Colorado proposes 1.25% raise and pay-scale changes for state workers
The state personnel department says pay in benchmark jobs averaged 12.4% below its market comparison; the proposed 2027-28 changes still need legislative funding and approval.
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The Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration recommended a 1.25% cost-of-living raise, a 2% adjustment to state pay ranges and changes to step pay for fiscal year 2027-28, after finding that average base pay in benchmark jobs lagged the market median by 12.4%.
Deputy chief human resources officer Jessica Green presented the proposals to the Joint Budget Committee on Nov. 13. The changes are proposals for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2027, not approved pay increases. Implementation of the step-pay changes depends on legislative funding, the department says.
The proposed Step Pay 2.0 system would base step progression in part on time spent in an employee’s occupational group and add an award for total state service. The department also proposed three classification studies: creating job series for forensic psychologists and product managers, and expanding the port-of-entry series to add career progression and distinguish roles. The 2% structural adjustment would change pay ranges; unlike the cost-of-living raise, it would not directly increase individual salaries.
The 12.4% gap was up from 9.5% the previous year. Separately, the midpoint of state pay ranges trailed the market’s average midpoint by 13.4%, compared with 8.2% a year earlier. For its comparisons, the department used 20 public- and private-sector salary surveys and sought at least three comparable sources for each of 200 benchmark jobs. It matched jobs based on duties, responsibilities and functions, and adjusted pay data to July 1, 2027.
The department attributed part of the widening gaps to the state’s 0% cost-of-living adjustment for fiscal year 2026-27, while it estimated market salaries would rise 3.5%. The state’s 1% structural adjustment also trailed the 2% to 3% increase the department estimated for market pay structures. Green said targeted step-pay and minimum-pay changes helped some workers, but most state employees did not receive a base-salary increase. A separate minimum-pay increase to $19.29 an hour, with related compression adjustments, took effect Nov. 1, 2026.
The presentation did not give a total cost for the proposed package or estimate how many employees would receive the increases. The committee had not acted on the proposals as of Nov. 14; its schedule lists a Nov. 19 meeting with a department briefing on compensation policies.