The Collin County Observer™

Along with the holidays, winter also brings the biannual campaign season. Once again, Collin County voters are being deluged by candidate and incumbent messages - virtually all proclaiming how conservative their guy is, much more conservative than the opponent.

I'm not going to get into a discussion here on the definition of "conservative". Suffice it to say that most voters expect their government to be careful stewards of taxpayers money. I think we can all agree that fiscally conservative government requires fiscally conservative leadership. I'd argue that the necessary leadership begins with how our leaders treat themselves, especially vis-à-vis to our tax dollars.

As I've said before, here in Collin County our leaders refer to themselves as "Elected Officials". I think the taxpayers would be much better served by "Public Servants". It's not just semantics. There is a huge difference between officials and servants. Officials are entitled to power and perks, servants simply serve.

It's a distinction often lost by incumbents who are routinely re-elected over and over again.

A case in point -

The Collin County Commissioners Court meets 4 times a month. This month, the last 2 meetings were canceled so that the "Officials" could enjoy their holidays.

These "Officials" make a heck of a lot of money. Keith Self's base salary is $136,073. Matt Shaheen's is $107,387 and Jerry Hoagland, Joe Jaynes and Kathy Ward each make $111,146. Totaling these court's salaries means that the taxpayers are paying $596,898 for a commissioners court that meets 48 times per year - that is over $12,000 in base salaries alone per meeting.

Collin County's budget is $270 million, therefore the salaries of our "Officials" is about 0.213% of the budget they control.

Contrast these numbers with, for example, that of the Plano City Council.

There are 7 council members, each makes a base salary of $6,000, while the mayor is allowed $8,400. The City Council meets twice a month (24 times a year). The cost to Plano taxpayers for councilmember salaries is therefore only $2,100 per meeting, or about 1/6th of the cost of a Commissioners Court session.

Plano has a larger budget than the county. The council's salaries amount to only 0.013% of their $388 million budget - about 1/20th of the county's salary to budget ratio.

For the next 2 weeks, the Collin County Commissioners Court will not meet. Our "Elected Officials" want to enjoy their holidays without being interrupted by pesky meetings and government business. (Meanwhile, most of their taxpayers will be at their jobs every working day.)

How about these "Officials" refunding us $24,000 we're paying for the two missed meetings?

Oh yea, the Plano City Council will meet on December 22.

Bill

Monday morning, the county commissioners court approved a $240.2 million budget for fiscal 2010 with only a few small last minute changes.

The budget passed by a 5 - 0 vote, making this year the first that I remember where Commissioner Jerry Hoagland voted FOR the budget.

The 2010 budget is less than 0.3% larger than last year and it breaks no little ground in new programs, discontinued programs, or improved services. The new budget calls for 1,794 county employees, a net increase of two.

Employees were held to an average 1-1/2% 'pay for performance' increase, while elected officials' salaries did not increase from 2009.

Despite rhetoric from a few commissioners who would like to characterize this year's tax burden as a 'cut', county tax revenues are expected to increase slightly from last year. However, the tax rate, set at $0.2425 per $100 in valuation, remains unchanged, making this year the 17th consecutive year with no tax rate increase. Those homeowners in the county who saw their valuations drop this year will get a tax cut, those whose valuations increased will see a comparable increase in their county taxes. The typical homeowner will realize a $3.48 reduction in 2010 county property taxes.

The commissioners also approved a 264 page "schedule of fees". These fees, ranging from court costs to dog pound charges, along with court fines total approximately 15% of the the county's revenue.

Bill

====================================

NOTES:

The FY 2010 Proposed Budget is here. (Note: big file - 952 kb)

The FY 2010 Schedule of Fees is here.

The FY 2010 Elected Officials' Salary list is here.

The FY 2010 property tax rate breakdown is here.

Collin County's fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Fiscal 2009 is now 75% done and with budget planning already begun for FY 2010, it seems like a good time to search the county's check register to see how our commissioners are spending our tax dollars on themselves.

Commissioners make a great salary. They get to set their own pay rate and benefits - and it shows. In 2009 each commissioner made $111,146.00 in base salary. Keith Self, the County Judge was paid $136,073.00. In addition, the commissioners and county judge are entitled to a fine health insurance plan, retirement benefits, life insurance, and long and short term disability policies.

They are also entitled to submit expenses for reimbursement. So far in FY 2009, the Commissioners have been reimbursed for over $2,600 in 'business meal' expenses alone.

There is a large disparity among the commissioners in the use of tax dollars for their meals - Pct. 2 Commissioner Jerry Hoagland seems to be the biggest eater on the court. His $1,785 in meals takes the lions share of all reimbursed dinners - accounting for almost 70% of the entire year's charges by commissioners. Pct. 4 Commissioner Kathy Ward spent the least - she spent zero tax dollars for her food.

FY2009 Reimbursements for Business Meals

The County judge and commissioners have submitted a total of over $13,500 in reimbursable expenses. These expenses are for travel, training, conferences and meals. County Judge Keith Self was the biggest spender overall, racking up reimbursed charges of over $4,800. The next largest spender was Pct. 3 Commissioner Joe Jaynes, who spent almost $4,400. Again, the smallest spender was Commissioner Kathy Ward, who turned in only $375. in expenses.

Total FY2009 Expense Reimbursements

Bill

This from the Dallas Morning News' Ed Housewright writing in the McKinney Blog:

State preservationists love old courthouse

I had a story today on the Texas Historical Commission trying to save the recently abandoned Collin County Courthouse.

Many consider the 1979 building generic and boring.

The historical commissioner head, however, says the six-story cube is a "good example of a modern form of architecture known as Brutalism which is gaining notoriety and appreciation among architects and historic preservationists."

"Brutalism", eh? I think that term accurately describes a whole lot of what I observed in the 6th floor commissioners courtroom there over the last several years.

Bill

Incoming Precinct 1 commissioner Matt Shaheen has served notice that he will decline to accept the 3.5% raise the commissioners court granted itself for fiscal 2009.

The agenda for the December 9 Commissioners Court meeting includes a notification, "Commissioner-Elect Shaheen's request to have his 2009 salary established at $107,387, which is the rate that was in effect prior to the 2009 pay changes."

Shaheen joins County Judge Keith Self in freezing his salary at the level it was when he was elected.

Shaheen takes the seat presently held by Phyllis Cole on January 1, 2009. He won a hard fought run-off battle against Cole in the 2008 Republican Primary.

I do not know if Shaheen plans to keep his job while collecting a commissioners' salary. At the present time, Commissioners Ward and Jaynes both earn both outside salaries as well as their $111,146 county paycheck.

Bill

For almost all of its citizens, how Collin County is governed is a mystery.

The county, more than any other local government body, acts with little public awareness or participation.

Most would agree that citizen oversight is necessary to the proper functioning of a Democracy. For that reason our city councils and school district boards are made up of largely unpaid citizen public servants - they meet in the evening and in facilities designed to accommodate a reasonable number of citizen observers. Many cities have also enacted term limits to encourage new leadership.

No so with Collin County. Our elected leaders are professional politicians who fully expect and do serve for 20 or more years. The current commissioner's salary is well over $100,000/yr, and the County Judge makes over $130,000.

The commissioners generally meet during the business day, and they meet in a room that barely hold the staff and press. Usually there is seating for less than 10 or 12 visitors.

There has been a long running discussion on how to involve more of the citizenry into the process of county government. During the 2006 campaign, Judge Self ran in part on a promise to open the meetings to the public, at hours and in a room convenient for the public.

Self also promised that workshops would be held twice a month, thereby giving even more access to the public in the decision making process.

The court has not kept even one of these commitments.

