment (18%)
- Code compliance supervisor (21%)
- Stormwater systems manager (24%).
Recommended raises between 5% and 11%
Gallagher recommended several approaches to correct below-market salaries, including raising pay between 5% and 11%, which was estimated to cost the city about $1.3 million.
The study also suggested adjusting how seasonal and part-time employees receive raises, so they aren’t stuck at entry-level pay, as well as conducting annual salary reviews to ensure competitiveness.
Williams said that “a majority of the recommendations from Gallagher have been adopted,” though she didn’t specify which ones. She did note the total cost to implement them would be $1.6 million — and City Council approved that amount.
And since council has already voted to approve the compensation adjustments, “no additional council action is required.” Read the study here.
