A Compensation Study
built for a full-service city.
Approximately 570 classifications. About 1,500 employees. Seven labor agreements across five unions. Police, fire, RTS transit, public works, solid waste, and parks, each with its own pay logic. This portal is the analytical baseline House Strategies Group has laid for the City of Gainesville, built to review the pay plan, benchmark the market, and modernize ~570 job descriptions. By House Strategies Group.
Workforce in Scope
~570 classifications · ~1,500 employees · 7 labor agreements · 16 functional families
Executive & General Government
22 classes
Gainesville Police (sworn + civilian)
70 classes
Gainesville Fire Rescue
40 classes
Regional Transit System (RTS)
45 classes
Public Works & Engineering
60 classes
Solid Waste & Sustainability
14 classes
Parks, Recreation, Nature & Cultural
55 classes
Facilities, Fleet & General Services
40 classes
Finance, Budget & Procurement
35 classes
Human Resources & Risk Management
20 classes
Information Technology (GTech)
30 classes
Sustainable Development, Planning & Code
45 classes
Housing, Community & Economic Mobility
30 classes
Compliance, Audit & Equal Opportunity
18 classes
Airport, Golf & Nature Enterprises
20 classes
Executive & Department-Head Ladder
24 classes
Family taxonomy and class counts illustrative; final reconciled against the City of Gainesville's HR job-description inventory at engagement kickoff.
What This Engagement Delivers
Four lenses on Gainesville's pay reality.
The RFP asks for a market pay review with public-sector emphasis, a streamlined pay-plan structure, ~570 updated job descriptions consistent across job families, and system recommendations HR can run after we leave. That is the deliverable on the next four cards.
Why HSG
Five reasons our approach fits Gainesville.
01
Enterprise-scale classifiers, by name
The RFP's scale minimum (550-plus job profiles, 1,500 employees, multiple unions) is answered by the people who do the work. Our classification leads ran HR and job evaluation for U.S. Department of State missions with 2,000-plus locally engaged staff and 1,000-plus U.S. hires, and administered benefits for 8,000-plus union and non-union employees. Every job family Gainesville has, at far larger scale.
02
A multi-union, full-service city, understood
Seven labor agreements across five unions (ATU, CWA, IAFF, FOP). Sworn police and certified fire on a separate pension and FLSA footing. Federal transit rules for RTS. We model the City the way it actually runs, not as a generic headcount.
03
The hard-to-fill list, taken seriously
The RFP names two dozen positions the City struggles to fill, from Solid Waste Manager to RTS Operator to Security Engineer. Our job-profile audits examine whether each is advertised, graded, and paid competitively for the actual role.
04
Defensibly human-validated AI methodology
Every AI-generated classification draft, market band, and compression flag is reconciled by a credentialed analyst before it reaches the City, captured in an AI / Expert Reconciliation Log.
05
Florida public-sector specifics, built in
Chapter 175/185 police and fire pensions, the FL Salary Incentive Program for law enforcement, paramedic and fire certification pay, CDL and water/wastewater licenses, modeled the way a full-service Florida city actually pays.
A Structured Engagement
From a September kickoff to a Board-ready final report sequenced to the City's budget cycle.
Sep · Phase 1
Kickoff, data intake & employee assessment
Initial meetings with HR, the City Manager's office, and department directors. Job-assessment (PDQ) tool launched across the ~1,500-employee workforce.
Oct · Phase 2
Classification audit & market survey, in parallel
~570 job classes evaluated by function, not title. The Florida public-sector comparator pool surveyed concurrently. AI-drafted profiles reconciled by a certified job evaluator.
Nov · Phase 3
Pay-plan structure & compression analysis
Overall pay-plan streamlining, range spread and midpoint progression, the Staff Specialist / Executive Assistant grade fixes, and supervisory-compression remediation.
Dec · Phase 4
Job-description modernization
~570 job descriptions reviewed and updated for education, experience, and consistency across job families and within-family progression.
Jan-Feb · Phase 5
Recommendations, cost modeling & programs
Market-target philosophy, phased cost estimates, hard-to-fill job-profile audits, and PTTP / POTP program reviews with best-practice recommendations.
Mar+ · Phase 6
Final report, presentation & maintenance system
Final report and Commission-ready presentation, HR-staff training, and the ongoing market-data maintenance system the City runs after we leave.
Response Companion
This portal is the analytical product the City of Gainesville would receive, already built.
Every chart, every table, every modeling tool here is what the City receives, sharper and populated with Gainesville's actual classification, salary, pension, and benefits data once the engagement begins.