In February, 2007 the first workshop was held, and for three months, the court sat in bi-monthly workshops. Sadly that schedule of 4 meetings a month created too many scheduling conflicts for our commissioners, and by May of 2007 twice a month workshops were a thing of the past.

In years past, the court has met at 9 AM on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month. In October, 2007 the start time was changed from 9 AM to 1:30 PM. However, even that schedule causes too many conflicts for these "full-time" public servants.

The scheduling of the commissioners court meetings has become so confusing that even dedicated court watchers aren't sure when the next meeting will be held. Lately, it has become common that time is taken during the meeting break for commissioners to look at their calendars in order to come up with mutually convenient dates and times for the next month's court sessions.

Recently, I looked at the court calendar for all of 2007 and 2008 (through August). I did not find a single instance where the meeting schedule was consistent 2 months in a row. Not one.

No one I know can keep up with this bouncing ball schedule. It would seem that the commissioners make enough salary that they can darn well clear their calendars so that public meetings can be scheduled at regular times convenient to their constituents.

It's a matter of priorities. Their actions over the last 20 months show that the commissioners' personal calendars are more important than the public's business.

Oh yea, and the regularly scheduled meeting for this next Tuesday will meet at 9:00 AM instead of the usual 1:30 PM. It seems there is a big dinner and party in Austin Tuesday evening. Several members of the court, along with staff, will be attending at taxpayer expense. They're in a hurry to leave.

Bon voyage!

Commissioners Court Calendar January, 2007 - August, 2008.

cc=Commissioners court, ss=Special Session, ph=Public Hearing, bh=Budget Hearing

Bill

The Collin County Commissioners are deep into their annual budget hearings.

At Tuesday's hearing, Judge Keith Self led off my remarking that with revenue expected to grow at the slowest rate in at least 15 years, the county departments would have to dig deep to find cuts and efficiencies.

At one point during the hearing, the court spared with one of the Constables over his training budget. The budget gave the 12 man law enforcement department only $1,000 for education and conferences.

A few minutes later, the commissioners talked of rescheduling a public hearing so that "most of the court" and unnamed and unnumbered "staff" could attend a reception and dinner in Austin.

Not mentioned was the fact that to attend the reception, the Judge, Commissioners, and staff would need to spend an extra night in Austin - all at taxpayer expense.

The cost of this one night of parties would pay for all the county's JP and constable training needs for several years.

Way to go fellers! Once again, you have demonstrated to the voters that your conservatism ends at your own perquisites.

Taxpayers have been overpaying salaries and benefits to these commissioners for too many years now. Every year we get to hear sanctimonious lectures by elected commissioners on the need to save taxpayers money, then we get to watch these same commissioners pad their own pockets - at our expense.

When the day comes that we see our elected County Judge and Commissioners cut their pay and perks, then on that day I'll listen to their conservative rants.

Bill

Note:

The commissioners court is scheduled to discuss and vote on their own salaries at tomorrow's budget hearing.

The hearing begins at 9:00 A.M. at the Collin County Courthouse on McDonald Street in McKinney.

The first ever Collin County elected Officials Salary Advisory Committee met on Monday evening in an hour long session.

The committee, formed of past grand jurors whose names were drawn at random, was created by the commissioners court in order to deflect some of the political heat the commissioners court has recieved in the last few years.

While no elected officials offered testimony to the panel, they did see a presentation by the county's Human Resource Manager, Cynthia Jacobson. After listening to Ms. Jacobson's presentation, the panel debated the 5 scenarios suggested by the county. (See "There they go again! It's time for commissioners to give themselves a raise", CCO, July 20, 2008)

After some discussion, the committee quickly disposed of the options of "no raise", "tying the salaries to District Judge pay", and the "Top 10 Counties".

Several on the committee expressed dissatisfaction with the choice of counties in the "Local county" option. Not being able to arrive at a consensus, they discarded the plan.

The members of the panel stated that they did not want to start a precedent of tying raises to an external indicator, such as "cost of living", so after discussing several percentages, they settled on 3.5% for all elected officials.

The Commissioners Court has the final say on all raises, including elected officials. The final decisions will be made in the budget meetings scheduled to begin next week.

Bill

You'd think they'd get the hint. Every year for the last few budget seasons, the Collin County Commissioners have taken all sorts of heat from wrathful voters over their insatiable appetite for ever larger paychecks.

But every year, the commissioners court comes up with a new game designed to increase their slice of our tax dollars.

Prior to 2007, it was the custom of the commissioners to meet in secret (executive) session to discuss how big a raise they would give themselves. In both the 2007 budget hearing and for 2008, I had to write and threaten the court with Attorney General action until they canceled these executive sessions.

In 2006, the court, under pressure from public outcry, eliminated their re-election bonus (longevity pay) and then their automobile allowance. Or so it seemed. However in a confusing series of votes, the court ended up then increasing their pay 6%. They then publicly cut their auto allowance, while quietly re-inserting the allowance into their base pay - thereby giving themselves whopping 17% raise.

This year, the new shell game involved the creation of a citizens "Elected Official Salary Committee". The rules the court gave the committee is that they have to, in only one meeting, listen to all testimony (mostly from officials wanting raises), then vote their recommendation that same night, with no real deliberations.

The county has given this committee a 36 page "Information" book to help guide them. The information predictably stacks the deck in favor of even larger commissioners court raises. Let's look at the 5 "methods" the information book gives the committee to choose from:

Method 1: No raise
The current salary of $107,387 would be retained in 2009

Method 2: 3.8% Cost of living
Would set the 2009 salary at $111,486

Method 3: Calculating Salaries as a Percentage of State district Judge Salaries
The county's booklet states that the judges are paid $140,000. It recommends a factor of 90% for County Commissioners. This would give each commissioner a huge 17% raise to $126,000.

Method 4: Set salary at the average of top ten counties in Texas
Collin County is the 8th largest in the state. This proposal weights the average with 7 larger counties, including Dallas and Harris, with only 2 smaller. Even after computing the average with so large a weight to the big city salaries, the commissioners would have to take a $5,000 cut to equal the $102,185 large county average.

Method 5: Set salary at the average of local counties
In this method, the county uses the average of Dallas, Tarrant and Denton counties to compute an average that would give the commissioners a 3% increase.

Why choose Dallas, Tarrant and Denton? Probably because that average equates to a raise. Why not use the truly local counties of Dallas, Denton, Grayson and Hunt? Because that average would require a massive cut in commissioner pay of over $21,000.

(Note, I have proposed a comparison with the 4 counties larger than Collin and the 4 counties smaller. That average of $97,787 would require the commissioners to take a $9,600 pay cut.)

Lets look at a little history to put the salary question in perspective. In the 10 years from 1998-2008, Collin County Commissioners salaries more than doubled - from $56,932 to the current $107,387. Let's compare that to the Consumer Price Index for the same period:

Using cost of living alone, the current commissioners salary should be $62,139, instead of $107,389.

This means that during this 10 year period your county commissioners received about $15,000 in cost of living increases, while also giving themselves over $45,000 in merit increases.

Wow!

Bill

Note: The Elected Officials Salary Advisory Committee will meet at 6:00 PM on Monday, July 21 in the commissioners courtroom on the 6th floor of the Collin County Courthouse. 210 S. McDonald Street in McKinney.

The public may offer testimony or comments to the committee.

The Elected Official Salary Advisory Committee Information booklet is here.

Some of my previous posts on commissioners' salaries:

Jul 14, 2008 Elected Officials Salary Comparison

Apr. 29, 2008 Commissioners salary proposal on Tuesday's agenda (again)

Apr. 18, 2008 DMN - Bill Baumbach of Wylie: Commissioners deserve a pay cut

Apr. 13, 2008 Commissioners Salaries - yet another scheme

Aug. 9, 2007 Raise Season 2007

Aug. 4, 2007 Pay Hikes: Commissioners make enough money

Sept 6, 2006 Budget held hostage to Commissioners' raises

Sept. 5, 2006 Commissioners play shell game with their salaries.

