Travis County Commissioners Court
July 25, 2006
Item 20
20 is to consider and take appropriate action on fy '07 elected officials salaries. What's our last day for taking action on this?
>> you could probably push it one week and then you're really getting close on the grievance process if that has to come into play.
>> here is my concern. Last time I think what we did was that 2.5 for elected officials because at that time we thought we may do that for rank and file? Two, three, something like that.
>> lower than what it was for everybody else.
>> and so I'm wondering whether we should take some time and try to land on where we are with rank and file employees before we take elected officials.
>> [overlapping speakers].
>> that's what happened last time, the elected officials who did not grieve got substantially less than the rank and file. I have written that out. I don't know if you want me to hear it or if you want me to pass it out.
>> any preference?
>> isn't this the maximum that we could do? Set the highest bar? Which means let's just say after we go through budget process and there's a later date that it needs to come down? We can always go down, but we can't go up. Isn't this setting of the proposed -- it's a proposed. It's a proposed maximum amount?
>> once you put in the advertisement based on the way we have written the advertisement for many years now is a proposed maximum. Court has always felt it would be better to be dead on than to suggest to elected officials they might be getting five percent when in fact it's going to come in under that when you set salaries. But if the court chose to put the proposed maximum change at five percent and sort of advised elected officials as you're doing this this isn't a decision to set it at that level, it's a decision to give you room to give them as much as you give rank and file, you could take that approach.
>> and maybe adding a line that says it's the desire of the court to try to match the proposed change for elected officials to whatever rank and file gets. It's kind of an explainer.
>> which is what the citizens committee recommended, but just because of the timing what's happened is it happened last year two is the -- last year too is the elected officials salary was set and that number changed as the budget progressed so. What I did is I wrote a letter for you to look at. And then I also put what the difference would be on the salaries of people who are impacted. I didn't put judicial. It's the bottom part of your -- what that would look like with the 2.85 or a a five percent. Just as you're thinking, you can think about the reality, I asked leroy this morning that if in fact you gave compensation of five percent across the board to the rank and file, compare that to what is in the preliminary budget, put that together and how much more money would it take for you to give all the rank and file five percent and then allow them to deal with their issues with that five percent. And that number in the whole budget is 1.25 million. Not a significant amount of money considering the impact on the rank and file.
>> 1.25 million did you say?
>> yes, including benefits.
>> including benefits.
>> all funds, not just the general fund?
>> just general fund.
>> including benefits.
>> I'd like another week.
>> why don't we do that.
>> I'll work with the budget office. This was put together very quickly this morning.
>> but I understand the law to be that if we set an amount that's the maximum, we can go lower than that, but not higher.
>> if you list tis an amount that's the maximum, you can go lower. Once you set it it's whatever you set it at.
>> we're working on the ad now.
>> all we're doing is working on the ad right now.
>> I'm sorry.
>> the one thing I would caution you about is even if you had advertised at the higher level for elected officials, information that was provided to you that resulted in the change in the rank and file amount last year came too late in the process and you still would not have been able to set elected officials' salaries to include that amount. So you could still have some unusual event occurring that would thwart your intended purpose, but at least this gives you more time to consider both halves of the story together.
>> but last time if we -- if the desired action last time had been to reduce their salary from some amount to a lower amount, we may have been able to do that.
>> when you were setting our salaries, yes.
>> last time to make-- because of the ad being the maximum salaries, we could not take them up.
>> there were two factors. Because of the ad you could not take them up and because the time schedule for setting their salaries hit before the time schedule came into play in relation to you having the information about the rank and file, you still would not have had the time to do it last year because it was an odd set of facts. But you can go a lot further down the road in terms of working them together and you've already had your compensation and benefits hearing, and so you're not likely to have another drama like that again this year. It would only be some other completely unforeseen development.
>> how much time do we have, low to deal with the elected official? I know we have time to deal with the rank and file, but sfashs the elected official, as far as being advertised. If it's at the max, how much time do we have left to deal with this particular item?
>> next week would be the absolute deadline.
>> basically that's the way we work it so you would have enough time for the grievance panel to do their work if someone files a grievance.
>> next week is the absolute deadline for deciding what goes into the advertisement. After the advertisement goes into the paper, you will have a hearing on August 15th to actually set the salaries. August 15th is the absolute deadline for determining what you're actually going to pay them and what you're going to put in the letter to them that says this is how much we've set your salary at for next year. So you have two absolute deadlines.
>> okay.
>> between now and next week, I would beg my precinct 3 counterpart to think about all of us that are Commissioners being paid the same the four Commissioners are not set at the same salary and it's everybody's own business as to what they choose to draw. It's just a structural thing that I would be supportive of changing that to accommodate you.
>> we could put a footnote in the ad that shows how much the -- Commissioner in precinct 3 has taken less money. There could be a footnote in that ad to show for those years what you did not take. We could do that.
>> that's the reason I want to know.
>> and --
>> [ inaudible ].
>> there have been times that I think almost every single one of us have chosen not to take a raise in a particular year. I know the judge has done that and certainly Margaret and I have done it, but we got back to the parity. And I beg you, please, think about coming back into the fold.
>> just come right down here and beg. [ laughter ]
>> I beg you to reconsider.
>> let me get this on camera.
>> I'm trying.
>> move we recess to 1:30.
>> second.
>> all in favor? That passes by unanimous vote.
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Last Modified:
Wednesday, July 26, 2006 10:34 AM