MMA Compensation Database

The following was recently posted on the MMA site and seems to streamline the information review process and have great potential for time savings:
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MMPA to offer online municipal compensation database
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Monday, June 02 2008

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Starting next month human resource professionals and municipal managers across Massachusetts will have access to a new online municipal compensation database.

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The online database, which will require a username and password to access, will be available to communities that belong to the Massachusetts Municipal Personnel Association.

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The new service, created based on feedback from local officials, aims to provide quick and detailed salary and total compensation information.

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Detailed reports can be prepared and printed in minutes for quick meeting preparation, union negotiations, and compensation studies. The system will feature data from Massachusetts municipalities as well as other cities and towns across the country.

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The MMPA has produced police and fire compensation and benefits surveys for more than 20 years and the Benchmark Titles Salary Survey for more than 60 years. All three of these print publications have provided a valuable compensation resource for communities, but the need for enhanced and more up-to-date comparison data has led to the creation of the new online system.

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All MMPA publications for fiscal 2008 and earlier are still available for purchase (while supplies last), but beginning in fiscal 2009 all comparative compensation data for Massachusetts municipalities will be collected and made available online.

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Fiscal 2008 compensation information, collected from more than 200 communities, has already been moved to the Web-based system.

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MMPA members will update their fiscal 2009 salary and benefit data directly into the system.

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The new online database aims to save time and money for municipal managers by offering easy access to data for compensation projects. It will also reduce the need for outsourcing data collection.System features include:

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• Expanded municipal compensation data

• Capsule descriptions for all benchmark positions

• Search and sort capabilities

• Access to as many as three years of achieved data for trend analysis

• Data about total compensation packages, including insurance and leave benefits

• Print or export capabilities

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MMPA primary membership provides access to the system for multiple users in each registered municipality, but only one user will have a secured access password for data entry, ensuring the validity of the data. MMPA paid members who participate in the database will have 24-hour full access to the online system.

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The MMPA will hold four free training sessions in different regions of the state late this month to help members learn to access the system and enter and retrieve data. Details about these sessions will be available at www.mma.org.

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Assistance will also be available through webinars, phone support, and a part-time dedicated system staff person.