The City of Athens will soon have a comprehensive look on how it compares to other nearby municipalities in areas like pay scale and job classification of its employees.

The City Council voted Monday to approve a classification and compensation study by the group Condrey & Associates at a fixed cost of $47,500.

According to the city’s human resources director, Marsha Sloss, the study will compare Athens to more than 25 organizations. The study will begin April 1, and the company will present a resulting plan to Athens in July.

She said the city has more than 75 classifications in its pay plan, and a study like this will look at everything across the board instead of at a specific department. Council member Dana Henry asked if a study like this was meant to eliminate subjectivity when looking at different positions, to which Sloss replied, “Absolutely.”

“In that plan, they will give us three different options,” Sloss said. “They will take a look at where we are currently and what we can do to try and make up some of the ground from where we are lacking in the market. This will give us the opportunity to look at every classification we have in the city across all departments.”

Sloss said the last study of this kind was done for Athens by a different group in 1997, and at the time, the Council was not totally pleased with the results. She said the HR director at the time also requested a study in 2004 and 2008, but neither of those were carried out.

“This is the first time since 1997 that we are going to be able to look at all our classifications and our pay scale, see where we are falling short and where we need to make some adjustments,” Sloss said. “It is going to be based on the market around us.”

Sloss said Condrey & Associates has been doing studies like this for more than 20 years. She said they have recently worked with the cities of Decatur, Dothan, Prattville and Auburn.

“I did speak to all of those groups, and they were pleased with the work that was done,” Sloss said. “It was completed in the time promised at the cost. They are typically the go-to for other entities when they are wanting to look at their compensation and classification study.”

Mayor Ronnie Marks said the City of Athens has been “chasing” other cities and their overall salary structures for some time. He said the city has needed to do a study like this for a long time. Sloss agreed, saying there is a “great need” for this.

The resolution to have the study conducted passed 3-1, with Councilman Harold Wales being the only “no” vote. Councilman Frank Travis was unable to attend the meeting due to illness.

“I voted no because I honestly believe, with the HR department we have got, and with Mayor Marks and department heads I know personally, this is not needed,” he said.