Summary of Report 02-705

July 2002

Report Number 02-705

The State Classification Office reviewed 2,547 fiscal management positions and found that 20 percent of these positions may be misclassified. While the State's salary structure for these positions provides a salary range that is competitive with the market, the positions' actual salaries remain below the midpoint of the salary structure.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) positions in large and medium agencies have competitive salary structures. Actual salaries for CFOs in large agencies are not competitive with the market; however, salaries for CFOs in medium agencies are competitive.

• Twenty percent of fiscal management positions may be misclassified.

  Of the 2,547 fiscal management positions reviewed, 519 were identified as potentially misclassified. The majority of misclassifications occur when an agency classifies a position at too high or too low a level within the correct class series based on the employee's duties. A small number of misclassifications resulted from agencies' classifying positions in the wrong class series.

• The salary structure for fiscal management positions is competitive; however, actual salaries remain below the midpoint of the salary structure.
  

  Although the State's salary structure provides a salary range that is competitive with the market, actual salaries for most positions reviewed remain below the midpoint of the salary structure.
  Comparisons with the market show that, on average, the State's salary structure is 4 percent behind the market for fiscal management positions. Actual salaries for fiscal management positions are 11 percent behind the market.
  For CFO positions, the salary structure is 7 percent behind the market for large agencies and 11 percent behind the market for medium agencies. However, the actual salaries for CFOs at large agencies are 20 percent behind the market. We believe this large of a salary discrepancy is a risk in the State's efforts to recruit and retain the top-level financial positions in the largest state agencies. CFOs at medium agencies are only 5 percent behind the market, reflecting good use of the appropriate state salary ranges.
  
  
  

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