Aug. 23, 2006 A slap to the face of every taxpayer in Collin County!

Before 2006, the Collin County Sheriff's Department had a problem. They were training new deputies, only to see them leave for better paying police jobs in Plano, McKinney, Frisco and Allen. Experienced deputies were leaving too - for promotions to better paying city police positions. Recruiting new deputies was not going well either; the top recruits were being grabbed by higher paying police departments.

Collin County was offering their officers a pay scale that was comparable to other local counties - in fact the county paid better than other counties in the region. That wasn't the problem.

The rapidly growing local, suburban city police departments were recruiting the best, most experienced officers they could find. The cities were willing to pay. Some made a very conscious decision that they would pay the highest scale in the region. Their strategy worked.

In some of the higher ranks, the county was paying a lower maximum salary than the cities' starting pay.

Many of those best and brightest lured away to the cities were Collin County Deputy Sheriffs.

Finally, in 2006, the Commissioners Court stopped the drain of our deputies. The court was persuaded to set a new comparison standard for law enforcement wages. The new standard compared Collin County wages with BOTH local city and county benchmarks.

The result was a substantial increase in deputy sheriff wages - averaging about 18%.

The strategy worked. Since 2006, the sheriff's department has enjoyed a remarkably low turnover (2.2% last year for sworn patrol officers) and most importantly, the county has lost zero deputies to local city police departments since the 2006 raise.

In the years prior to the 2006 increase, at least 10 deputies left to work in either Allen, Frisco, Plano or McKinney.

No longer are our best officers being forced to seek better pay - no longer are we the training ground for city police forces who "cherry pick" the top deputies.

Instead, Collin County is doing its own cherry picking. Many of our new deputies come from the CCCCD campus police. Why? We pay better, so we get the "pick of the litter".

Unfortunately, last year many experienced deputies received only a 1% increase, even though the Commissioners and elected officials got 5%.

2009 Deputy Sheriff Comparison (click to enlarge)

Now this year, Judge Self is signaling that he wants to revert to a comparison of wages only to local county sheriffs. This change will result in lower wages and will begin again the practice raiding of our deputies by higher paying city police.

Self is taking a short-sighted view. He only sees a very low turnover and high wages compared to other counties. He is not looking at the low turnover as an indicator that the salary policy is a unqualified success. He is apparently not seeing the potential loss of our best crime fighters as a problem.

No matter what size increase is finally approved, it is important that the precedent of using city/county benchmarks be preserved. Unlike some other positions, the county competes directly with the cities for certified peace officers. To loose sight of the reality of the job market will weaken, not strengthen the preservation of just law and order.

I understand and agree with the Judge's premise that all budget line items should be looked at hard for potential savings. However, budgets are balancing acts, and ultimately they are about choices.

The choice here is clear.

Do Collin County citizens deserve the best local law enforcement officers out there? Or do our taxpayers have to settle for whatever is left over after the city police have enticed away our outstanding performers?

Bill

NOTES:

The 2006 Sheriff's presentation on salaries is here

The 2009 County HR presentation on Law Enforcement salaries is here

Last week, I watched as Cynthia Jacobson, the county's Human Resources Manager showed a 45 page report on law enforcement salaries. Her report sliced and diced salary comparisons from adjacent counties, adjacent cities and counties, and from the top 10 largest counties.

No decision was made, but the county Judge made much ado over keeping pay in line with the local market.

No such detailed data has ever been released comparing Elected Officials salaries.

While I don't have anything like the resources Ms. Jacobson can bring to a presentation, here is the Observer's market analysis of our Collin Elected Officials Salaries. All data was taken from the Texas Association of Counties recent 2008 Salary Survey.

Population figures used are 2007, budget and salary numbers are fiscal year 2008

Conservative leaders recognize that taxpayers want value for their tax dollars. There is no real value to the taxpayers in overpaying elected government officials. None whatsoever.

--------------------------------------------------

Collin County is the 8th largest county in Texas. For the last 2 years, the Commissioners have tried to tie the elected salaries to the 5 largest counties, even though Collin County is much smaller.

In this analysis, I have used the four nearest size counties larger than Collin and the closest four smaller counties. This puts Collin county in the middle.

Nine Similar County Salary detail data

County Judge (click on graph to enlarge)

The current County Judge salary is $136,074. This is the highest pay rate in the 9 similar counties. As Judge Self said several times during the law enforcement salary discussion, "Wow!".

Last year, Keith Self declined any salary increase. He is pledged to do the same this year.

However, the average salary for this position in the 9 similar counties is $111,042.

Judge Self needs to take a pay cut of $25,032 to be paid at the average market rate for his position.

County Commissioner (click on graph to enlarge)

The Commissioners are paid a $107,387 salary.
The 9 similar county average is $97,787
To be paid average market rate, the commissioners need to take a pay cut of $9,600

County Clerk / District Clerk (click on graph to enlarge)

The County Clerk and District Clerk are paid a $107,234 salary.
The 9 similar county average for County Clerk is $96,781
To be paid average market rate, they need to take a pay cut of $10,453

County Auditor (click on graph to enlarge)

The County Auditor is paid a $127,351 salary.
The 9 similar county average is $126,694
To be paid average market rate requires a pay cut of $657
Note: The Commissioners do not set the Auditor's salary. His salary is determined by a committee made up of the District Judges.

Sheriff (click on graph to enlarge)

The Sheriff is paid a $134,098 salary.
The 9 similar county average is $122,912
To be paid average market rate requires a pay cut of $11,186

Tax Assessor/Collector (click on graph to enlarge)

The Tax Assessor/Collector is paid a $106,033 salary.
The 9 similar county average is $99,530
To be paid average market rate requires a pay cut of $6,503

Justice of the Peace (click on graph to enlarge)

The Justices of the Peace are paid a $91,716 salary.
The 9 similar county average is $83,028
To be paid average market rate requires a pay cut of $8,688

Constables (click on graph to enlarge)

The Constables are paid a $86,726 salary.
The 9 similar county average is $75,012
To be paid average market rate requires a pay cut of $11,714

Ten Largest Counties

- Using the 10 largest county data still shows that all but the Auditor's pay rates are above the market average:

Ten Largest county Data

The 10 largest county average for County Judge is $118,516. To be at the average rate, the salary would have to be cut $17,558

The 10 largest county average for County Commissioner is $103,138. To be at the average rate, the salary would have to be cut $4,249

The 10 largest county average for County Clerk is $105,684. To be at the average rate, the salary would have to be cut $1,550

The 10 largest county average for County Auditor is $138,994. To be at the average rate, the salary would have to be RAISED $11,643

The 10 largest county average for Sheriff is $128,466. To be at the average rate, the salary would have to be cut $5,632

The 10 largest county average for Tax Assessor/Collector is $105,501. To be at the average rate, the salary would have to be cut $532

The 10 largest county average for Justice of the Peace is $89,658. To be at the average rate, the salary would have to be cut $2,058

The 10 largest county average for Constable is $81,672. To be at the average rate, the salary would have to be cut $5,054

Summary

Market data compiled from the average salaries from the 10 largest Texas Counties, or from the 9 similar counties shows that Collin County consistently overpays its Elected Officials.

Leading the list of overpaid officials is the County Judge, who is the third highest paid County Judge in Texas. His salary is inflated over the market rate by between $17,558 and $25,032. The disparity in the Judge's salary is more than twice that of the next official's.

