RFP Tab E · built backward from December 14, 2026

Ten weeks is enough, if nothing waits on anything it doesn't have to

The final report is due to the Director of Human Resources by December 14, 2026, with a Council presentation in January 2027. This plan assumes an October notice to proceed, runs the two tracks in parallel rather than in sequence, and starts market work from published data on day one instead of waiting for survey returns. If award comes earlier, everything moves left.

Phase 1 · Kickoff and data intake

Award week + 1 · est. mid-October 2026
Kickoff with the HR team

Process, tasks, and dedication of key personnel per §4.5 Information Meetings; confirm the two peer lists, communication cadence, and the December milestones on Town calendars (department heads, Town Manager, Council dates).

Deliverables: confirmed work plan and schedule; data request fulfilled from in-house records per Town Resources clause
Records intake, both tracks

Pay plans, job classifications, employee salary and position data, the 2024 study deliverables, JDs, incentive policies (CDL program, Crew Chief extra-duty), and police specialty-pay practice. Market baseline from published sources activates the same week; it was started before award and is visible on this portal.

Deliverables: validated incumbent dataset; baseline market file

Phase 2 · Parallel field work

Late October – mid November 2026
Track A: PDQs and desk audits, all civilian departments

PDQ administration sized to a 113-title workforce (census where titles are single-incumbent, structured sampling where they are not, subject to the Town's preference), desk audits, series and ladder analysis, and the Maintenance Worker series split with division interviews in Sewer Construction and Water Construction.

Deliverables: PDQ analysis; draft series architecture; draft Sewer and Water Construction series
Track B: sworn survey and structure analysis

Total-comp survey Officer through Chief against the agreed LE peer field (excl. insurance, retirement, PTO per §4.4.1), step plan and compression analysis on incumbent data, incentive and specialty pay audit, career-ladder criteria review.

Deliverables: LE market file; step plan findings; incentive audit grid
Joint: placement and equity review begins

Every employee against tenure, experience, and range placement, both tracks, using the engine demonstrated on the Equity Lab page.

Deliverables: flagged-case working papers

Phase 3 · Design and modeling

Mid November – early December 2026
Structures, ladders, and named deliverables

Civilian open-range redesign with midpoints, spreads, and grade differentials; updated hiring terciles; merit progression mechanics; police step plan recommendation; career ladders both tracks; CDL incentive and Crew Chief extra-duty recommendations.

Deliverables: draft structures and JD updates, reviewed with HR and the Town Manager
Fiscal impact and implementation scenarios

Track A alone, Track B alone, and combined; immediate, two-year phased, and tenure-based step placement options, each priced (§4.5.2).

Deliverables: multi-year fiscal models the Finance Director can audit

Phase 4 · Delivery

December 1 – 14, 2026 · then January 2027
Final report by December 14

Final report to the Director of Human Resources on or before December 14, 2026; all tables, schedules, JDs, surveys, and models on electronic medium per Tab H; administrative manuals for both systems.

Deliverables: final report; flash-drive record; admin manuals
Council presentation

Appear at the scheduled Council meeting, January 11 or January 25, 2027, with the findings, the scenarios, and the record behind every number.

Deliverables: Council presentation and Q&A support

Why the parallel design holds

The classic failure mode on a compressed comp study is sequence: classification first, then survey, then equity, each waiting on the last. Nothing in this scope actually requires that. PDQs do not wait on market data; the LE survey does not wait on civilian desk audits; the equity engine runs the moment the incumbent file is validated. The only true dependencies are Town-side review points, which is where the float lives. Two senior tracks run side by side with one project director accountable for both, and the weekly HR update reports percent complete against this same plan.