Every January, the Municipal Association asks human resources staff and city clerks to update their city's information for the Association's online compensation survey. The survey is an annual report of wages and salaries of South Carolina municipal employees and elected officials.
It's a well-known fact that to attract and retain valuable employees, cities and towns must offer competitive wages and salaries. Depending on location, a municipality may be drawing from the same applicant pool as state agencies, counties, hospitals and private corporations. The online tool allows officials to ensure their city's compensation scale is competitive with other municipalities with comparable populations and budgets.
Participating in the survey is optional; however, the Association encourages all municipalities to complete the online survey every year. Widespread participation makes the information more useful to all. The survey also has value beyond comparing salaries among cities.
"During the 2017 legislative session, we used information from the Compensation Survey to illustrate to legislators the impact of different proposals on cities and towns during the pension reform debate," said Melissa Carter, research and legislative liaison for the Association.
"When estimating the fiscal impact to the state, school districts and local governments from proposed legislation, it is critically important to have accurate and complete data," stated Frank Rainwater, executive director of the S.C. Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office.
The 2017 survey will be available for data entry from January 8 until February 23.