Electric Compensation Study Scope of Work8716 DME Compensation and
Classification Study
Scope of Work
BACKGROUND
The City of Denton (the City) is requesting proposals for conducting a Compensation and Classification
Study for the City’s electric service pay plans as follows: Denton Municipal Electric (DME) department:
Electric Pay Plan, Electric Engineering Pay Plan, and Electric Apprenticeship and Craft Play Plans. The
scope does not include any other pay plans for the City.
The City of Denton, located at the northern tip of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, has a current
population of approximately 151,000 residents and is rapidly growing, which has led to a focused effort
to ensure the City’s infrastructure and service delivery levels are adequate, now and in the future. Denton
is a full-service city, providing general government services along with multiple utility/enterprise
operations such as water, wastewater, electric, solid waste and recycling, drainage, and airport services.
To provide these services to the community, the City employs a total of 180 full-time employees in the
DME department. (data as of October 21, 2024)
The City used a consultant to complete its last comprehensive pay plan revision in 2023 which included a
review of 66 job descriptions, a salary survey for 11 positions, and an update of the pay plans. This
study included a salary survey for 11 DME Electric and Electric Engineering positions. The study did
not include the Electric Apprentice and Craft Pay Plans. The City participates in the American Public
Power Association (APPA) survey annually to assess competitiveness and market placement for the
DME Apprentice and Craft pay plan. Copies of the City’s job descriptions and pay plans (except all
Electric pay plans) can be found on the City’s website under the Human Resources page. All Electric pay
plans will be made available to the awardee.
The following is an approximate number of grades and positions per pay plan:
• Electric Pay Plan – 57 positions across 28 pay grades
• Electric Engineering Pay Plan – 13 positions across 14 pay grades
• Electric Apprentice and Craft Pay Plan – 30 positions across 16 pay grades
DME has experienced challenges in attracting and retaining talent and continues to adapt to meet the
needs of the rapidly growing community DME experiences compensation and classification challenges
such as:
• Most electricity service providers are in the private sector and not a provided municipal service.
• Accurate position comparison difficulties with other organizations resulting in positions
compensated well or, inversely, not compensated well in comparison with the market.
• There are pay equity issues among staff along with compensation compression concerns with
supervisors and subordinates.
Provided this background, the City is seeking a Consultant and partner to perform a Compensation and
Classification Study to address some pressing challenges and concerns within its DME existing framework.
The following are immediate objectives to:
1) Conduct a market study to evaluate and calibrate its pay plans with the external environment
or defined labor market to be fair, equitable, and competitive,
2) Evaluate existing classification plan, position titles, position descriptions, and methods, and
3) Prepare a report with recommended changes.
While the immediate goals of this project are to perform a DME compensation study, evaluate existing
classifications, and make modifications to its current system, the department is seeking a consultant that
could potentially continue to provide services to adapt the department’s system to best meet its goals for
attracting and retaining talent, ensuring competitive pay structures that align with the electric/utility
industry labor markets, and providing the best framework for maintaining the pay plans across the
department on an ongoing basis. There is also an option to understand a project approach, timeline, and
pricing if the City comprehensively evaluated and replaced its compensation and classification system.
SCOPE OF WORK
The City is requesting a proposal for the following service option(s):
Study and Recommend Changes to Current Pay Plans
• Project Management and Communications – Serve as project manager and work closely with Human
Resources staff. Develop a communication strategy and plan that allows the staff of DME to be
informed and be as transparent as possible. Meet and solicit feedback and input from different levels of
the Department including employees and leadership.
• Market Study / Salary Survey - Provide a comprehensive market compensation study and provide
recommendations to ensure that DME’s compensation system supports the City’s mission, strategic
objectives, and compensation philosophy. The City desires that the Consultant conduct a
comprehensive market data collection/survey of external labor market(s) for all classified DME
positions, analyze and evaluate all data in an objective manner, and make recommendations for salary
structure adjustments, base pay (e.g., merit, market) increases, intangible incentives, and selected
special pay provisions to ensure external competitiveness and internal equity to ensure we are able
to support recruitment and retention of employees more effectively, as well as the integrity and
credibility of the Department compensation program. Due to the rich employee benefits provided at
the City, the value should be considered as part of the study.
• Electric, Electric Engineering, Electric Apprentice and Craft Pay Plan Review – Evaluate current pay
grades, e.g., number of pay grades, including additions, deletions, and/or consolidations;
appropriate spread between minimum and maximum of pay ranges, and recommend a strategy for
improvements. Recommend changes to current pay plans and recommend additional pay plan(s) if
appropriate.
