The Collin County Observer™

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

	Matt Shaheen	Jerry Hoagland	Joe Jaynes	Kathy Ward	Keith Self	Total
Sept 09
Aug 09
Jul 09
Jun 09	$ 0	$ 233.54	$ 111.40	$ 0	$ 0	$ 344.94
May 09	$ 309.74	$ 392.16	$ 156.56	$ 0	$ 0	$ 858.46
Apr 09	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Mar 09	$ 0	$ 126.12	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 126.12
Feb 09	$ 0	$ 66.90	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 66.90
Jan 09	$ 0	$ 90.90	$ 0	$ 0	$ 252.96	$ 343.86
Dec 08	$ 0	$ 281.68	$ 20.38	$ 0	$ 0	$ 302.06
Nov 08	$ 0	$ 74.92	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 74.92
Oct 08	$ 0	$ 518.77	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 518.77
Total	$ 309.74	$ 1,784.99	$ 288.34	$ 0	$ 252.96	$ 2,636.03

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

	Matt Shaheen	Jerry Hoagland	Joe Jaynes	Kathy Ward	Keith Self	Total
Sept 09
Aug 09
Jul 09
Jun 09	$ 0	$ 386.69	$ 111.40	$ 119.90	$ 26.71	$ 954.44
May 09	$ 309.74	$ 545.27	$ 178.56	$ 119.90	$ 655.26	$ 1,498.99
Apr 09	$ 245.36	$ 0	$ 309.70	$ 0	$ 756.96	$ 1,312.02
Mar 09	$ 259.73	$ 126.12	$ 744.18	$ 136.15	$ 779.32	$ 2,036.50
Feb 09	$ 238.50	$ 66.90	$ 464.56	$ 0	$ 1,356.71	$ 2,126.67
Jan 09	$ 0	$ 90.90	$ 2,125.09	$ 0	$ 512.96	$ 2,728.95
Dec 08	$ 0	$ 658.84	$ 106.89	$ 0	$ 0	$ 765.73
Nov 08	$ 0	$ 525.04	$ 337.99	$ 0	$ 75.95	$ 938.98
Oct 08	$ 0	$ 518.77	$ 0	$ 0	$ 675.36	$ 1,194.13
Total	$ 1,044.33	$ 2,918.53	$ 4,378.37	$ 375.95	$ 4,839.23	$ 13,556.31

Bill

In tough economic times, local governments' budgets get strained - taxpayers are unwilling to bear increased burdens and so it is tempting for local policy makers to look for new sources of funding.

Some look to law enforcement as a revenue generator.

Texans have long despised speed traps and other attempts to use the power of the justice system to pay for basic governmental services.

Here in Collin County, many still remember the Texas Rangers swooping down on tiny Lavon, which at one point had 13 police officers writing tickets as fast as they could. In response, the Texas Legislature prohibited small towns under 5,000 population from using fines for more than 30% of their budget.

Yet even so, abuses abound.

Red light cameras and speed cameras are frequently seen as profit centers.

Recently, the Dallas Morning News revealed that over 50% of Dallas County's budget was gained from fines and fees. There are reports from East Texas of a county where half the DA's budget comes from seized and confiscated assets, even though most of those who's assets are seized aren't charged or convicted.

Collin County says it is not like Dallas. According to the 2009 budget, Collin County gets less than 2% of its General Fund revenue from fines.

The 2009 budget notes that the General Fund gets about 13% of its revenue from user fees. Other funds, such as the much smaller Public Works Fund received over $13 million from fees. The General Fund accounts for approximately $150 million of the county's $250 million dollar budget.

There are hundreds of fees the county charges citizens and businesses. In fact Collin County's Schedule of Fees is well over 200 pages long.

But while this county does not have a history of using law enforcement as a tool to gain revenue, it is still troubling that in the documentation for redistricting the Justice of the Peace Precincts, the county prepared profit/loss statistics for each JP court.

