The Commissioners Court approved Tuesday the proposed salaries for elected officials going into the next fiscal year. The plan for salaries as proposed by Human Resources Director Lori Ardoin was adopted by the Court.
The vote in favor of Ardoin’s recommendations was 4 to 1. Only Commissioner Jody Crump opposed the proposed salaries which included raises for all 17 county officials. Crump said he wanted to approve raises for all county employees before granting one for elected officials. County Judge Brint Carlton voted in favor of the proposed raises, but added he would defer any pay raise for his county judge’s position next fiscal year.
The cost of the proposed raises will by $173,957 to the county’s budget. The proposed salaries will be published and the Commissioners Court will vote on adopting them probably at its August 8 meeting. The Court could still lower the proposed salary when it adopts them, but cannot raise them above the amount published.
The Commissioners approved the recommendation of the appointed committee to select the insurance package from the Texas Association of Counties (TAC). The plan does represent about an 11.7 percent increase for the county which translates to an increase of over $500,000 to next year’s budget for insurance coverage to employees. The Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan from TAC was lower than other proposals reviewed. Despite the lower cost to the county, employees will see an increase in their deductibles to $3,000.
Steve Bird with the law firm Linebarger, Goggan, Blair, & Sampson assigned to collect delinquent taxes for the county presented a report to the Commissioners Court. The county still has about $3.8 million in delinquent taxes. Included in Bird’s report was the mention of his firm’s publishing the names of taxpayers who owe delinquent taxes. Tax Assessor Collector Karen Fisher was in attendance and commented by saying the response to the names being published was very good with many taxpayers coming to her office to get their accounts paid or to at least arrange payment schedules.
The annual financial report for Orange County was presented by Charles Pruitt who led the most recent audit of the county. Pruitt said the county was not unique in having some unfunded liabilities, but overall he reported Orange County was in pretty good shape financially.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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