• Classification Review – Based on market data and organizational interviews, conduct a job analysis for
identified positions of concern to ensure appropriate pay grade classification and address internal
equity concerns. Proposal should include pricing for a job analysis for all Electric positions, with optional
pricing for additional positions as needed. Consultant should identify positions with the assistance of
HR staff; a final list of positions will be approved by HR staff.
• Implementation Strategy – Design a strategy for an updated compensation system with the lowest
financial impact and greatest gain to positions that fall outside of designated range. The
implementation plan should contain the total cost for implementation beginning October 1, 2025.
• Training – If the compensation system is implemented, provide training to the Management Team on
the utilization and maintenance of the system. Additionally, provide necessary documentation and
other materials for the City to maintain the system independently of the consultant following the
implementation of the job evaluation/compensation plan.
• Report – Prepare and present a final report and recommendations to Human Resources staff and
Executive Management, including a prioritized or phased approach to address recommendations and
an analysis of financial impact.
The City may request hourly pricing to include additional services in the future for additional job analysis,
review and recommend classification system improvements, develop, and provide a tool to perform job
evaluation/analysis consistently and objectively, and develop a strategy for annual review of
compensation and classification to meet the City’s compensation program goals.
PROPOSAL SPECIFICATIONS
The respondent’s proposal must include a detailed plan describing the process and methodology to be
used to carry out the Scope of Work. The strategies and methods by which the work is performed must
be included in respondent’s proposal and be detailed sufficiently to allow the City to determine
compatibility of approach to the City and Departments overall goals and existing compensation and
classification structure. Factors to be considered include but are not limited to:
1. Understanding of Project: A narrative with the respondent’s understanding of the project and the
City and Departments goals.
2. Statement of Qualifications: A narrative or other statement by the respondent of its qualifications
for the proposed project. Experience with electric and energy companies and municipalities,
especially full-service Cities, should be noted.
3. Project Team and Management: Narrative and graphic descriptions of how the respondent
proposes to manage the project. The respondent should provide general information on the
organization and management processes involved in the project. This should answer such
questions as:
a. Who will have overall responsibility for the project?
b. What will be the lines of authority?
c. Who will be responsible for each component of the project?
d. What are the qualifications, experience, credentials of key personnel assigned to this
project?
4. Work Plan and Methodology: A detailed description of the plan to achieve the necessary
requirements and a plan for accomplishing the work, as specified above in the Scope of Work.
For Proposal, this should answer questions such as:
1. What is the proposed timeline and steps for the project, including anticipated delivery dates for
deliverables?
2. How will you collect feedback and information from stakeholders and keep them informed
and engaged throughout the project?
3. Will your company use standard surveys and/or customized surveys? Why does your company
choose the recommended method(s)? If standard surveys are recommended, what is the source
of the survey data?
4. How does your company define the market(s) for comparison, and what are the selection criteria
for such?
5. How does your company form recommendations to correct external worth to the chosen market?
6. How does your company’s proposal accommodate the unique nature of certain functions and
responsibilities characteristic of a Texas city government?
7. While competitiveness of the City’s benefit plan is NOT a component of the study, the study
should consider the value of the City’s benefits program in the evaluation and development of
study recommendations. This should answer the question: Generally speaking, how would your
company take into account benefits considerations in the compensation study?
8. How would you conduct a job analysis for identified positions?
9. How would you provide and report your overall recommendations, including priorities, financial
impact, and an implementation approach?
10. A price for proposed services inclusive of all fees and expenses.
11. A description of what is required from the City at each step of the proposed project. This should
answer such questions as:
a. Which City personnel are to be involved?
b. What will City personnel be required to provide?
c. Project Lists: A list of relevant projects completed by the respondent. A list of
other governmental/ institutional projects completed by the respondent.
12. References: Names, physical addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses of at least five (5)
persons whom the City of Denton can contact for references regarding the respondent’s past
performance on similar projects. At least two (2) references should be from the public sector,
preferably other municipalities. Please indicate which references are current clients of the
respondent.
EVALUATION FACTORS
Factors Definition Points
Electric/Energy Experience Prior experience in providing similar services to other
electric or energy entities, municipalities or
governmental entities, reputation, and sample work
products provided.
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Price Price evaluation will be based on the TOTAL pricing
submitted on the Proposal Pricing form. No vendor
will be selected or rejected based on cost alone.
30
Project Plan and Approach Quality of proposed project plan and approach to
meet the stated objectives. Ability of the vendor to
outline a project timeline that is reasonable and
meets the City’s needs.
20
Responsiveness Quality and completeness of vendor’s proposal as it
addresses the factors outlined in the Proposal
Specifications section and extent to which the vendor
meets the criteria of the Scope of Work section.
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