Only the County auditor's pay scale is below the 10 largest county average.

The court has lately given much discussion on the uncertainty of the economy and its effects on both the ability of tax payers to afford their taxes, and the possibility that growth rates can not be maintained. Given the uncertainties in the economy which may result in a flattening of tax revenues, it should be obvious that NO pay raise is warranted for any elected official. In a few egregious cases, pay cuts should be considered.

Conservative leaders recognize that taxpayers want value for their tax dollars. There is no real value to the taxpayers in overpaying elected government officials. None whatsoever.

Bill

Note:
The newly formed "Elected Officials Salary Advisory Committee" is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Monday, July 21, 2008.

At that time, the Committee will hear testimony and recommend the 2009 salaries for all elected officials.

The meeting will be held at 6:00 PM in the Commissioners Court room on the 6th floor of the McDonald St. courthouse.

The public is allowed to testify.

The Commissioners Court has once again canceled a scheduled workshop meeting due to lack of attendance.

Only one commissioner is able to attend the July 15th workshop - three must be there to make a quorum.

As I reported last November (Commissioners agree: They work too hard!, CCO, Nov. 28, 2007), the court scaled back the twice a month workshops to once a month - but even that rigorous 3 meetings a month schedule has proven to be too much for our over worked and over paid elected commissioners.

The workshops were an outcome of the 2006 campaign, where "Open Government" was a key issue in both the County judge and Commissioners' races. Judge Self pushed for the twice a month workshops, and he and the court have been backing off that schedule ever since.

Is it time for an attendance policy for elected commissioners? Will they be refunding to the taxpayers the average $15,000 per meeting commissioners' salary paid out of tax funds?

Bill

Once again, the Commissioners will discuss a proposal that will enable them to shirk their responsibility to set their own salaries.

This is the third meeting in a row the measure has been on the agenda.

Good grief, these commissioners spend more time debating their own raises than they give to discussing tax relief.

If it wasn't our tax money, it would be a joke. Their low point was two years ago, when the commissioners court voted themselves 3 different raises in a futile effort to duck public outrage.

So their brainy solution is not to do the right thing and cut their pay, but to slough off their responsibility to a committee that is instructed to "vote on an elected official’s salary immediately following the elected official’s presentation." The committee is not even allowed to do research or to deliberate in another session.

The proposal stinks to high heaven.

Bill

The Elected Officials Salary Advisory Committee proposal is here

Some of my previous posts on commissioners' salaries:

Apr. 18, 2008 DMN - Bill Baumbach of Wylie: Commissioners deserve a pay cut

Apr. 13, 2008 Commissioners Salaries - yet another scheme

Aug. 9, 2007 Raise Season 2007

Aug. 4, 2007 Pay Hikes: Commissioners make enough money

Sept 6, 2006 Budget held hostage to Commissioners' raises

Sept. 5, 2006 Commissioners play shell game with their salaries.

Aug. 23, 2006 A slap to the face of every taxpayer in Collin County!

Note: The Commissioners Court will meet this Tuesday, April 29 at 1:30 P.M.

The discussion of the Elected Officials Salary Advisory Committee proposal is agenda item #12. The Court does allow public comment on any agenda item, simply fill out a card before the meeting to request your right to speak on agenda item #12.

The meeting is on the 6th Floor of the Collin County Courthouse at 210 S. McDonald St. in McKinney

Bill Baumbach of Wylie: Commissioners deserve a pay cut

Dallas Morning News Community Opinions
Friday, April 18, 2008

Once again, the Collin County commissioners are looking at elected officials' salaries – including their own.

While the county has gotten a lot of bad press and a whole lot of election rhetoric for high salaries, commissioners have steadfastly granted themselves a raise every single year.

At a recent court meeting, Commissioner Phyllis Cole floated the idea of appointing a citizens board made of former grand jury members that would recommend annual increases to elected officials' salaries.

Frankly, the idea stinks.

It is a cowardly attempt by commissioners to insulate themselves from their legal responsibilities, and to shunt any criticism to a committee. In the discussion, County Judge Keith Self raised similar concerns. He is right.

The Texas Constitution and the law require that the Commissioners Court set all salaries for county employees and officials, except for the auditor and court reporters. Commissioners cannot escape their responsibility to the voters. Even if they appoint a salary board, it will only have the authority to recommend. Final approval must be by a majority vote of the commissioners court.

The taxpayers need to see their Commissioners Court beginning a discussion on cutting the salaries of the Collin County commissioners, not of abdicating their well-paid responsibilities.

Commissioners make $107,387 per year. To put it into perspective, the total cost of the county judge and commissioner salaries cost Harris County citizens 20 cents a year, but Collin County citizens pay almost six times that much – $1.11 per year – just for Commissioners Court salaries. Harris County commissioners oversee a budget of $749 million. Collin County, $169 million.

Last year, I wrote: "I believe the commissioners should index their compensation to the four suburban counties closest to us in size – two that are larger and two smaller. El Paso and Hidalgo are larger – Denton and Fort Bend are smaller. We take the average of those four counties, and then split the difference with the current Collin County scale. With this new formula, the commissioners would now get paid $91,737, an 8.9 percent pay cut. The county judge would see his pay cut 8.2 percent to $112,186."

I still believe the court should be focusing on cutting their salaries, not augmenting them.

Bill Baumbach is a Wylie resident and was the Democratic candidate for Collin County Commissioners Court, Precinct 2, last year. A version of this column appeared on Mr. Baumbach's blog, The Collin County Observer.

Once again, the Collin County Commissioners are looking at elected officials salaries (including their own).

While the county has gotten a lot of bad press and a whole lot of election rhetoric for their high salaries, they have steadfastly granted themselves a raise every single year.

At the last court meeting 2 weeks ago, Commissioner Cole floated the idea of appointing a citizens board made of of former grand jury members that would recommend annual increases to elected officals salaries.

Frankly, the idea stinks.

It is a cowardly attempt by commissioners to insulate themselves from their legal responsibilities, and to shunt any criticism to a committee. In the discussion 2 weeks ago, Judge Self raised similar concerns. He is right.

The Texas constitution and law require that the Commissioners Court set all salaries for county employees and officials (except for the auditor and court reporters). Commissioners can not escape their responsibility to the voters. Even if they appoint a salary board, it will only have the authority to recommend. Final approval must be by a majority vote of the Commissioners Court.

The taxpayers need to see their commissioners court beginning a discussion on cutting the salaries of the Collin County Commissioners, not of abdicating their well-paid responsibilities.

Commissioners presently make $107,387/year.

To put it into perspective, the total cost of the county judge and commissioners salaries cost Harris County citizens 20 cents a year, but Collin County citizens pay almost six times that much – $1.11 per year - just for commissioners court salaries. Harris County Commissioners oversee a budget of $1.6 billion, Collin County $265 million.

Last year, I wrote: "I believe the commissioners should index their compensation to the four suburban counties closest to us in size – two that are larger, and two smaller. El Paso and Hidalgo are larger – Denton and Fort Bend are smaller. We take the average of those four counties, and then split the difference with the current Collin County scale.

With this new formula, the commissioners would now get paid $91,737, an 8.9% pay cut. The county judge would see his pay cut 8.2 percent to $112,186."

I still believe the court should be focusing on cutting their salaries, not augmenting them.

Bill

For previous posts of Commissioners salaries see:
Campaign promises? Oh well! Aug 22, 2007
Raise Season Aug 9, 2007
DMN-Take politics out of commissioners court raises Aug 6, 2007
MCG - Pay Hikes: Commissioners make enough money Aug. 4, 2007
Commissioners play shell game with their salaries. Sept. 5, 2006

Note: The Commissioners Court will meet this Tuesday, April 15 at 1:30 P.M.

