Who sets the salaries of elected officials and county employees?
REFERENCE POINTS:
- Local Government Code Chapter 152
- Attorney General Opinion JM-947
- Attorney General Opinion GA-638
- Attorney General Opinion GA-639
TALKING POINTS:
- During the budget process, questions often arise concerning the salaries of county employees and elected officers. Under Section 152.011, Local Government Code, “The Commissioners Court of a county shall set the amount of the compensation, office and travel expenses, and all other allowances for county and precinct officers and employees who are paid wholly from county funds.” This duty is usually performed by either including the compensation of each position in the budget or adopting a salary schedule for the employee positions. “While recommendations should be solicited from elected department heads, the Commissioners Court has the responsibility for making the ‘final budgetary determinations as to the salaries of the …employees,’ as stated in AG Opinion JM-947,” said CJCAT Senior General Counsel Jim Allison.
- With only a few exceptions (hot check fee fund, motor vehicle escrow account interest fund), county officials other than the Commissioners Court are not authorized to pay county funds as employee compensation.
- District judges are required to provide notice and a public hearing when considering salaries under their limited authority, such as county auditors, assistant auditors, and court reporters.
- The Texas Constitution prohibits a county from paying its employees a bonus unless the Commissioners Court has approved a bonus plan as part of the employees’ compensation before the services are rendered.
- Chapter 152, Local Government Code, requires that the Commissioners Court shall publish notice of any proposed increase in the salaries, expenses, or allowances of elected county or precinct officers and set these items at a regular meeting during the regular budget hearing proceedings.
- Elected officials must be given written notice of their salaries and personal expenses. Elected officials have an opportunity to file a request for a specific change in their salary or personal expenses with a nine-member county salary grievance committee. If all nine members of the committee approve the requested increase, the Commissioners Court shall include the increase in the budget. For more information on the salary grievance committee, see Local Government Code, Section 152.014 and following sections.
- In Opinion GA-638, the attorney general considered whether the county clerk may award additional compensation to salaried deputies from records management and preservation funds. In Opinion GA-639, the attorney general addressed questions concerning whether the tax assessor-collector may award additional compensation to salaried deputies from fees collected for motor vehicle certificates of title. In both opinions, the attorney general ruled that any such compensation must be approved by the Commissioners Court before payment. While elected officer salaries must be set during the regular budget process, employee salaries may be adjusted during the year, Allison confirmed.
