Thursday, September 12, 2024
For the first time in several years, the Hood County Commissioners Court unanimously approved a 3% salary increase for elected officials during a regularly scheduled meeting Aug. 13.
Hood County Judge Ron Massingill said the raise was long overdue, particularly given that the commissioners had received only one increase in the five years that he has served in office.
"We have a lot of people that have positions in the county like the auditor, environmental, development, purchasing, election administrator, so we've got to give them increases to keep competitive with other counties and to keep them from poaching our good employees here,” Massingill explained. “But they're making right at what the commissioners are making, so this is just a circle that you have to keep up with. We didn't do this for a long time, but I think this is something that's really, really long overdue."
Precinct 2 Commissioner Nannette Samuelson praised Precinct 1 Commissioner Kevin Andrews for his work in reconstructing the county's salary matrix during the budget workshop held Aug. 12.
“He has done a really good job trying to simplify it,” she explained.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Dave Eagle supported Samuelson’s remarks regarding Andrews' efforts, noting he has done an excellent job and dedicated considerable hard work to the project.
"He's (Andrews) actually distilled several things,” Eagle said. “Commissioner Andrews has spent a huge amount of time on this, and he's done a really good job, in my opinion. And of course, time will tell us how good a job it is as we go on for the next year or two, but my hat’s off to Commissioner Andrews for the hard work that he has done.”
Joining in the praise, Precinct 3 Commissioner Jack Wilson also highlighted Andrews' commitment, stating that it was clear during the budget workshop just how much effort he had put into balancing the metrics.
"I think everyone in the county employment will see benefit from that — not only in the near term, but in the long term just the way it's structured out now,” Wilson said. “I again commend him (Andrews) for the effort that he put into it.”
Eagle also emphasized the importance of retaining quality employees while also remaining mindful of taxpayer contributions.
“We're always walking a line looking out for the taxpayers but making sure that we've got good employees here that are doing the job,” Eagle said. “And the judge is correct. We've refrained from giving raises to the elected officials over the years since I've been on this court, but with reluctance, sometimes we just have to do it to keep everybody in line.”
County Auditor Stephanie Matlock provided insights during the meeting, clarifying that while the salaries are being set now, there is still room for adjustments before the final budget is adopted at the end of September.
“There will be a public hearing at the next court in August, and then if you elect to make changes, you will have to have another public hearing regarding the changes,” Matlock explained. “But you have until the fiscal year starts to have an adopted budget in place.”
Andrews made a motion to increase the salaries of elected officials to 3%. Following a second by Massingill, the motion passed unanimously.
