At my company HR handles the headcount, finance handles the dollars...hence me being the SME for fully loaded comp numbers across the company. Our comp teams have to clear the offer amounts with the finance teams since we own the budgets.

I'll take your word for the Seattle area info - I have nothing to do with that area. As I mentioned I'm in California and I've been clear about that in my post. Obviously you're very opinionated on the subject so I'm not making any attempt to change your mind about anything, just like you won't change my mind because my experience is based on compensation numbers (thousands) for my area.