Portage county-wide salary study

Portage County in Wisconsin is soliciting proposals through a Request for Proposal (RFP) to conduct a comprehensive classification and compensation study for all county positions, excluding represented law enforcement positions. The primary objective is to update the county's 2016 classification and compensation schedules and the 2022 market update to ensure wage and benefit competitiveness with comparable local government units and private-sector benchmarks within the geographic area. Key deliverables and scope include job classification reviews through employee and management interviews, Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Wisconsin Wage and Hour compliance assessments, recommendations for classification additions and deletions, identification of comparable Wisconsin counties for internal benchmarking, recommendations for internal maintenance processes and policy updates, and presentation of results to both the Human Resources Committee and County Board. The county is also interested in negotiating a secondary five-year maintenance contract following implementation. Proposals must be submitted by email to schultzc@co.portage.wi.gov by 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 30, 2026, with interviews and presentations scheduled for May 20, 2026, and contract award anticipated in mid-June 2026 with a late June 2026 start date. The final product delivery is estimated for late third quarter or early fourth quarter 2026. Evaluation criteria are scored on a 1,000-point scale: Organization Capabilities (200 points), Staff Qualifications (150 points), Proposer Solutions (450 points), and Cost Proposal (200 points), with cost proposals scored proportionally using the lowest cost proposal as the numerator.

Three mandatory qualifications must be satisfied: the firm must have conducted a comprehensive classification and compensation study for a Wisconsin public entity within the past five years; key personnel identified in the proposal must be present at interviews and remain on the project throughout all phases; and the project lead must have at least five years of experience in public sector compensation studies or equivalent field experience. Proposers must submit three professional references, identify their approach to job benchmarking and salary range methodology, provide a detailed project timeline with specific milestones, and explain how they will minimize required county staff effort. The cost proposal should be submitted in a separate sealed envelope with itemized travel costs, labor, materials, and other expenses. The awarded contractor must hold prices fixed for the entire contract period, with any price adjustments for renewal periods to be negotiated. No specific budget range or award value is listed in the RFP documentation, and no set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises or restricted categories of organizations are mentioned. The County reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and to negotiate contract terms, including the award amount, with the selected proposer.