PORTAGE COUNTY-WIDE SALARY STUDY

REQUEST FOR
PROPOSAL (RFP)
FOR
COUNTY-WIDE SALARY STUDY
#2026-03PC
Issued by:
Portage County
Purchasing Department
Proposals must be submitted
No later than 2:00 PM, Thursday, April 30, 2026 to:
Portage County Purchasing
1462 Strongs Ave
Stevens Point WI 54481
LATE PROPOSALS WILL BE REJECTED
There will not be a public opening for this Proposal
For further information regarding this
RFP contact Chris Schultz
At (715) 346-1393
Email: schultzc@co.portage.wi.gov
Issued: 04/09/2026

Table of Contents
1. General Information ............................................................................................................................. 4
1.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 4
1.2. Definitions ..................................................................................................................................... 4
1.3. Scope ............................................................................................................................................. 4
1.4. Calendar of Events ........................................................................................................................ 6
1.5. Contract Term and Funding .......................................................................................................... 7
2. Preparing and Submitting a Proposal ................................................................................................... 7
2.1. General Instructions ...................................................................................................................... 7
2.2. Incurring Costs .............................................................................................................................. 7
2.3. Submitting Proposals .................................................................................................................... 7
2.4. Proposal Organization and Format ............................................................................................... 7
....................................................................................................................... 8
............................................................................................................ 8
2.5. Multiple Proposals
3. Proposal Selection and Award Process ................................................................................................. 8
2.6. Withdrawal of Proposals
3.1. Evaluation Committee .................................................................................................................. 8
3.2. Preliminary Evaluation .................................................................................................................. 8
3.3. Right to reject proposals ............................................................................................................... 9
3.4. Proposal Scoring ............................................................................................................................ 9
3.5. Evaluation Criteria ......................................................................................................................... 9
3.6. Interviews/Presentations .............................................................................................................. 9
3.7. Final Evaluation ............................................................................................................................. 9
3.8. Award and Final Offers ................................................................................................................. 9
3.9. Notification of Intent to Award ................................................................................................... 10
3.10. Appeals Process .......................................................................................................................... 10
3.11. Negotiate Contract Terms ........................................................................................................... 10
4. Requirements ...................................................................................................................................... 10
4.1. Mandatory Requirements ........................................................................................................... 10
4.2. Contract Requirements ............................................................................................................... 11
5. Proposer Information and Solutions ................................................................................................... 11
5.1. Organization Capabilities (200 Points) ........................................................................................ 11
5.2. Staff Qualifications (150 Points) ................................................................................................. 11
5.3. Proposer Solutions (450 points total) ......................................................................................... 11
5.4. Proposer References ................................................................................................................... 12

Table of Contents
6. Cost Proposal ...................................................................................................................................... 12
6.1. General Instructions for the Cost Proposal and how it will be Scored ....................................... 12
6.2. Format for Submitting Cost Proposal. ........................................................................................ 12
6.3. Fixed Price Period ........................................................................................................................ 13
Attachment A - Signature and Authority Affidavit Form
Attachment B - References
Attachment C - Designation of Confidential & Proprietary Information Form
Attachment D - Mandatory Requirements
Attachment E - Cost Proposal

Portage County Wisconsin RFP #2026-03PC
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1. General Information
1.1. Introduction
The purpose of this document is to provide interested parties with information to enable them to prepare
and submit a proposal for conducting a comprehensive classification and compensation study for all Portage
County positions, excluding represented law enforcement positions.
The County of Portage as represented by the Purchasing Department intends to use the results of this
Request for Proposal (RFP) to award a contract for the above listed project. The contract administrator will
be determined at the time of the contract award. Retain a copy of these proposal documents for your files.
Should you receive an award, these documents become your contract terms and conditions.
1.2. Definitions
The following definitions are used throughout the RFP:
Contractor means proposer awarded the contract.
County means the County of Portage Wisconsin.
Proposer/Vendor/Bidder means a company or individual submitting a proposal in response to this RFP.
Purchasing means the County of Portage Purchasing Department.
RFP means Request for Proposal.
Salary Study means the comprehensive report, structure and recommends as to all County positions (a/k/a
"Study").
State means the State of Wisconsin.
VendorNet means the State of Wisconsin's electronic purchasing information system.
1.3. Scope
1.3.1. Project Description
In 2016 Portage County conducted a comprehensive classification and compensation study for all Portage
County positions, excluding represented law enforcement positions. In 2022 a market update was done to
update the system to ensure it stayed consistent with both external and internal equity.
Portage County is soliciting proposals from qualified consultants for the purpose of conducting a
comprehensive classification and compensation study for all Portage County positions excluding
represented law enforcement positions.
1.3.2. Objective/Needs/Expectations
The consultant shall perform or provide the following:
1. Provide project information to be shared with employees to explain the scope of the
project, methods used, and process.
2. Review and update Portage County's current classification and compensation schedules to
ensure the County's wage and benefit package remains comparable and competitive to external
units of local government of similar size and scope, as well as to private-sector benchmarks in
the same geographic area, to attract and retain the best qualified individuals. Portage County's