Precinct	2000 Pop.	2009 Pop.	Cases	Warrants	Truancy	Profit
Precinct 1	69,698 (14.2%)	123,412 (15.5%)	14,231 (27,4%)	2,742 (17.4%)	926 (19.4%)	$468,948
Precinct 2	32,554 (6.6%)	54,809 (6.9%)	4,168 (8%)	1,199 (7.6%)	589 (12.4%)	($99,646)
Precinct 3-1 & 3-2	157,011 (31.9%)	323,931 (40.6%)	14,039 (27.0%)	4,132 (26.2%)	3,248 (68.2%)	($209,875)
Precinct 4	232,412 (47.3%)	296,053 (37.1%)	19,573 (37.65)	7,701 (48.8%)	0 (0%)	$469,724
Totals	491,675	798,205	52,011	15,774	4,763	$1,248,193

One chart, titled "Justice of the Peace Net Revenue 2007-2008", shows the lions share of the revenue coming from Precinct 1 in 2007 and Precinct 4 in 2008. In 2008 the JP courts sent over $3 million to the county's coffers. Just over $2 million of that was from these 2 courts.

As far as bringing in a "net gain" (profit), once again it was Precincts 1 and 4 that turned a profit for the county.

The reasons for Precinct 4 numbers are obvious when you factor in the revenue and warrants for "failure to pay toll" to the NTTA. Out of the 35,000 warrants issued by all 5 JP courts in 2007, Precinct 4 was responsible for over 24,000 of them.

Precinct 1's profit was, in part, caused by the fact that it is the only court that doesn't pay rent (it meets in a county building).

Precinct 3 doesn't show a profit in part because it handles a huge number of unprofitable truancy cases. Precinct 2 serves just too few people to cover its costs.

The commissioners court will consider 7 alternate redistricting plans. A few will cause elected Justices to live outside their distrcts. Unfortunately, none of the plans indicate population data.

Nevertheless, the question remains, is "profit" an appropriate measure of a JP Court's performance, or for that matter, of any court?

Bill

After last week's Commissioners Court meeting no one should have any doubt that county Judge Keith Self is on a mission to cut costs.

He first questioned the Public works Director about buying 3 replacement pickup trucks. Noting that the county had recently lost a TERP grant in part because its equipment was not old enough, Self questioned whether the old trucks really needed replacement. After some discussion, the purchase was approved.

Self then proceeded browbeat a reluctant Rubin Delgado (the county's engineer) into renegotiating the hourly costs in a $437,000 consulting contract with HTNB.

The commissioners also looked at lap band surgery for county employees. After spending over $3 million on these fat reduction procedures, the commissioners made it clear they will kill the program at the next meeting.

Several times during Monday's meeting Self and several of the commissioners pointed out that with the economy in a downturn, the county had to find ways to cut its own spending.

This writer believes that Judge Self is entirely correct in leading an item by item effort to drive down the cost of county government. Reluctant department heads need to understand that the need to look outside the box for spending cuts is mandatory.

It seems though, that Self and the court would do well to look at their own spending habits. After all, the time honored way of gaining cooperation is to set the example first.

Perhaps the court should begin by looking at its own spending for "business meals". For example, according to the county's check register, in the last 3 months of 2008, Commissioner Jerry Hoagland alone spent over $1,300 in taxpayer money for meals.

The commissioners court must show it is willing to toe a fiscally conservative line. To ask that everyone but themselves sacrifice is nothing but arrogant.

Bill

State law requires that the county budget and tax rate be set according to a strict calendar. In the process of approving the budget, the commissioners court was required to hold 2 public hearings allowing the taxpayers an opportunity to let their elected commissioners know their feelings on the issues.

For the last several years, Collin County has held the first public hearing in the commissioners closet (courtroom) during business hours, and the second in the evening in a larger room. This year was no different.

The first public hearing was last Tuesday at 9:00 AM at the courthouse 6th floor courtroom. As is increasingly common with this administration, the meeting was held at an unusual hour. No one showed up to testify.

Not one citizen, not one county employee testified at the public hearing.

Last night, at 7:00 PM, the second public hearing was held in a large room at the new Bloomfield Rd. courthouse. This time, there were several citizens, members of the Collin County Deputies Association, a couple of judges, and a large contingent from the DA's office in attendance. (Missing were many of the department heads.)

