County employees to receive 10% pay increase

HAYS COUNTY — On March 14, the Hays County Commissioners Court approved a 10% monthly pay increase for county employees.

According to the agenda documents, the pay increase will go to employees in Grades 106 to 113 who are not bound by the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which was earlier approved by the court on Jan. 31. This type of agreement is a written legal contract between an employer and union representing the employees, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.

The decision for the monthly disbursement did not go without discussion.

“When we implemented the first 10% raise, there [were] a lot of people that were maxed out of their pay grade so they were set up in this different category, which would have been paid out. We categorized them as a lump sum because if we had given them the additional 10%, it took them into a new pay code,” said Daphne Tenorio, county treasurer.

County staff asked the court for advice on how to distribute the pay increase, as it is ultimately up to the commissioners.

“My honest opinion is you awarded that 10%, it needs to just be paid. But that is a decision I can’t make, that’s a decision you have to tell me how to proceed with,” Tenorio said.

Vicki Dorsett, budget officer, explained how the county typically handles lump sums.

“They are done at the beginning of the fiscal year. So, anyone that is over that max would get a lump sum payment. Since this was effective Feb. 1 and the pay range may be moving when you adopt a new plan, the treasurer needs guidance on do we pay that lump sum monthly until a new plan is adopted so they are getting that same 10%,” Dorsett said. “Whereas in the past, we would have paid out a lump sum to the employee. When the plan is adopted, the ranges will move so they may not be over the max anymore of their new ranges but they are over the max currently.”

Tenorio questioned paying out the lump sum in advance in the case that an employee terminates their contract.

“If we pay the lump sum out in advance and let’s say they terminate their employment with us, then they have been paid in advance and they technically wouldn’t have received that income,” Tenorio said. “One thing we did think about doing is going ahead and paying it out monthly in a monthly stipend type category to ensure that the employees were remaining within the county as employees.”

The court unanimously approved the monthly payments.

The Hays County Commissioners Court meets again at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, March 28 at the Hays County Historical Courthouse, located at 111 E. San Antonio St. in San Marcos. The agenda will be posted at www.destinyhosted.com/agenda_publish.cfm?id=42972.