No easy solution on Marble Falls pay scales

Especially at risk are firefighters and police officers.
Some on the Marble Falls City Council have suggested this means that local public safety officers are getting great training here in the Highland Lakes, then taking off for higher-paying jobs in other cities.
Marble Falls, in essence, is producing employees for other cities through superior training, but not reaping the benefits as they leave for greener pastures.
So how does the city upgrade the pay of these officers and firefighters, not to mention other municipal employees?
That’s a great question, and there is no easy answer. There never is when it comes to money and salaries.
According to a consulting firm hired by the city, a one-time cash infusion — some might call it a financial “shock” to the system — of about $230,000 would bring city salaries to a commensurate level with other municipalities.
After that,  increases would be based on merit.
The results of the wage study were presented last week by Ruth Ann Eledge of Waters Consulting Group Inc., who said some city employes are being paid nearly 15 percent lower than their counterparts in other nearby cities.
The study looked at pay scales in Horseshoe Bay, Georgetown, Austin and New Braunfels. Researchers adjusted those numbers to allow for changes in the cost of living in each city.
Marble Falls’ general non-sworn employees earned about 2 percent below market average.
Certain sworn employees, such as firefighters and police officers, are falling even more behind.
The study indicated some firefighters and engineers at Marble Falls Fire Rescue are earning 5 to 8 percent less than market average, while Police Department officers earn about 15 percent less.
A one-time adjustment to the city’s pay scale could bring all employees on par with the market average, in addition to a series of measured increases commensurate with an employee’s seniority.
After that, all employees get raises based on job performance. There are more than 120 municipal employees who keep the city running.
In this space not long ago, we warned of a “brain drain” afflicting the Highland Lakes. What’s happening in Marble Falls is a direct example of this problem.
The city is losing highly qualified employees to Austin and other places where the pay is better.
One could argue Marble Falls can’t afford to pay Austin wages, but the reply would be to get used to a merry-go-round of trained-here-today, gone-tomorrow civic servants.
As one councilman noted when the consultant presented the findings, it is good to know the problem; now, can anyone say where the money is coming from?
Perhaps Councilman Josh Parker said it best when he recognized the city had spent weeks arguing over a $116 million capital-improvement projects budget; certainly, he argued, they could find the $230,000 needed to retain good employees.
Times are lean, no doubt about it.
But Parker is right — the money can be found if it means keeping the best-qualified people in Marble Falls. The city may even have to raise rates for certain permits and services, or put some projects on hold for a while.
The answers in situations like this are never easy, but better now to face the challenge than to find Marble Falls bereft of qualified civic servants down the road.