Travis County Commissioners Court
January 15, 2008
Item 16
16 is to take the appropriate action on budget amend ments, transfers and discussion items. Actually, there's just one discussion item. Shouldn't have been.
>> fifteen.
>> fifteen was.
>> yes, 16 is the one I just read into the record. A 1 looked pretty straight forward as did d 1. We actually approved the other items on t 1. That is just funded. D 1 though is a little differen.
>> yes, sir, planning and budget office. Discussion item 1 is constable precinct 1 is requesting $1500 plus associated benefit costs for total of $17,096 from allocated reserves so that they can get a couple of folks promoted from deputy constable to senior deputy constable. They have internal permanent salary savings that will cover part of the promotion to the a step 2 in the new pay grade but they feel that it's appropriate for them to be placed at a step 3 in the new pay grade because their old pay grade they are in a step 3. They want it straight down to the next pay grade and not lose a step which usually is like a year of service on the pay scales. Pbo always asked the department to fund all promotions internally. So we're putting it as a discussion item because we disagree with this and I wanted to be sure we got some kind of affirmative vote from you because if the we have this approved then there will be the other four constables that might be asking for the same kind of consideration.
>> how much of it can they cover through salary savings?
>> they can cover, eye --i didn't bring the numbers, but it's about 3400 of it internally. And then the 1796 is the extra step.
>> they cover everything except--
>> except 1796 is the amount that's left.
>> they can cover it up to the step 2 in the new pay grade.
>> right.
>> but they can't make the hump to the step 3.
>> that's correct. That's the issue. Not a lot of money. It's just the precedent that it sets.
>> does human resources agree that step 3 is the appropriate step for them to go?
>> I don't think they disagree we haven't heard anything from them, you mow, saying this was a hr issue.
>> okay. I’ve been one of the leading advocates for covering terply. But in my mind, I don't know what I’ve said it or not but I always assumed that if you can cover it, you should. I don't know that I assumed that 100 percent of the time you'd be able to cover it internally. So we would first look internally and try to cover it, then if money is in allocated reserve, I don't have any problem using it it is a small amount. If they really ought to be a step 3, in my own mind getting them there and having them happy at work is better than us saving $1700 from allocated reserve, is my view.
>> I move approval.
>> second.
>> does that include a 1 and t 1? Yes.
>> yes, it does, judge, and also d 1.
>> I think you are right bringing it to us because I don't know that we have ever had to con grant an issue exactly like this. I do think we first look internally and try to do salary savings, any other amounts in the department. And if the money is not there, then we consider a request for allocated reserve. If this were a lot larger, I don't know that my opinion would be the same.
>> I have a question.
>> okay.
>> we do have some retention issues in the constable's offices. Am I correct about that?
>> there is some turnover in the constable's office. I haven't done any kind of analysis to see if it's higher than average account --county wide or not.
>> I seem to recall there were some recruitment difficulties.
>> I believe that was some of the issue that came up during the budget process.
>> exactly.
>> okay.
>> anymore discussion? All in favor. That passes by unanimous vote.
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Last Modified:
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 3:08 PM