The discussion of Elected Officials Salary Advisory Committee is agenda item #8. The Court does allow public comment on any agenda item, simply fill out a card before the meeting to request your right to speak on agenda item #8.

The meeting is on the 6th Floor of the Collin County Courthouse at 210 S. McDonald St. in McKinney

One item on Tuesday's Collin county Commissioners Court agenda was to set the 2008 schedule for workshop meetings.

Judge Self began the workshop meetings shortly after taking office - the court began meeting twice a month in more informal workshops so that they could hear presentations, and discuss complex issues in greater depth.

The workshops were an outcome of the 2006 campaign, where "Open Government" was a key issue in both the County judge and Commissioners' races.

At the last workshop, only 3 members of the court attended the briefing on indigent mental health programs. Two of those who attended complained that the meeting interfered with their plans to go "out of town". So, like most burning campaign issues (remember Self's pledge to move the court meetings to a larger room?), the workshops were deemed not really that necessary.

The commissioners voted 5 to 0 that in 2008, the court will scale back from 2 workshop sessions a month, to one - on the 2nd Tuesday at 1:30 PM. The court also decided to keep up with quarterly workshops - one in each commissioner's precinct during 2008.

For this, they will each be paid $107,373 annually. County Judge Keith Self, who heads the five-member Commissioners Court, makes $136,059.

I guess we don't pay them enough to expect them to have to come to work EVERY week!

Bill

I was at the meeting. There were quite a few employees there. After much discussion, the court voted to kill longevity pay for all new hires, thus setting the stage for a two tiered classification for employees.

Before too many years go by, the county is going to be faced with the uncomfortable situation where different employees doing the same job will be on very different pay schedules.

I believe today's decision to be short-sighted. It will do nothing to remedy the very serious morale problems in the county's workforce. In fact today's vote will only cause more resentment, and will sow the seeds of dissension.

It is hard for me to believe that the decision to cut longevity pay had nothing to do with the commissioners having to give up their own longevity bonuses in 2006.

Bill

--------------------------------------------------
Collin County workers' longevity pay cut back
Commissioners decide new workers won't get it at all; others capped

Tuesday, November 27, 2007
By ED HOUSEWRIGHT / The Dallas Morning News

McKINNEY – For nearly two decades, Collin County government employees have received annual bonuses based not on performance but on their salaries and years of service.

On Tuesday, county commissioners decided to scale back that program, capping more than two years of discussion and putting a clamp on one of the employees' most cherished benefits.

Commissioners voted to eliminate the bonus, known as longevity pay, for new workers and to limit longevity benefits for existing employees. They cited the rising cost of longevity pay, which this year will cost the county $3.7 million.

The bonus program dates back to a time when county salaries were less competitive and longevity pay was used as a tool for recruitment and retention. Commissioner Jerry Hoagland, who made the motion to end the bonuses for new hires, said the perk is no longer necessary because salaries have risen.

In addition, Mr. Hoagland said, longevity pay runs counter philosophically to the pay-for-performance salary system. That system several years ago replaced a county pay plan that guaranteed equal annual raises.

"Longevity pay is foreign to pay for performance," Mr. Hoagland said. "We don't need it."

Commissioner Joe Jaynes cast the only vote against ending longevity pay for new employees. He said the change may create morale problems for workers who don't get longevity pay while others do.

"You'll have two different systems," Mr. Jaynes said.

Commissioners also voted 5-0 for a series of changes to curtail longevity pay for the county's 1,700 employees.

For example, longevity paychecks will be capped at 10 percent of an employee's annual salary. Currently, 145 longtime workers receive longevity pay exceeding that. Some annual checks exceed $10,000.

In addition, employees who quit and are rehired will no longer be able to apply prior service to their new longevity pay calculations.

Human resources director Cynthia Jacobson estimated that the changes will save the county about $500,000 a year in longevity costs.

Several county employees attended the two-hour discussion to learn the fate of longevity pay.

Sheriff's Deputy Tim Overbey, a 19-year employee, said he agrees with the changes. He opposed previous proposals, but he thought these were fair.

"In the straw poll vote I've taken, everybody is good with it," said Deputy Overbey, president of the Collin County Deputy Sheriffs' Association.

Deputy Constable Tim Walker, however, said the commissioners shouldn't have made any changes to longevity pay.

"It's worked out well for the 21 years I've been here," he said.

Until last year, Collin County commissioners and other elected officials also received longevity pay. But it had become a political albatross for commissioners. Several challengers ran against incumbents on a platform of ending longevity pay.

In July 2006, commissioners voted to do away with it for themselves and other elected officials.

Mr. Hoagland, who has been in office since 1980, received more than $11,000 in longevity pay. The bonuses for other commissioners ranged from $4,200 to $9,000.

Commissioners earn $107,373 annually. County Judge Keith Self, who heads the five-member Commissioners Court, makes $136,059.

County seeks to trim employee's longevity pay
Hoagland's revenge?

Last year, in response to intense political pressure, the County Commissioners were forced to abandon their long-time practice of paying longevity bonuses to themselves and other elected officials. Commissioner Jerry Hoagland was the court's staunchest defender of the bonuses as well as the largest recipient of longevity pay on the court - his take of the "re-election bonus", as it was called, was over $11,000/yr.

Ever since he lost his bonus, Hoagland has loudly proclaimed that that the county's longevity program for all employees is out of control and needs to be cut. Last month, he persuaded his fellow commissioners to appoint an "employee committee" to review the program and make recommendations.

The "employees committee" appointed is a stacked deck. There were no hourly employees, no rank and file, no mid-management. On the committee, which should be more properly called the "Management Team Who Will Do As We Are Told", are the County Auditor - Don Cozad, the Personnel Manager - Cynthia Jacobson and the County Budget Director - Rodney Rhoades.

On Tuesday, the committee will report on its plan. Predictably, the "As We Are Told" (AWAT) team are recommending a series of changes in the program which will result in a 15% cut ($540,000) in the program's benefits to employees. The cuts would most significantly impact senior employees with over 20 years of service and new employees with less than 5 years service.

Longevity pay was initially required by the Texas Legislature to help counties retain law enforcement personnel. Over the years, many counties, including Collin, recognizing the benefits of retaining a trained, stable workforce, have expanded the program to all county employees. Collin County was the only county in the State to pay longevity bonus to elected personnel.

The complete "AWAT team" report is here.

Bill

Current Collin County employees will continue to get longevity pay
By Brandi Hart, McKinney Courier-Gazette
Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Collin County employees will continue to receive longevity pay for the time being, but new county employees may not be eligible for the longevity program.

Collin County Commissioners Court voted Tuesday to form a committee of three county employees to study options for longevity pay. Commissioner Jerry Hoagland said he wanted to keep longevity pay for employees who currently receive it, but he did not want future employees of the county to be eligible for it.

“It’s a little over $2 million for longevity pay. I want to ask for an actuary firm to do an actuarial study to determine how much longevity pay is going to cost the county if we continue to have this program,” Hoagland said.

The committee will comprise Cynthia Jacobson, the director of the human resources department; Rodney Rhoades, director of the budget and finance department; and Donald Cozad. All commissioners approved the creation of the committee except Jack Hatchell, who left the courtroom because of an unrelated matter.

Commissioner Joe Jaynes said he wanted the committee to include department heads and other county employees, because they will be the ones affected by longevity pay. Jaynes also said that he wanted to look at all options for longevity pay and questioned if a firm really needed to be hired to conduct an actuarial study on the program.

“At some point, that will cause friction for those who don’t have it and those people who do. It’s a morale issue. Do we need a firm to tell us longevity pay is going to go up because the county is going to grow,” Jaynes said. Hoagland disagreed that additional employees should be on the committee because he felt it is the commissioners court’s responsibility to set the salaries of the employees of the county, he said.