Portage County Wisconsin RFP #2026-03PC
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external market analysis of comparable local government employers, when reviewing wages for
individual positions, indicates that while starting wage rates for positions within the General
classification and compensation schedule are generally competitive, the County lags behind
market levels at the midpoint and maximum ranges of the pay structure
3. In the review and update of the County's classification and compensation schedule take into
consideration wage compression. Wage compression is an on-going concern, particularly for
hourly employees in higher pay grades who are at or near the top steps of their salary range, in
comparison to their supervisory staff. To promote an environment that fosters and encourages
employee aspirations for advancement, and to attract external supervisory candidates, a
sufficient separation must be maintained.
4. Review County's current job classifications and recommend placement of each position to an
appropriate classification and pay grade based on internal equity, across all county
departments, and marketplace considerations. A review of the job classifications shall include
interviews with employees and appropriate supervisory and management staff.
5. Review all positions and properly classify those positions in accordance with current Fair Labor
Standards Act (FLSA) and Wisconsin Wage and Hour provisions relative to exempt and non-
exempt status and recommend changes to job descriptions, if any, to ensure in compliance with
ADAAA and other applicable laws.
6. When reviewing current job classifications, recommend additions and deletions to the
current classification plan when it makes sense.
7. Identify a manageable list of Wisconsin counties, of similar size, scope and geographic
location that can be used internally to review and compare wage and benefit packages for
internal maintenance.
8. Provide a recommendation for a process for internal maintenance of the classification and
compensation system to deal with positions that evolve over time or require different
tasks than when first created.
9. Provide recommendations for policy updates, if necessary.
10. Provide timely progress reports and address issues encountered with the Director of Human
Resources on a regular basis to ensure that forward progress is maintained.
11. Present the results to the Human Resources Committee.
12. Present to the County Board a final report and overall plan that is clear and
understandable, and summarizes the information gathering process, findings, the
estimated cost of wage recommendations, and an implementation plan that is within the
County's fiscal parameters.
13. Conduct employee classification appeals after plan adoption.
1.3.3. Current Salary Schedules, Benefit Package and County Ordinances
See the link Human Resources | Portage County, WI for the Human Resources Page. The Policies
and Wages are listed under the Human Resources Policies & Wage/Classifications link on that page
see picture of link below:
A copy of the Portage County Code of Ordinances 3.11 - Human Resources Policies can be found at:

Portage County Wisconsin RFP #2026-03PC
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https://library.municode.com/wi/portage_county/codes/code_of_ordinances
Note there are two Human Resources Ordinances that are in the Adopted Ordinances Not Yet
Codified section.
1.3.4. Clarifications and/or Revisions to this RFP
Portage County Purchasing is the sole point of contact for the County during the selection process.
Contact with anyone else involved with this process without the prior authorization of Purchasing
may result in the disqualification of your proposal. Proposers are expected to raise any questions,
noted errors, discrepancies, ambiguities, exceptions, additions or deficiencies they have concerning
this proposal in writing through email by 2PM, Monday, April 20, 2026 to: Chris Schultz,
Purchasing, Email: schultzc@co.portage.wi.gov
If a proposer discovers any significant ambiguity, error, conflict, discrepancy, omission, or other
deficiency in this proposal after the above date, they shall immediately notify the above named
individual of such error and request modification or clarification of the proposal document before
the proposal opening date.
If the proposer fails to notify the County prior to the proposal due date of any condition stated
above that reasonably should have been known to the proposer, and if a contract is awarded to that
proposer, the proposer shall not be entitled to additional compensation or time by reason of the
error or its correction.
Revisions to this request for proposal or answers to questions will be made only by an official
written addendum issued by Purchasing. Addenda will be posted on Vendornet and on the Portage
County Website. Proposers are responsible for checking these websites for any addenda before
submitting a proposal. Failure to acknowledge addenda may disqualify your proposal.
https://vendornet.wi.gov/Home.aspx
http://www.co.portage.wi.gov
1.4. Calendar of Events
Listed below are specific and estimated dates and times of actions related to this Request for Proposal. The
actions with specific dates must be completed as indicated unless otherwise changed by the County. In the
event that the County finds it necessary to change any of the specific dates and times, it will do so by issuing
addenda to this RFP. There may or may not be a formal notification issued for changes of the estimated
dates and times.
DATE EVENT
Thu, Apr 9, 2026 RFP Issuance date
Mon, Apr 20, 2026 Last day for submitting written questions by 2PM
Wed, Apr 22, 2026 Addenda posted to https://vendornet.wi.gov/Home.aspx and
http://www.co.portage.wi.gov
Thu, Apr 30, 2026 Proposals due at or before 2:00 p.m.
Wed, May 20, 2026 Interviews/Presentations (MUST BE AVAILABLE)
End of May 2026 Notification of intent to award sent to proposers (estimated)
Mid-June 2026 Contract award (estimated)
Late June 2026 Contract start date (estimated)

