Commissioners rescind salary increases
San Jacinto News- Times - October 2009

COLDSPRING – The newly adopted county budget was amended last Tuesday to remove a $500 salary increase for secretaries and foremen in Precincts 2, 3 and 4 by a 4-1 vote. “It is apparent we’re not in complete agreement of minds concerning the $500 additional raise,” said San Jacinto County Judge Fritz Faulkner. “The budget I fi led didn’t have an extra $500 per year. It’s not the money I’m talking about but the principle of the matter.” Salaries got raised in three road and bridge precincts at some point, Faulkner said.

“When we voted I thought I was voting on a $1,000 increase for everyone,” Faulkner said. Pct. 3 Commissioner Butch Moody made a motion not to give the $500 increases for Precincts 2, 3 and 4. The motion received a second from Pct. 4 Commissioner Mark Nettuno and it passed with Pct. 1 Commissioner Laddie McAnally and Faulkner voting for and Pct. 2 Commissioner Royce Wells abstaining. Wells said he didn’t vote for the budget because he is against the tax increase supporting the budget. While the adopted tax rate of $0.6264 per $100 dollar valuation is higher than the effective rate of $0.59657, it is a decrease from last year’s tax rate of $0.6287. Wells said he felt a budget amendment was not suffi cient to correct the additional $500 salary increases for some road and bridge employees. He said the situation required a full recall vote on the budget instead. Disagreeing with Wells, Faulkner said the changes were in the fi led budget and could be dealt with through the normal procedures. “The way I understand it there’s no reason to recall the whole budget,” Faulkner said. McAnally and Faulkner both have stated they were not aware of the salary changes the day they voted to adopt the budget. Each said they thought they were voting on a $1,000 salary increase for all county employees as it was stated in the proposed budget fi led in the county clerk’s offi ce and that they were not aware the budget had been changed. According to former Assistant County Auditor Jenny Vaughn, the salary changes were made by her per instructions from commissioners Wells, Moody and Nettuno before the proposed budget was approved Sept. 25. “Pct. 2 Commissioner Wells came into the offi ce and made his salary increases and Pct. 3 Commissioner Moody and Pct. 4 Commissioner Nettuno called in their salary changes,” Vaughn said. No one evidently informed Judge Faulkner who is the county’s chief budget offi cer, nor did they propose the salary changes in open court. Vaughn has since resigned her position as assistant auditor to work with her husband in his business. San Jacinto County Treasurer Charlene Everitt, who makes out the county payrolls said, “Some road and bridge employees were receiving $500 or more salary increases for the new year.”

Obtaining payroll timesheets through an open records request, the San Jacinto News- Times found that Wells made additional budget changes for his secretary and some of his road and bridge employees. Moody also made changes for an additional salary increase of $500 to his secretary and additional salary increases to two of his road and bridge employees. Nettuno also approved an additional $500 for his secretary and foreman. All the salary increases were made prior to the adoption of the county budget. In other business, commissioners approved amended the budget relating to changes in the county’s retirement plan made during Aug. 11, 2009, regarding the change to five year vesting and the retirement rate for 2010. Wells made a motion for the county to offer retirement benefits to county employees with five years of service instead of eight years as done in the past. In order to pay for the additional cost, Wells said he would defer $20,000 of his salary that is being paid from the county’s general fund back to his road and bridge fund.

“This will strengthen the county’s pension system,” Wells said. Concerning an agenda item to have commissioners’ court reconsider the recommendations made by a grievance committee during a grievance hearing on Aug. 26 by County Treasurer Everitt, Wells said, “I make a motion to support the committee’s recommendation and give her the recommended raise.” To bring the motion to a vote, Nettuno seconded the motion, saying that he would not vote for it. The motion failed by a 1 to 4 vote. In another agenda item, commissioners amended the budget once again to include two corporals who are on patrol duty to receive the additional $500 salary increase awarded to patrol officers in the sheriff’s department. Also approved was salary increase for the dispatch super-vision in the county sheriff’s department equivalent to $1 per hour over the dispatcher’s hourly rate as requested by Sheriff James Walters. The court voted to accept a grant award in the amount of $75,000 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, State Energy Conservation Office for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant. The grant money could be used to purchase an emergency generator for the courthouse and several other things such as lighting , according to Faulkner. Commissioners nominated Faulkner and McAnally as candidates for the election of the board of directors of the San Jacinto County Appraisal District for the 2010-2011 terms. A donation of $1,000 was voted favorably by commissioners for Christmas decorations requested by the Coldspring/San Jacinto County Chamber of Commerce.