Classification and Compensation Study

The City of St. Helena, California is located in the center of the world-famous wine growing Napa Valley, 65 miles north of San Francisco. The area was settled in 1834 as part of General Vallejo’s land grant. The City of St. Helena was incorporated as a City on March 24, 1876, and reincorporated on May 14, 1889.The City, from its inception, has served as a rural agricultural center and over the years, has experienced growth and development of the wine industry. The City receives many visitors due to the wine industry and the area’s scenic qualities and history. The City’s goal is to maintain a small-town atmosphere and to provide high quality services to its residents.The official population of the City of St. Helena as of 2025 is 5,174 (CA Department of Finance). St. Helena is a full-service city employing 90.95 full-time equivalent employees and encompasses an area of four-square miles. The City’s FY 2024-25 General Fund Budget is approximately $22 million.The City of St. Helena is a General Law City and operates under the Council-City Manager form of government. The City Council is the governing body and has the power to make and enforce all laws and set policy related to municipal affairs. The City Manager is responsible for carrying out the policies of the City Council and for the proper and efficient management of municipal activities. The City Manager directs and manages the various departments and municipal services through appointed Department Heads who directly supervise and administer the various City programs, services, and activities. The City currently has 77 authorized full-time positions, and approximately 91 active classifications.Over the last several years, the City has internally reviewed and adjusted individual positions and created new classifications as needed. A complete list of all classifications with job specifications may be found on the City’s website at cityofsthelena.gov/hr.The City’s employees are divided into five categories: Unrepresented (department heads and mid-managers), Miscellaneous Employees of the St. Helena Employees Association (SHEA), Police Officers and Dispatchers of the Police Officers Association (POA), Firefighters of the St. Helena Professional Firefighters Association (SHPFA), and permanent/seasonal part-time employees of human resources, library, recreation, and fire departments.The St. Helena Employees Association (SHEA) represents miscellaneous employees, the Police Officers Association (POA) represents police officers and dispatchers, and the St. Helena Firefighters Association (SHPFA) through a Memorandum of Understanding, and all other staff are unrepresented. All positions, salaries, and salary grades are authorized through a salary Resolution adopted by City Council as part of the annual budget, changes in pay schedules, reorganization, and/or other actions requiring council action.GENERAL INFORMATIONOBJECTIVEThe City of St. Helena is seeking proposals from qualified consulting firms to conduct a comprehensive citywide classification and compensation study in accordance with this Request for Proposal (RFP.)The City wishes to be competitive in the recruitment and retention of qualified personnel. However, it is challenging to identify logical and defensible agencies similar in size, operations and service area, etc.The selected firm will, in collaboration with City staff, identify a set of local or regional agencies considered logical and defensible to ensure good sound comparisons on a variety of variables and result in a high-quality compensation and classification study that can be acceptable to main line employees, management and elected officials. Variables for comparison could include but are not limited to size of agency, type of operations, scope of responsibilities, community served, etc.SCOPE OF WORKThe scope of work shall include but is not limited to:Review background materials including organizational charts, personnel rules, labor and employment agreements, and related information.When there is significant difference in compensation (according to the City), review job descriptions in sufficient detail to explain the difference in pay ranges and additional compensation.Develop and distribute a job analysis questionnaire to each employee as appropriate.Conduct internal salary relationship analysis and make appropriate recommendation.Recommend relevant salary survey benchmarks.Recommend logical and defensible comparable agencies similar in size, operations, and service area.Conduct a compensation survey of the agencies identified in the appropriate market. Survey should also include compensation components the City does not offer.Recommend changes to existing compensation schedule. This should include changes to pay ranges following the market survey and incorporate best practices strategies.Recommend changes to existing classifications or new classifications as appropriate.Recommend deletion of outdated and/or unnecessary classifications.DELIVERABLESThe Consultant shall provide the following deliverables: 1. Final Report summarizing the study’s purpose, methodology, key findings, and recommendations. The report shall include an overview of the classification and compensation analysis, proposed updates to job classifications and salary ranges, and recommendations for implementation. It should also provide supporting data such as market survey results, internal equity findings, and a proposed salary structure. The Final Report shall include a communication and implementation plan, along with relevant appendices such as updated job descriptions, benchmark comparisons, and compensation tables.Please view the RFP document for full scope.The City is only accepting proposals electronically via email to For security reasons, you must enable JavaScript to view this E-mail address..