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1.5. Contract Term and Funding
The contract shall be effective on the date indicated on the contract and shall continue until the project is
complete. Portage County is also interested in a secondary contract for maintenance of the plan for Five (5)
years from the date of implementation. During the maintenance period, the County may also want to
contract with vendor for additional work within the scope of Salary Study and Planning with price and scope
of that work mutually agreed upon at the time of the request.
2. Preparing and Submitting a Proposal
2.1. General Instructions
The evaluation and selection of a contractor will be based on the information submitted in the proposal plus
references and any required on-site visits, interviews/presentations or demonstrations. Proposers should
respond clearly and completely to all requirements. Failure to respond to each of the requirements in the
RFP may be the basis for rejecting a proposal.
Elaborate proposals (e.g. expensive artwork), beyond that sufficient to present a complete and effective
proposal, are not necessary or desired. The County encourages all proposers to print their submission
double-sided to save paper.
2.2. Incurring Costs
The County is not liable for any cost incurred by proposers in replying to this RFP.
2.3. Submitting Proposals
Proposers must submit their proposal by email, a valid emailed proposal shall be received by the Portage
County Purchasing prior to the Proposal due date and time shown on the Request for Proposal, on or before
2:00 p.m., Thursday, April 30, 2026, to: schultzc@co.portage.wi.gov
All documents required for a complete submission shall be included as attachments to the submission
email. Those are listed in section 2.4 of this proposal. Prior to the proposal deadline, the proposer is
responsible for confirming that their emailed Proposal response has been successfully received. The Portage
County Purchasing department is not responsible for late receipt of a Proposal, regardless of the reason for
the delay. Proof of transmission does not constitute proof of receipt. The time stamp issued to the
submission email by Portage County email system shall serve as the official time stamp determining
timeliness of the Proposal. Proposal responses shall be emailed to schultzc@co.portage.wi.gov. Submitting a
Proposal to any other email address does not constitute receipt of a Proposal by Portage County Purchasing.
Emailed Proposals that do not meet these requirements will be rejected. Besides the attached documents
the email should include:
* Proposer's Name and Address somewhere in the email
* Request for Proposal Number and Title in the Subject Line
2.4. Proposal Organization and Format
Proposal should be typed and submitted so they can be printed on 8.5 by 11-inch paper and bound securely
with page numbers clearly indicated. Proposers responding to this RFP must comply with the following
format requirements:

Portage County Wisconsin RFP #2026-03PC
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Tab 1(A) - COVER LETTER, RFP SIGNATURE PAGES: Include here any cover letter, Attachment A - RFP
Signature and Authority Affidavit Form, any addenda signature pages, and Attachment C - Designation of
Confidential & Proprietary Information Form.
The Signature and Authority Affidavit submitted in response to this RFP must be signed by the person in the
Proposer's organization who is responsible for the decision as to the prices being offered or by a person who
has been authorized in writing to act as agent for the person responsible for the decision on prices and
services. Failure to provide this forms/information with your bid submittal may disqualify your proposal.
Tab 1 (B) - SAMPLE CONTRACT DOCUMENT: Please include a sample contract that would be used as basis
for developing the final agreement with the County/Vendor.
Tab 2 - RESPONSE TO PROPOSER INFORMATION AND SOLUTIONS: Responses to the requirements in the
proposer information and solutions must be in the same sequence and numbered as they appear in this RFP.
Include here completed Attachment B--References.
Tab 3 - MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS: Include Attachment D Mandatory Requirements.
Separate PDF File - COST PROPOSAL-ATTACHMENT E: Provide cost information as detailed in Section 6 in
this RFP. All costs, as requested, for furnishing the product(s) and/or service(s) must be included in this
proposal. The cost proposal must NOT be listed in any other part of the proposal response.
2.5. Multiple Proposals
Multiple proposals from a proposer will be permissible; however, each proposal must conform fully to the
requirements for proposal submission. Each such proposal must be separately submitted and labeled as
Proposal #1, Proposal #2, etc. on each page included in the response.
2.6. Withdrawal of Proposals
Proposals shall be irrevocable until contract award unless the proposal is withdrawn. Proposers may
withdraw a proposal, in writing, at any time up to the proposal due date and time or upon expiration of 180
days after the due date and time. The written withdrawal notice must be received by Purchasing. The
notice must be signed by an authorized representative of the proposer. If a previously submitted proposal is
withdrawn before the proposal due date and time, the proposer may submit another proposal at any time
up to the proposal due date and time.
3. Proposal Selection and Award Process
3.1. Evaluation Committee
The County's evaluation committee will consist of members who have been selected because of their special
expertise and knowledge of the service(s) and/or product(s) that are the subject of this RFP. Proposers may
not contact members of the evaluation committee except at the request of the Purchasing Department.
3.2. Preliminary Evaluation
The proposals will be initially reviewed to determine if mandatory requirements are met. Failure to meet
mandatory requirements shall result in the proposal being rejected. If all proposers do not meet one or

