After spending $40,000 on a comparison study of its employees' salaries and benefits, Spanish Fork city leaders didn't exactly get what they asked for.

Concerned about the 17.9 percent benefit that the city pays to employees' retirement plans -- more than the 11.6 percent required by the state -- residents asked the city in June to compare city employees' salaries and benefits with the private sector. But city-hired consultant Sue Shea of the Hay Group only provided salary comparisons with two local businesses. She asked the Nebo School District -- not a private company -- for benefits information, but the district didn't provide it.

Mayor Joe Thomas said it was important that the study compare the city against the private sector because it's the residents and those working in the private sector who pay the employees of Spanish Fork.

"I want the benefits compensation to be fair, based on who pays that compensation," he said.

The benefit report showed that city employees receive, in general, better benefits than those in Hay's general industry database, which is a national database.

In June, many residents said even the required 11.6 percent is well above what employers pay into employees' retirement plans in the private sector.

Thomas agrees.

"It's not the government's job to bestow benefits on the employees that the public don't enjoy themselves," he said.

Shea did not provide those recommendations, though, and Thomas worried that she had spent too much time working with city employees and not enough time talking to elected officials that represent the public, or the public. Shea talked to each councilman and the mayor once in a phone conversation. It made him question the objectivity of the study.

"I feel like she missed somewhere in the boat that she was also working for the citizens," Thomas said.

In her salary comparison, Shea showed the city's salaries are within the 60-65 percentile target set by the council.

The study also compared Spanish Fork to several cities, using the Wasatch Survey, which is a database of local cities' salary information.

Councilman Chris Wadsworth expressed concern about the database. He worried that the cities could form a vicious cycle by using each other for data, building their salaries up year after year. For example, a city could raise its employees' salaries because its neighbor was paying higher and the next year the neighbor would have to do the same to keep up, and so forth.

Wadsworth also worried about the cities to which Spanish Fork was compared.

"It comes back to the ability to pay," he said, referring to cities and their comparable sizes. "I don't think the citizens are really figured into that, because they are the ones that have to pay."

Wadsworth pointed out that American Fork and Lehi have a greater sales tax base and population than Spanish Fork, so to pay employees the same amount would force Spanish Fork residents to make up for it with higher taxes.

"We have the second lowest certified tax rate in the county, I don't see how that's burdening our residents," said Councilman Seth Sorenson.

Shea concluded that Spanish Fork's employees were working hard for a growing city.

"It was obvious to me, as we went through the job descriptions, that you do operate leanly and you do have several people who are wearing two or three different hats," she said, noting that supervisors also don't have enough time to supervise.

Assistant City Manager Seth Perrins said that Spanish Fork's turnover rate is 5 percent. Shea said that could rise if the city doesn't hire more people, because employees are doing double duty. Council members view a healthy turnover rate at 6 percent to 8 percent because they believe it can reflect over compensation and too many benefits if it's lower.

Shea recommended a performance-based raise program -- one thing that was encouraged by the members of the council. She included a structure for it in her plan, which rates performance higher than background or education.

The study will be reviewed at a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 7. Thomas expects the council to take action at that time and possibly change employee compensation or benefits.

Natalie Andrews is available at 344-2561or nandrews@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.