The CEO's total reported compensation of $3,149,000 for 2025 consists of $950,000 in base salary and $2,185,000 in cash bonus — no new equity was granted in 2025, as the company is completing a previously disclosed five-year equity program from 2021. The pay mix is heavily weighted toward variable pay (base salary was only 30% of total reported compensation), which satisfies the policy requirement that fixed pay not dominate. The prior year Say on Pay vote received 87.3% shareholder support, well above the 70% threshold that would require visible remedial action, and the company has made meaningful governance improvements including adding strategic deliverables as bonus qualifiers, removing the M&A bonus for most NEOs, and committing to annual rather than front-loaded long-term incentive awards going forward. While MEG's stock has significantly underperformed the Russell 2000 (^RUT — Russell 2000) over three years, the bonus payout at maximum (200% of target) was driven by exceeding a specific adjusted EBITDA financial target rather than subjective discretion, and the company's operating EBITDA did grow materially in 2025 ($116.2M vs $95.8M prior year), providing at least partial justification for incentive payout levels under the pay-for-performance framework.

Deloitte has audited Montrose since 2016, giving it approximately 10 years of tenure — well below the 25-year threshold that would raise independence concerns. In 2025, Montrose paid Deloitte solely for audit work ($1,647,000) with zero dollars in tax fees or other non-audit fees, meaning the non-audit fee ratio is 0%, far below the 50% ceiling. Deloitte is a Big Four firm appropriate for a company of this size, and no restatement issues were identified.