Elected officials salaries
Commissioners held a workshop Monday morning on elected officials’ salaries and then a lengthy discussion about whether to raise those salaries during their regular meeting. County Judge Brint Carlton was in favor of freezing elected officials’ salaries. Carlton stated that elected officials’ pay should be set, and that he should receive no more for his second term than he got in his first term. Judge Carlton’s motion to take no action until after the budget is ready died for a lack of a second. Commissioner John Banken made a motion for posting salaries covering 21 elected county officials and 3 district judges. The Commissioners Court approved Banken’s motion by a vote of 3 to 2 with Commissioners David Dubose and Barry Burton supporting the motion. The Court plans to adopt the budget on September 23. Banken estimated the increases for the salaries of 12 of the officials would be approximately $48,000. The proposed salaries for the elected officials are as follows:
Commissioners Court
County Judge Brint Carlton: $85,500
Commissioner David Dubose: $66,839
Commissioner Barry Burton: $63,118
Commissioner John Banken: $63,118
Commissioner Jody Crump: $66,839
Courthouse
District Clerk Vickie Edgerly: $74,500
Tax Assessor-Collector Lynda Gunstream: $74,500
County Treasurer Christy Khoury: $66,839
County Clerk Brandy Robertson: $63,118
Justices of the Peace
Precinct 1 David Peck: $66,839
Precinct 2 Derry Dunn: $74,500
Precinct 3 Joy Dubose-Simonton: $63,118
Precinct 4 Rodney Price: $74,500
Constables
Precinct 1 Chris Humble: $66,839
Precinct 2 David Cagle: $63,118
Precinct 3 Mark Philpott: $66,839
Precinct 4 Weldon Peveto: $74,500
Sheriff’s Office
Sheriff Keith Merritt: $104,00
District Attorney
County portion for District Attorney John Kimbrough: $15,000
County Judges
County Court at Law Mandy White-Rogers: $154,000
County Court at Law 2 Troy Johnson: $154,000
District Judges
The county will pay each of the three District Judges: $15,000
The first of two public hearings on the proposed county tax rate was held prior to the Commissioners Court meeting Monday. There were no citizens’ comments during the hearing. County Judge Brint Carlton is pleased that the county will be able to meet its budget this coming year without increasing the tax rate. Carlton said the Court could have raised the rate by 8 percent, but decided to maintain the current tax. The Commissioners could still reduce the tax rate from the proposed one, but cannot increase it at this point. The second public hearing on the proposed tax rate of 54.4 cents per 100 dollars value will be Thursday evening, September 10, at 6:00 in the Commissioners Courtroom of the Administration Building.
The Commissioners Court heard presentations from Way Service and Schneider Electric Monday concerning entering into an energy efficiency program with the county. This was not the first time the Court heard from the two companies according to County Judge Brint Carlton. Way and Schneider spoke to Commissioners two months ago, and Carlton believes the program will benefit Orange County because the savings the county gets from the program will pay for it. The judge added that if the promises the companies make do not result in energy savings law says the county is not obligated to pay them, the company actually pays the difference. The Court delayed until next week to make a decision on entering into the program with either of the companies at the recommendation of County Attorney Doug Manning, who wanted to make sure the county has complied with all conditions of the local government code.
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