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more of the mandatory requirements, the County reserves the right to continue the evaluation of the
proposals that most closely meet the mandatory requirements of this RFP.
3.3. Right to reject proposals
The County reserves the right to reject any and all proposals.
3.4. Proposal Scoring
Accepted proposals will be reviewed by an evaluation committee and scored against the stated criteria. The
committee may review references, request interviews/presentations, conduct demonstrations and/or
conduct on-site visits. The resulting information will be used to score the proposals. The evaluation
committee's scoring will be tabulated, and proposals ranked based on the numerical scores received.
3.5. Evaluation Criteria
The proposals will be scored using the following criteria:
Description Points
Organization Capabilities 200
Staff Qualifications 150
Proposer Solutions 450
Cost Proposal 200
Total 1000
3.6. Interviews/Presentations
Top-scoring proposers, based on the evaluation of the written proposal, may be required to have
interviews/presentations to support and clarify their proposals, if requested by the County. The County will
make every reasonable attempt to schedule the interview/presentation on the date specified in the
Calendar of Events. Failure of a proposer to complete a scheduled interview/presentation to the County
may result in rejection of that proposer's proposal. The County may conduct site visits of proposer and/or
references' facilities to clarify or confirm proposal information. Interviews will include a virtual option, but
proposers are encouraged to send someone to attend in person.
3.7. Final Evaluation
Upon completion of any interviews/presentations and/or demonstrations by proposers, the County's
evaluation team will review their evaluations and adjust the scores based on the information obtained in the
interview/presentation, demonstration, possible reference checks, and any other pertinent proposer
information.
3.8. Award and Final Offers
Award will be granted in one of two ways. The award may be granted to the highest scoring responsive and
responsible proposer after the original evaluation process is complete. Alternatively, the highest proposer
or proposers may be requested to submit best and final offers. If the County requests best and final offers,
they will be evaluated against the stated criteria, scored, and ranked by the evaluation committee. The
award will then be granted to the highest scoring proposer following that process. However, a proposer
should not expect that the County will request a best and final offer.

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3.9. Notification of Intent to Award
All proposers who respond to this RFP will be notified in writing of the County's intent to award the
contract(s), as a result of the RFP.
3.10. Appeals Process
Notices of intent to protest and protests must be made in writing. Protestors should make their protests as
specific as possible and should identify Wisconsin Statutes or Portage County Ordinance provisions that are
alleged to have been violated.
The written notice of intent to protest the intent to award a contract must be filed with Chris Schultz,
Procurement Director, Portage County Wisconsin, 1462 Strongs Ave, Stevens Point, WI 54481, and received
in his office no later than five (5) working days after the notice of intent to award is issued.
The written protest must be received in his office no later than ten (10) working days after the notice of
intent to award is issued.
The decision of the Procurement Director may be appealed to the Corporation Counsel Office within (5)
working days of issuance. The appeal must allege a violation of a Wisconsin Statute or a Portage County
Ordinance provision.
3.11. Negotiate Contract Terms
The County reserves the right to negotiate the terms of the contract, including the award amount, with the
selected proposer prior to entering a contract. If contract negotiations cannot be concluded successfully
with the highest scoring proposer, the County may negotiate a contract with the next highest scoring
proposer.
4. Requirements
4.1. Mandatory Requirements
Submit response using Attachment D Mandatory Requirements under Tab 3 of proposal - see section 2.4
for proposal submittal format.
The following requirement(s) are mandatory, and the proposer must satisfy them as a pass/fail pre-
screening requirement. Any proposal submitted not in compliance with mandatory requirements will be
rejected and not evaluated or scored.
4.1.1. Must have conducted a comprehensive classification and compensation study for a public entity in
the State of Wisconsin within the past 5 years.
4.1.2. The Vendors key personnel listed in the proposal must be present during the interview and must be
the same key personnel who will oversee the project during all phases. Personnel substitutions for
extraordinary circumstances must be submitted in writing and are subject to approval by the Owner
(County).
4.1.3. The project lead must have at least 5 years of experience providing public sector compensation
studies or an equivalent level of experience in the field.