Several people (including this author) testified on the budget - many requesting specific changes.

Can it be any clearer?

If the court meets at the convenience of its taxpayers, the taxpayers show an interest. Why does this commissioners court continue to meet at odd hours of the business day? Are Judge Self and the commissioners afraid of hearing from the people? Or don't they care?

One of Judge Self's campaign promises was to make the commissioner court meetings more accessible. It's been more than two years since he made that commitment to the citizens. Now we all know what a politician's campaign promise means, but some had hoped for better. Self even reminded us of his promise when he wrote in his own blog on Sept. 11, 2006:

"You may remember that one item in my 5-Point Action Plan is to move Commissioners Court Open Sessions to a more accessible location so that more citizens can participate in our county government. That is a first step in creating a more open, accessible county government. I believe that there are three elements that must be addressed before a solution is reached:

• Location of Commissioners Court
• Timing of Commissioners Court (e.g. time of day)
• Electronic broadcast of Commissioners Court (e.g. TV, internet)"

Keith Self, Sept. 11, 2006

Of his three elements, Self, in the last 2 years, has only delivered one - the electronic broadcast. At the present rate, we'll have to wait 4 more years for him to keep his promise.

When will Self do what he said he would do? When will the commissioners court recognize that they work for the taxpayers.... that it is the taxpayer's meeting.

One hallmark of government that needs reform is that the elected representatives begin to see themselves as better than the common folk - the County Judge and County Commissioners are there to serve the people, not themselves. The mid-day meetings only serve to remind us all that this court believes its affairs are more important than the affairs of the Collin County families it was elected to serve.

Bill

Justin Nichols was the Teen Court Coordinator forced to resign by the commissioners court last June after the commissioners learned he was gay.

Nichols' severance package cost the taxpayers $26,500 plus several thousand dollars in forgiven tuition payments.

That $26,500 + was not the end of the tax money paid out due to the court's bigotry.

When Nichols was forced out, his salary was close to $35,500/yr. Two weeks ago, the commissioners authorized the hiring of Mr. Nichols replacement.

His replacement's starting salary is $40,500/yr. It appears the taxpayers will pay the new coordinator an additional $5,000/yr for what amounts to a "straight bonus".

The commissioners questioned why Shirlane Grant, the new coordinator was being paid above the usual starting salary - they were told it was because she had previous experience. Her appointment and salary were then approved unanimously.

We know now how Collin County employees can negotiate a better deal from the county.

Next year, county workers are scheduled to receive an average 3.5% raise. It would seem they could do better either by claiming to be gay and getting a nice separation package, or by demanding the $5,000 "straight bonus".

Bill

A couple of months ago, the Collin County commissioners, faced with the probable loss of federal grants, debated and finally passed an EEOP (Equal Employment Opportunity Policy).

Terrified of federal oversight and regulation over county hiring practices almost caused the court to give up millions in federal grants. The commissioners only passed an EEOP plan after they became convinced that a policy could be enacted that was a hollow, toothless shell.

The EEOP policy adopted simply reports statistics on age, gender and race by job class. It requires no further action in recruiting or hiring. Nothing changed.

A look at the statistics shows a real need for change in hiring. The County Clerk, the District Clerk and the Tax Assessor's departments are predominately staffed by women. They are in a class called administrative/support, and they are among the lowest paid in county government. 92% of county employees listed as administrative/support are women.

Since the EEOP policy was passed, new hires in this group have all been women.

Look at technicians, a higher paid class. 74% of the county's technicians are male.

Sworn peace officers make a good wage here. In Collin County 175 peace officers are male and only 21 are female.

The highest paid jobs in the county are filled by the "Department heads". About 70% are male, and their average salaries are almost $25,000/yr higher than the women's.

Even men elected to public office in Collin County earn more than the elected women - on average, over $18,000 a year more.

Americans should be forever grateful that woman's suffrage didn't depend on a vote of the Collin County Commissioners Court.

