County Judge Brint Carlton received word of the lawsuit from a Sheriff’s deputy Thursday afternoon about 4:00, but had no comment on the details of it. Judge Carlton did comment on the impact the news has on the Commissioners Court preparing the budget for next year. Carlton said as of Thursday there was a $2.9 million surplus of expenses over revenues for next year’s budget, but the judge and commissioners were confident that with tight spending by department heads they could still zero out next years ending balance. With the news of the lawsuit Thursday the Court is in agreement it will have to be safe and eliminate $2.9 million dollars from the budget. The cuts in the budget will now include eliminating all capital outlays except for those pieces of equipment that are actually broken. Carlton regrets it also means no pay raise for employees at the courthouse. Judge Carlton stated there will be no pay raise for elected officials, county employees, or from reclassification. The Commissioners Court did discuss implementing a new 9-Step pay matrix for county employees in January which would give a few employees a step raise when it goes into effect. County Auditor Mary Johnson was asked to prepare new numbers for the Commissioners to reflect the cuts that are required. The Court will approve its 2015-2016 budget next Wednesday.
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