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| 6/27/2006 10:58:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Officials look to raise their own salaries
MARCIAL GUAJARDO
Managing Editor
Much like the launch of winter’s first snowball, Williamson County officials have ushered in the summer budget season with a preliminary plan that could raise salaries for elected officials anywhere from 4 to 12 percent.
County commissioners on June 20 agreed to advertise their intent to set salaries for elected officials at or below recommended figures. Those figures, recommended by Human Resources Director John Willingham, call for raises for each of the county’s elected officials.
The figures are based on salary comparisons with counties of similar size and growth in Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth suburbs. Willingham, as he has in the past, used Collin, Denton and Fort Bend counties as benchmarks.
If approved the county judge’s salary would jump from $89,328 to $94,966 annually, while commissioners would get $6,889 more than their $70,440 current salary.
County Sheriff James Wilson would be paid $95,940 – an increase of $3,690 – while County Attorney Jana Duty would receive $118,429 – a hike of $6,704.
On the high end of the pay scale, county court-at-law judges would be paid $124,000 annually – a bounce of $12,275 per year for each of them. On the other end, constables would be paid $65,498 – an increase of less than $4,000.
County Judge John Doerfler on Friday noted that the figures are preliminary and are for advertisement purposes only. Salaries for elected officials and county employees will be set when commissioners approve the 2007 fiscal year budget in late August.
The final decisions will also be based on the county’s total revenue, which will depend heavily on its property taxes. The county’s tax rolls are scheduled to be certified July 25, Doerfler said.
Willingham noted that county commissioners have received an average 3 percent raise in the past five years. Meanwhile, the average for all elected officials (3.9 percent) and county employees (4.2 percent) during the same time span have each been higher, he said.
All elected officials received a 2.5 percent pay raise last year. County employees also scored 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustments, while some – largely at the Sheriff’s Department – also received more funds through salary reclassifications.
The cost-of-living index in the Dallas-Fort Worth area has risen 21 percent in the past five years, Willingham said. Meanwhile, Williamson County commissioners have received a cumulative 15-percent pay raise in those five years, while county employees have received a 20.8 percent spike in that same time period.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics does not list the Austin metropolitan area’s consumer price index, Willingham said, calling for the use of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which is comparable to Austin’s.
Doerfler, county judge for more than a decade, is paid slightly more than the county judge in Fort Bend County, but makes less than those in Denton ($91,997) and Collin ($119,267) counties.
At $70,440, Williamson County commissioners are paid less than those in Collin ($87,380), Denton ($76,786) and Fort Bend ($85,282) counties.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Williamson County had an estimated population of 333,457 last year, with a $125,800 median home value in 2000. Denton County consisted of a population of 554,642 last year and had a median home value of $133,200 in 2000.
Collin County had 659,457 residents last year and a median home value of $155,500 in 2000. Fort Bend County had a population of 463,650 last year and a median home value of $115,100 in 2000.
Each county grew in population by at least 28 percent from 2000 to 2005.
Contact Marcial Guajardo at 255-5827 or by e-mail at marcial@rrleader.com .
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