Bill

Notes:

Prejudice and discrimination are still with us. - CCO May 8, 2008

Is county hiring biased? - CCO April 27, 2008

Collin County's EEOP plan, including statistics

Equal Opportunity? (or not) - CCO April 13, 2008

Self blames PeopleSoft for loss of grants - CCO April 16, 2008

Official	FY 2008 Total Actual Salary	FY 2009 Total Proposed Salary
County Auditor	$127,351	$131,808
Dir. of Admin. Services	$194,342	$201,144
Dir. of Building Projects	$100,587	$104,108
Dir. of CSCD (Adult Probation)	$90,645	$93,818
Dir. of Engineering	$144,283	$149,333
Dir. of Facilities	$103,422	$107,042
Dir. of Homeland Security	$117,578	$121,693
Dir. of Human Resources	$138,100	$142,934
Dir. of IT	$137,219	$142,022
Dir. of Juvenile Services	$124,066	$128,408
Dir. of Public Works	$127,105	$131,554
Elections Admin.	$92,585	$95,825
Health Care Admin.	$101,645	$105,202
Interim Budget Dir.	$81,616	$84,473
Medical Examiner	$241,314	$249,760
Purchasing Agent	$106,711	$110,446

Note: 2009 salaries are based on the budgeted 3.5% increase. Individuals may earn a "Pay for Performance" bonus that is larger or smaller than the budgeted across the board 3.5%.

Official	FY 2008 Total Actual Salary	FY 2009 Total Proposed Salary
County Judge	$136,074	$136,074
Commissioner	$107,387	$111,146
Sheriff (Includes $9,100 auto allowance)	$143,198	$147,891
Tax Assessor	$106,033	$109,744
County Clerk	$107,234	$110,987
District Clerk	$107,234	$110,987
JP, Pct 1 (includes $5,000 auto allowance)	$91,727	$94,762
JP, Pct. 2	$86,727	$89,762
JP, Pct. 3-1 (includes $5,000 auto allowance)	$91,727	$94,762
JP, Pct. 3-2 (includes $5,000 auto allowance)	$91,727	$94,762
JP, Pct. 4	$86,727	$89,762
Constable	$86,726	$89,761
District Attorney (includes state & county funds)	$145,835	$150,939
District Judge (includes state & county funds)	$139,196	$144,068
County Court at Law Judge	$138,196	$143,033
Probate Judge	$138,196	$143,033

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.

Commissioners comb through proposed 2008-2009 county budget

By Brandi Hart, McKinney Courier-Gazette
Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Collin County commissioners were busy combing over some sections of the proposed 2008-2009 budget in a meeting on Tuesday to cut any possible excess spending from the proposed budget that will be adopted in September.

The Commissioners Court heard from Sheriff Terry Box, Collin County Elections Administrator Sharon Rowe and other county officials at a budget meeting on Tuesday. The court voted four to one to include one additional detention officer and information clerk for the Collin County Sheriff’s Office.

All four commissioners voted to include the position of one additional detention officer for the CCSO at a base annual salary of $33,890 and to consider hiring a second additional officer on a contingency basis sometime in the upcoming fiscal year. Box initially asked the court to include two new detention officers in the upcoming budget. Collin County Judge Keith Self voted against the hiring of the additional detention officer.

Self also was the lone court member who voted against adding an information clerk to work in the CCSO for an annual base salary of $26,945. Commissioners Joe Jaynes, Jerry Hoagland, Phyllis Cole, and Kathy Ward voted in favor of adding the information clerk to the sheriff’s office budget.

Self said after the meeting that he voted against including the new positions in the sheriff’s office budget because the numbers from the CCSO didn’t seem justify adding the new personnel.

Box told the court that sheriff’s officers that two detention officers are needed because the detention officers are currently working with the worst jail population that the county has ever had, but that he would agree with whatever the court chose to approve. He added that there are at least 20 people currently in the Collin County Detention Center that are convicted of murder and have to be kept separate from the rest of the inmates.

The court began meeting on Monday to review the 2008-2009 budget and will continue to meet from 9 a.m. to about 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. from now until Friday at the commissioner’s courtroom on the sixth floor of the former Collin County Courthouse, 210 S. McDonald St., or State Highway 5 in McKinney.

read more....