Commissioner Phyllis Cole said she definitely wants to look at placing a cap on longevity pay.

The commissioners are slated to discuss the issue first in a workshop, at which they will not take action on the issue, before they discuss it in a regular court meeting.

read more...

At the next court meeting (on Tuesday, October 9), the Collin County Commissioners are scheduled to consider granting a $2/hr raise to election workers.

County Elections Administrator Sharon Rowe is asking the Commissioners Court to raise the hourly wages of election judges from $10/hr to $12/hr. She is also asking for raises for alternate judges and clerks, from $8/hr to $10/hr.

Ms. Rowe cited increases in the minimum wage, honoring the dedication of citizens who serve, and noted that the pay rate for election workers has not changed for several years.

I'll also add that the county pays $10/hr for temp workers in other departments. It seems only fair to put the citizen election clerks at the same rate.

Bill

Hoagland wants to revisit longevity pay
By Brandi Hart, Staff writer
Plano Star Courier
Tuesday, September 25, 2007 10:13 PM CDT

Commissioner Jerry Hoagland is resuming his quest to limit longevity pay for unelected Collin County employees.

Hoagland asked during Tuesday’s commissioners’ court meeting to have the issue of longevity pay placed on a future meeting agenda.

Hoagland said after the meeting that he wants an actuarial study to be done to forecast the cost of the longevity pay program for employees. He also wants to establish a cap for the program for people who currently receive money from it, Hoagland said. Though he doesn’t know when, he envisions a time when new employees would not be eligible for longevity pay.

“I think we’re going to have to look at the cost. All I need is three people to agree with me to put a cap on the program. Anybody that is currently getting longevity pay will not be affected. I want to make sure new people who are hired will not be able to get it,” Hoagland said.

Longevity pay has already been approved for the 2007-2008 fiscal year, which begins on Monday.

Hoagland did not say he wanted to replace the longevity pay program with a reward pay system n as he suggested last year n because the county already has a pay-for-performance program. The county is still implementing pay for performance in all of the county departments, Hoagland said. Hoagland asked to phase out the longevity pay program for employees last year, bringing up the issue a week after commissioners voted to end longevity pay for elected officials. The issue did not pass.

Constable Jerry Kunkle has since sued the county over the elimination of longevity pay for elected officials, stating the action constituted an illegal pay cut.

During Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners rejected a request to add a payroll clerk to the sheriff’s office for the 2007-08 fiscal year.

Sheriff Terry Box originally asked for the commissioners to create the position at the Sept. 11 meeting. The commissioners did not approve it because Box and his employees still needed to cut some overtime positions and payments to justify the position. Box told the court on Sept. 11, which is when commissioners approved the 2007-2008 budget, that the position would not require an increase in the sheriff’s office budget.

The office is cutting a deputy position at the University Drive Courts Facility in the next 30 days, an annual savings of $50,000 in overtime, Box said. He will also cut one of the two deputy positions that work when juries are called in the jury services department, which will save the sheriff’s office $11,000 in overtime in the 2007-2008 fiscal year, Box said.

“I’m asking you please approve due to the fact that our budget this year, without the help of Rodney’s (Rhoades, finance and budget director) employees help for several weeks, believe it or not we completed our budget. We even turned it in late for the first time. (We had) $35 million last year and five different budgets, and we need that help. The information that the budget officer requires now requires a great deal of research and those employees who are researching it right now are my command staff and they do a certain job. I’m asking for you to approve the addition for the clerk,” Box said.

Commissioners Phyllis Cole and Jerry Hoagland, and County Judge Keith Self did not second a motion made by Commissioner Joe Jaynes to approve the creation of the position.

Hoagland thought the sheriff’s office, IT department and finance department need to be centralized, he said. He respectfully disagreed with the sheriff, but said he appreciated the cuts in the overtime positions.

Jaynes said he wanted to approve the creation of the new position because the sheriff’s office is one of the county’s largest departments and has five budgets to oversee each fiscal year.

read more....

--------------------

Bill's comment -

Ever since Mr. Hoagland was forced to give up his longevity pay during the last election, he has developed a diaper rash over longevity pay for other county employees.

He needs to get over it!

Bill

Tuesday, September 11, at 9:00 AM the Collin County Commissioners Court is scheduled to vote final approval on -

The 2008 Tax hike
2008 Elected Officials' 6% salary increase
2008 Budget

This is your last opportunity to be heard before the Budget is approved.

Also on the agenda is to discuss and act on 2007 Longevity pay increases, and 2007 merit increases.

The Court is also scheduled to hear a report on the 2007 Regional Transportation Commission's "Comprehensive Development Funding Initiative". (How the tolls from Hwy 121 will be spent)

Bill

The 2008 proposed budget has been released. Links to it, to the notice of Tax Rate, and the Notice of Elected Officials Salaries can be found here and on Collin County's website.

As expected, the tax rate is slated to remain at $.245 per $100 valuation. Because of increased valuations, the average homeowner's taxes will increase by $22.32. Total tax valuations in Collin County increased from last year's $66.4 billion to $73.8 billion this year, and tax dollars collected will increase by 4.22%.

The Commissioners Court proposes to increase Elected Officials salaries by 5%. The entire budget increased by 8.93% to $262.6 million.

The 2008 Proposed Budget is here
The Notice of Elected Official's Compensation is here
The Notice of Public Meeting on Tax Increase is here

Bill

Raise Season 2007

Collin County commissioners are hiking their pay again; BILL BAUMBACH of Wylie has an alternative plan

Dallas Morning News
12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, August 9, 2007

Do you remember raise season last year? Under intense political pressure, your county commissioners were forced to give up their re-election bonuses (longevity pay) and their car allowances. Trying to recoup their losses, they voted themselves a 16 percent pay hike.

That pay raise lasted just as long as it took for angry citizens to flood the Commissioners Court with e-mails and phone calls in howls of protest. Within a week, newspapers were printing apologies from chastened commissioners who "saw the light" and promised to freeze their pay. Unfortunately, that promise didn't last but a week, until the commissioners voted themselves a 6 percent raise.

Well citizens, they're at it again! Last week kicked off Raise Season 2007 when the commissioners voted themselves a 5 percent raise. Commissioner Joe Jaynes explained that he thought commissioners shouldn't get a larger raise than other county employees. He then voted for a 5 percent raise for himself, and a 4 percent raise for clerks and other county employees.

Commissioner Jerry Hoagland voted against his raise, but only because he wants to hold out for the "Five County Plan" that would give him an even larger increase.

This "Five County Plan" idea is to take the average commissioners' salary of the five largest counties in Texas, Harris, Dallas, Bexar, Tarrant and Travis, then split the difference between that average and what the Collin County commissioners are making. Bingo! You get a 6.5 percent raise that would bring 2008 salaries up from $102,600 to approximately $109,000.

Let's look at those numbers. First, the five counties that Collin County is comparing itself to are huge. Their average 2002 population was almost 2 million, while Collin County is about a third of that. The commissioners in these largest counties all oversee large public hospitals, and many run their own road and bridge districts. Collin County commissioners do neither.

How about cost to the citizen? The total cost of the county judge and commissioners salaries cost Harris County citizens 20 cents a year, but Collin County citizens pay almost six times that much – $1.11 per year. Dallas County Commissioners oversee a budget of $749 million, Collin County $169 million.

I submit that the 5 percent and the "Five County Plan" both miss the main point. The point is that the commissioners take home too much of our tax money already. They are overpaid. In fact, while most other county employees are paid wages in line with the region or lower, our elected officials are all near the top of the scale in the state.

