Brazos County studies compensation, benefits for employees

Brazos County commissioners received a report on Tuesday about issues with setting salaries and competing with other local governments for employees.

The Compensation and Benefits study was conducted and presented by the consulting firm Segal.

"There are no layoffs associated with this study, as it was not intended to be a staffing analysis, and there are no pay cuts associated with this study," said Jennifer Salazar, director of the county's human resources department. "From the beginning, we knew our system was unique, and the study confirmed that, over time, practices such as applying merit increases to the positions rather than to the individual employees have compounded year over year. While those decisions are made with good intent, they have resulted in base salaries that, in some cases, appear above market."

The analysis evaluated 1,079 positions spread over 400 job classifications throughout the county. While some salaries were above market, some were below market. The presentation did not go over specific positions or salaries.

Segal's TL Cox reviewed several areas in the study for the commissioners to consider as they head into the budget planning for fiscal year 2027.

"Where have you had recruitment challenges? Meaning, when you post a job, it's difficult to get applicants," he said. "Where have you had retention problems, where maybe you're serving as a training ground for other organizations? Are there career progressions?"

A video put together by the HR department outlined the goals of the compensation study.

"We're rigorously comparing health insurance, retirement plans and leave policies right alongside our peer organizations," the video says. "Beyond just benefits, the study is totally focused on building a robust performance management system too. This framework develops clear evaluations and explores the smartest ways to seamlessly incorporate merit-based pay. Because at the end of the day, we want a system that truly rewards outstanding employee performance."

Cox said they used data from other governmental entities to restructure salary schedules and job titles. Most of the comparisons came from Bryan, College Station, and Texas A&M University.

"We got market data from the peer agencies that the county identified for comparisons, and so using both of those inputs, we've created structures," he said. "We've aligned jobs into structures. We've allocated staff into job titles. But the reality is, what we can reasonably recommend giving the data available to us may not necessarily be something we all can live with going forward. And so there has to be, and there always is, in studies like this, an internal process where you vet the recommendations and test, can it work in real life for us? And so really, that's kind of where you are."

Cox said one of the problems the county has is that merit pay has been assigned to positions rather than the person. He said when a person leaves after 20 years, the merit pay stays with the position, even though the new person may not have the same level of experience.

"Traditionally, we've been putting those merit increases on that position, not necessarily the individual. As a result, that position has risen to $82,000 in salary, creating a 82% increase over that 20-year period. With that in mind, the market data has shown that in an example like that, we may be over by, say, 23% of the market point, because that range has grown so much from that $40,000-ish at the beginning up to $80,000-plus," he said.

Commissioner Bentley Nettles said he is baffled by the current salary structure of the county.

"I think it's a Texas size understatement to say that the Brazos County compensation program is unique," he said. "I've worked in both the federal and state systems, and nothing looks like what we have here. One of the challenges I've had with it is that we have, I don't believe positions are entitled to merit. Individuals are. We have some great employees doing great work, and we need to award those. But the idea that your merit continues on for the next 20 years is not really reflective, because everybody's not going to be a great performer every year."

Raeanna McConathy, assistant HR director for Brazos County, gave a review of the study and talked about the next steps.

"At this point, the market study is complete. We benchmarked 121 jobs. We compared our job descriptions and JDQs [job description questionnaires] to multiple peer organizations as TL [Cox] covered, as well as reputable private sector data," she said. We've also received preliminary classification and compensation recommendations from Segal, including updated grade structures."

McConathy said there were inconsistencies found in the JDQs that will require more work.

"Our current structure does not align with how most organizations manage their compensation today. So these findings have led to misalignment and classifications, which is why validating the structures with departments has been such a crucial step," she said.

She said the HR department is meeting with departments to discuss job titles and responsibilities.

"We want to ensure what we're implementing works operationally, not just on paper," she said.

Commissioner Wanda Watson said she appreciates the work done on the study.

"I've been really frustrated from day one at how our system is set up, and so I like this. I hope that the staff will appreciate it in terms of maybe feel like it's a little bit more fair and balanced. And going forward, as we bring new people on, that we'll be able to have a process that is fair and easier to understand, too," she said.

No action was taken by the commissioners, and the final report will be presented at a later date.

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This story was originally published May 10, 2026 at 9:42 AM.