Strategy-Backed. People-First. — Statewide, Texas
Fixed-Fee Diagnostic • Cities, Counties & Special Districts Under 100 Employees

A Personnel Problem Becomes a Council Problem the Day It Surfaces.

Find yours first. A fixed-fee audit of your organization's HR systems, scored across six domains and delivered as a report your council and your attorney can use.

Fixed-fee municipal HR audit for Texas cities, counties, and special districts

Who This Is For

Texas cities, counties, and special districts with fewer than 100 employees. In most of these organizations, HR belongs to a city secretary, an assistant manager, or a finance director who already has a full job. The systems underneath that job (personnel files, written policies, pay practices, discipline records) were inherited from whoever held the desk before. Nobody knows for certain what shape they are in, and the first person to find out is usually opposing counsel.

What the Current State Costs

You do not have to guess at the stakes. The numbers are public.

$75K–$125K
Published defense cost estimates for a single EEOC charge or wrongful termination suit, before any settlement
3 Years
How long one contested unemployment claim affects your TWC tax rate
90%–200%
Replacement cost per departure in police, public works, and utilities, as a share of the position's salary

An open records request exposes the personnel file exactly as it sits today, whatever condition it is in. Against any one of these numbers, the audit fee is a rounding error.

What Gets Audited

The audit scores your organization across the six domains of the People Systems Design framework, each examined in municipal terms.

Clarity

Job descriptions, the policy manual, and who actually has authority to hire, discipline, and terminate.

Control

Personnel files, documentation quality, records retention, and compliance posture under FLSA, FMLA, and Texas law.

Flow

How people are hired, onboarded, and separated, and where those processes break.

Support

Whether supervisors have been trained to document, correct, and evaluate, or have been left to improvise.

Proof

Turnover data, claims history, and whether leadership can see problems before they become claims.

Reinforcement

Evaluation practices, discipline consistency, and pay practices that either hold the system together or quietly undo it.

Pricing

Three fixed fees. No hourly billing, no open-ended proposal.

Personnel File and Policy Review
$4,500
Fixed Fee
  • Sample review of personnel files
  • Handbook and policy gap list
  • Written summary of findings
  • Full six-domain audit with staff interviews
  • Council-ready findings report
  • Priced 90-day repair roadmap
Start with a Scoping Call
Compliance Audit
$8,900
Fixed Fee
  • Sample review of personnel files
  • Handbook and policy gap list
  • Full six-domain audit with staff interviews
  • Findings briefing by video
  • Council-ready findings report with statutory citations
  • Priced 90-day repair roadmap
Start with a Scoping Call
Most clients choose the full audit. For $900 more than the Compliance Audit, you get the report your council will actually see, the roadmap that prices every fix, and a training session your supervisors will use the next day.

Built for Municipal Purchasing

The audit is priced so that most city managers and administrators can authorize it under existing signature authority, without a council agenda item. Confirm your local purchasing policy; the engagement will be structured to fit it. A vendor packet with W-9, insurance certificates, and references is available on request. If your city attorney prefers to direct the engagement, the work proceeds within that structure.

The Guarantee

A Findings Report Your Council and Attorney Can Rely On.

If any part of the engagement fails to meet your standard, the final 25% of the fee is waived. This guarantee applies if:

  • The report is not delivered within 30 business days of document receipt
  • Any finding lacks a citation to the governing statute, rule, or policy
  • The report is not written for direct presentation to your governing body

Timeline

01
Week One: Document Collection

The document request arrives on day one. Personnel file samples, the current handbook, pay schedules, and recent separation records.

02
Weeks Two Through Four: Review and Interviews

File review, policy analysis, and staff interviews. About two hours of your team's time in total.

03
Day 30: Report and Briefing

The report is delivered within 30 business days of document receipt, with the findings briefing scheduled the same week.

After the Audit

The repair roadmap prices each fix separately. Your organization can complete the work in-house using the roadmap, engage me for the repair phase, or stop at the report. The audit stands on its own either way, and there is no obligation past the fixed fee.

Questions Cities Ask

Do we need council approval to start?
Usually not. The fee is set below the threshold where most small-city purchasing policies require formal council action. Check your local policy; the engagement can be invoiced in a structure that fits it.
Will the report create a problem for us if we are ever sued?
A documented, dated corrective effort is a far better posture than an unexamined file. Many cities also have their city attorney engage me directly so the work is directed by counsel. I will work in whatever structure your attorney prefers.
We just had a risk pool review. Why do we need this?
Pool reviews look at coverage exposure. This audit looks at the systems that create the exposure: supervision quality, documentation practice, pay administration, and turnover cost. Different scope, different findings.
What do you need from us?
A document list arrives on day one. Expect to gather personnel file samples, the current handbook, pay schedules, and recent separation records. Staff interviews take about two hours in total.
Who does the work?
I do. Dr. Thomas W. Faulkner, DBA, SPHR, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, U.S. Army veteran, with a career spent in municipal government, behavioral health, and nonprofit HR. No junior staff, no handoffs.
Fixed Fee. Guaranteed Timeline.

Your Files Are in Whatever Condition They Are in Right Now. The Audit Just Tells You First.

A 20-minute scoping call confirms the tier that fits, the timeline, and your purchasing structure. If you do not need the audit, you will hear that on the call.