I propose a fairer formula. I believe the commissioners should index their compensation to the four suburban counties closest to us in size – two that are larger, and two smaller. El Paso and Hidalgo are larger – Denton and Fort Bend are smaller. Using the same "Five County" logic, we take the average of those four counties, and then split the difference with the current Collin County scale.

With this new formula, the commissioners would now get paid $91,737, an 8.9% pay cut. The county judge would see his pay cut 8.2 percent to $112,186.

For many years, your Commissioners Court has voted itself raise after raise. They have voted themselves raises that have no basis in fairness or equity.

I think its time the Commissioners Court really acted as conservative stewards of our tax money. They can start by paying themselves a fair, competitive wage of $91,000.

It's time the Commissioners cut their salary. It's time the taxpayers demanded it.

If any commissioner feels he deserves the kind of money they make in Harris County, I'd be happy to help them pack his bags for the move to Houston.

Bill Baumbach

The Collin County Commissioners Court has scheduled 2 public hearings to get citizen input into the fiscal 2008 county budget.

9:00 AM Tuesday, August 28
7:00 PM Tuesday, September 4

I'll be there.

Bill

EDITORIAL

Take politics out of commissioners court raises

12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, August 5, 2007

Even with a new county judge, the Collin County Commissioners Court can't seem to handle the issue of elected officials' salaries without creating a mess.

The solution is simple, and we've suggested it before: Find a reasonable benchmark to take politics out of the pay-raise issue.

Commissioner Joe Jaynes recommends tying raises to the amount given to most other county employees. That makes sense – more sense than giving yourself a larger raise than your employees, as the court did again this year.

Last year, commissioners talked about tying it to some percentage of Dallas County's pay for elected officials. That sounded reasonable, until it became clear that the 90 percent benchmark proposed was really a backhanded way of trying to restore longevity pay bonuses that the commissioners had been forced by political pressure to give up.

This year, some commissioners supported a new benchmark tied to the largest five counties in the state.

Why those?

Indeed, to the extent that looking to other counties' paychecks is useful at all, the county should look at peer counties, not large urban ones. According to the 2007 Salary Survey completed by the Texas Association of Counties, Collin County commissioners make more than every other county commissioner in the state except for those in Harris, Tarrant and Dallas counties. Our county judge's pay is No. 3, just behind Harris and Dallas counties.

Keep in mind, Collin County has the seventh-largest budget among counties. So why should it have the third-highest pay for elected officials?

A more reasonable comparison would be to peer counties, those in the 2000 census with populations between 300,000 and a million people. But those comparisons aren't kind to Collin County: Commissioners make $26,000 more than average and the county judge about $50,000 more than average.

We applaud County Judge Keith Self for refusing a raise for himself, but we're not in favor of cutting elected officials' pay. Tying raises to a reasonable economic indicator and capping it at the percentage increase given other employees would do the trick.

No matter what happens, though, elected officials need to dispense with this notion that they are somehow underpaid. The best players on the Frisco RoughRiders? are "underpaid" compared to the worst player on the Rangers, but those guys aren't allowed to give themselves raises to play some absurd game of catch-up.

DMN Suburban

Editorial Board

McKinney Courier Gazette
Editorial Saturday, August 4, 2007

Most people would love to get a pay raise of $5,000 or more. In today’s economy fraught with layoffs and uncertainty, a few people might take a $5,000 pay cut just to keep their jobs.

And in a time when people are questioning the tax burden, elected officials who decide to give themselves a pay hike are demonstrating a high level of chutzpah.

Collin County commissioners on Tuesday voted to give themselves and most other county officials a 5 percent raise - from $102,260 to $107,373 per year in the commissioners’ case. County Judge Keith Self pledged not to raise his salary during his term, remaining at $135,069 per year. For that, Self is to be congratulated.

Just why the commissioners need the money is uncertain. It seems, somehow, they feel deprived because commissioners in Texas’ five largest counties - Harris, Bexar, Dallas, Tarrant and Travis - make more than they do. Too bad. At least they backed off from the 6.5 percent raise they were originally talking about.

At least the pay-hike issue was discussed in open session, after former commissioner candidate Bill Baumbach threatened to get the attorney general involved in an open records dispute when it looked as if the commissioners were going to mull the issue in closed session.

This action by commissioners is bad timing, though they are under budget deadlines. They are about to ask voters to finance more than $200 million in bonds for much-needed roads and parks facilities. By using taxpayer money to give themselves an extra $5,000 per year, they risk a backlash from residents tired of what they consider wasteful spending. The commissioners would be wise to follow Self’s lead and freeze their salaries for the remainder of the term. Perhaps they could vote a pay hike effective after the next election. Or maybe they could put it on the ballot as a referendum to see if the voters want to raise their salaries. It’s usually the bosses who decide whether to increase an employee’s salary, and the voters are the commissioners’ bosses.

Commissioners should stop trying to satisfy their own ego by comparing their pay to that of larger counties and start concerning themselves more with their constituents’ interests. If not, they risk deepening a feeling that many people have that the commissioners is just a club of good ol’ boys (and girl).

Collin County Commissioners OK raises of 5% for elected officials
Workers expected to get 4%; more for law officers

07:55 AM CDT on Wednesday, August 1, 2007
By ED HOUSEWRIGHT / The Dallas Morning News ehousewright@dallasnews.com

McKINNEY? -- Collin County commissioners voted 3-2 Tuesday to give themselves and other elected officials a 5 percent raise.

Commissioners rejected a plan discussed Monday to equate their pay to the average pay of their counterparts in the state's five largest counties: Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar and Travis. Collin is the state's sixth-largest county, according to some estimates.

Commissioner Joe Jaynes said he thought elected officials shouldn't get a larger raise than county employees. Commissioners said they expect to give most workers a 4 percent raise and law enforcement officers a 6 or 7 percent raise for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

"I think we all need to be on the same page," Mr. Jaynes said.

In the end, Mr. Jaynes voted for the 5 percent increase for elected officials. He said he believes the 4 percent raise for most workers and the higher raises for law enforcement would average out to 5 percent.

Commissioners Phyllis Cole and Jerry Hoagland voted against the 5 percent across-the-board raise for elected officials. Commissioners will now earn $107,373.

The only elected official who won't receive the raise is County Judge Keith Self. Mr. Self, who heads the Commissioners Court and took office Jan. 1, previously vowed not to accept a pay raise. His pay will remain at $136,059.

Mr. Hoagland said he still favored the plan to tie the salaries of Collin County officials to those of their counterparts in the five largest counties.

"I thought we were trying to depoliticize the whole process," Mr. Hoagland said.

Commissioners discussed the proposal as a way to simplify raises for elected officials and avoid political backlash.

Last year, commissioners raised their salaries 17 percent, igniting intense criticism from constituents. Commissioners then froze their salaries, before flip-flopping again and giving themselves a 6 percent raise.

Some Collin County officials earn more than the average of their counterparts in the five largest counties, while others earn less.

Mr. Hoagland proposed raising the salaries of those below the average over two years.

Commissioners earn $102,260, compared with $115,641 -- the average for commissioners in the top five counties.

With a 5 percent raise, the district clerk will earn $107,214, the county clerk $103,321 and justices of the peace $89,866.

Commissioners plan to adopt the overall budget on Sept. 11.

The Collin County Commissioners Court today approved spending $250 million for the fiscal 2007 budget. As with any political process, there were both high and low points in the budget.

Some good stuff? Our law enforcement officers got a 14-17% raise that will put them about the midpoint in police salaries for the region. This was a critical need and the Court did well. Most other employees received an 8% raise in pay.