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:

Fiscal Yr	Salary	% raise	CPI	CPI Salary
1998	$46,926
1999	$52,932	13%	2.2%	$47,958
2000	$59,284	12%	3.4%	$49,589
2001	$69,000	16%	2.8%	$50,977
2002	$75,000	9%	1.6%	$51,793
2003	$80,018	7%	2.3%	$52,984
2004	$80,018	0%	2.7%	$54,415
2005	$84,011	5%	3.4%	$56,265
2006	$87,380	4%	3.2%	$58,065
2007	$102,274	17%	2.9%	$59,749
2008	$107,389	5%	4%	$62,139

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.

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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.

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

Rhodney Rhoades, Collin County's budget director since 2000 is heading off to greener pastures in the Hill Country.

I've heard that Rhoades will be heading to the Democratic stronghold of Travis County as its new Executive Manager of Planning and Budget. I hope he won't suffer from too much culture shock there! I'll be happy to loan him one of my donkey lapel pins if he needs it to help him fit in.

Rhoades is a graduate of UTD and earned a Master's degree in Government at SMU. Before assuming the Budget Director's position in Collin County, he was the Director of Budget in Grand Prairie, and before that in Garland. Last year he was a finalist in a search conducted by Archuleta County, Colorado for a new Finance Director.

The Commissioners Court is to consider appointing the county's Assistant Budget Director, Monika Arris, as interim director of the Budget Department at it's Tuesday meeting.

Bill

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

The recent county commissioner primary races put a focus on cutting taxes.

Everyone wants their taxes lowered, right? But some on the court are questioning whether tax cuts are the best way to lower property taxes for the average homeowner.

Collin County Commissioners will be looking at early budget decisions starting Tuesday. Tax cutting will be agenda item #11.

The question commissioners will try to answer will be, "Are tax cut the fairest way to reduce homeowner taxes, or will a homestead exemption, as Commissioner Jaynes has proposed, result in a bigger savings for homeowners?".

Lets look at 4 scenarios, a $100,000 homestead, a $200,000 (close to Collin county median) homestead, a $500,000 homestead, and a $5,000,000 business:

Currently, the tax rate is .245 per $100 valuation.

2007 Valuation*	$100,000	$200,000	$500,000	$5,000,000
TAX RATE
.245	$367.50	$490.00	$1,225.00	$12,250.00

2008 Increase or (Savings) in real taxes, based on a 4.5% appraisal incease

2008 Valuation*	$156,750	$209,000	$522,500	$5,225,000
TAX RATE
.245	$16.54	$22.05	$55.12	$551.25
.240	$8.70	$11.60	$29.00	$290.00
.235	$0.86	$1.15	$2.87	$28.75
EXEMPTION
$10,000	($7.96)	($2.45)	$30.62	$551.25
$25,000	($44.71)	($39.20)	($6.13)	$551.25
$30,000	($56.96)	($51.45)	($18.38)	$551.25

Because of rising property values, a typical homeowner with a $200,000 home would still get a tax increase - even if the tax rate was cut a full penny. But even with a small $10,000 exemption, the same homeowner would receive a real cut in his tax burden. If the exemption were to be set at $25,000 that homeowner would get a $45 cut in his county tax.

The county budget office is estimating that without a rate cut, taxes from homesteads would increase by over $4 million. A one cent tax rate decrease would still increase county tax revenue by $45,000.

However, a $10,000 homestead exemption would reduce residential taxes by over $4 million, and a $30,000 exemption by over $12 million.

Many, including this writer, believe that an across the board rate cut will have almost no beneficial effect on the average, working class homeowner. Instead, a tax rate cut will mostly impact large commercial inventories and properties.

A homestead exemption might just be the prescription for homeowner tax relief.

Bill

*(All numbers are based on last year's figures. The court will be looking at the fiscal year 2009 rate)

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

The discussion of tax rate cuts vs. homestead exemptions is agenda item #11. 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 #11.

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