Longevity pay for elected officials (re-election bonus) is dead. Savings are almost $150,000.
Car allowances for elected officials and department heads is dead, saving the taxpayers over $190,000.

Also the tax rate was cut by 1/2 cent. I think this is a largely symbolic cut that should have been closer to 1 - 2 cents per $100 valuation. The county is growing too comfortable with the revenues generated from our growth. The reserves are too high. Right now the County budgets for a 180 day reserve... that's over $100 million dollars in excess taxes collected. A more prudent reserve would be in the 100 - 110 day range. Reducing the reserve would free up tax dollars that could have been used to finance a 10% tax cut.

The low point was hit when the Commissioners Court broke faith with the taxpayers over the elected officials salaries. First they voted themselves a 17% raise, and then when the citizens complained, the court froze their salaries. In what one citizen called "shenanigans" the court simply ignored its own salary freeze and then without public comment voted itself a 6% raise.

The Commissioners also broke faith with the taxpayers by refusing to take up the issue of the Health Care Task Force recommendations. After pledging to address the report during the budget hearings, the Court never placed it on their agenda. Rumored is the idea that the issue is on hold until after the November elections.

As of today, there have been three budget meetings of the Commissioners Court - two of them were public hearings.

The next (and final) meeting is set for September 12. At that meeting, the Court is to vote on final adoption of the fiscal 2007 budget.

So far discussion and voting in all three meetings have been dominated by issues of Commissioners' and elected officials raises.

While the Court did set the budget for employee and Law Enforcement salary increases, there has been -

No consideration given to the report of the Healthcare Task Force.

No move to cut the tax rate.

No discussion on infrastructure needs.

No discussion on the continuing drain of resources to PeopleSoft ($4 million and counting).

Once again, the elected County Commissioners have skimmed the cream off the top of the tax revenue for themselves. The rest of the County's needs will have to wait for a last minute public hearing and final vote.

Can you follow the pay raise ball as it get shuffled from one shell to another? Our Commissioners are hoping you can't.

Three weeks ago, they approved a 17.2% raise for themselves, setting off a firestorm of public criticism.

Last week, in a public hearing attended by over 200 irate taxpayers, they rescinded their 17% raise and apologized to the taxpayers of Collin County..

They also voted 6 times on rescinding or altering the raises for other elected officials, but after the meeting the Commissioners never could figure out exactly what they had voted for.

After a day of listening to the recording of the meeting, Judge Harris ruled that the Court had frozen all elected officials salaries for the year.

Judge Harris explained that it was important that the salaries be set in that public hearing, because state law requires public notices to be posted in advance of the final passing of the budget.

But then this morning, with little notification and with few citizens present, the Commissioners Court reversed itself yet again and approved a 6% raise for themselves and an 8% raise for other elected officials.

Maybe they are hoping no one will notice.

I have a message for the court -

The taxpayers do pay attention and are tired of these tricks and games.

Taxpayers have a right to expect their elected commissioners to KNOW how they voted. Each one of these commissioners costs the citizens about $100,000/yr. For that kind of money, taxpayers expect that the commissioners are able to fulfill their primary job description - to vote intelligently, and to know how they voted.

Taxpayers have a right to be told the truth. When Judge Harris stated that the votes were final, they should remain final. When the Judge ruled salaries were frozen, they should be frozen.

And taxpayers have a habit of tossing out of office those who forget why they were elected.

Yesterday, Jerry Hoagland and the other Collin County Commissioners passed a motion to raise their own pay by over 17% for fiscal 2007.

The Commissioners are playing political games by trying to hide their lost longevity bonus and auto allowance in an obscene pay hike that mostly benefits themselves. Their vote was an irresponsible slap to the face of every taxpayer in Collin County.

Commissioners pegged their new pay formula at 90% of the pay rates in Dallas County. I assume then that they are planning to work at least 90% as hard as Dallas Commissioners do.

Dallas Commissioners Court meets weekly, Collin County only hold 1/2 as many meetings. I assume the Commissioners will now change their schedules.

Dallas County Commissioners supervise a work force and budget over 3 times that of Collin County. They run a hospital, they run their own Road and Bridge Districts. Our commissioners do none of the above.

Instead they grab for themselves an ever increasing piece of your taxpayer dollars. In fact, as a percent of the total taxes collected, our Commissioners will now make over 3 times that of their Dallas counterparts.

I will await the commissioner's decisions on the rank and file employee salary budget. I'm sure they will not award ALL employees an 18% increase.

Yesterday's Commissioners Court action demonstrates the arrogance of these long time incumbents - and why I am opposing Jerry Hoagland on November 7.

Bill

Jerry Hoagland's campaign to take longevity pay from all employees is the cynical act of a desperate politician trying to hold on to his government job, no matter the cost to others.

In Sunday's Dallas Morning News, Boss Hoagland tried to cover his anger at loosing his own longevity pay by putting forth a convoluted "plan" to replace longevity pay with "pay for performance" increases. His letter starts out with the statistic that the top 129 employees will receive a longevity bonus "equaling 10 percent or more" of annual salary. Jerry never mentions that HIS bonus this year was a whopping 13 percent of his salary. The truth is that Jerry, after spending years defending his own re-election bonus, can't stand the idea of others keeping what he can not have.

Ending longevity pay for elected $87,000/yr commissioners was the right thing to do. Attacking county employees, most who make less than half of that, is mean and petty.

Hoagland claims that the "move to [pay for] performance will bring county employees closer to the way the American workforce is compensated". The Commissioner must have read that in a book, since his adult life has been spent, not in American industry, but as a paid professional politician.

As in most businesses, Collin County government's greatest assets are its workers. A leader recognizes this, and does not use employees as political footballs to advance his own career. Look at the current job openings on the county's website - of the 19 job listings, 13 pay less than $30,000 per year. In most major American industries, these workers would get a combination of step increases AND performance increases.

It would seem that at least 2 members of the commissioners court recognize the importance of longevity pay for the employees. Both County Judge Ron Harris and Commissioner Joe Jaynes have written the employees telling them that they will oppose ending the bonus.

Our county employees and the voters can see through the obvious pique in Hoagland's attitude. Once again, political reality has forced him to forgo another undeserved and cherished fringe benefit. Three years ago, after being called to task by the press, Commissioner Hoagland stopped billing the taxpayers for $18,000+ in self-help classes. This year he had to give up future longevity bonuses.

On behalf of the taxpayers of Collin County, let me say this, "Jerry, it's not over yet. Your $9,100 car allowance is next!"

Even after watching him for years, I'm still sometimes surprised at the meanness, vindictiveness, and anger that seems to be Jerry Hoagland's political style.

At the commissioners court meeting last week, Jerry made a motion to kill the re-election bonus (longevity pay) for elected officials. After years of fighting to keep his cherished bonus, Jerry's campaign supporters forced him to throw in the towel. He wasn't happy about it.

He was so unhappy, that immediately after the motion was approved, Jerry asked that the next commissioners agenda include a proposal to kill the longevity pay for ALL county employees. His logic being, if he couldn't get a bonus on top of his $87,000/yr salary, then neither would the clerks who make $23,691/yr.

For the record, I believe that keeping experienced county employees is crucial to maintaining efficiency in county government. Longevity pay serves a good purpose when applied to staff positions. As in businesses, employees are the greatest asset the county has. They should NEVER be held hostage by vindictive politicians. Most of the other commissioners seem to agree with me.

Shame on you, Jerry! Shame on you!

And if his stand on longevity pay wasn't mean enough - Jerry, after voting against grants to charitable healthcare clinics, spent some time complaining that some of those clinics are actually giving food to poor people.

Food? Jerry, when was the last time you missed a meal?

Last weeks shenanigans only served to convince me more that Jerry Hoagland needs to retire.