Tarrant County bucks trend by eyeing pay raises

By Steve Campbell

sfcampbell@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH -- Tarrant County commissioners are considering pay raises for county employees even while they look for ways to cut expenses as they begin discussions on the 2012 budget.

With property tax revenue and the county budget expected to stay flat, county commissioners and leaders will huddle Monday to try to identify ways to maintain services without raising taxes.

"The first priority is, we are not going to raise the tax rate," County Judge Glen Whitley said.

Whitley has asked managers and elected officials to be prepared to discuss expendable jobs, minimum staffing levels and potential outsourcing, as well as to identify functions the county "can simply not do."

But at the same time, the five members of the Commissioners Court say they'd like to give a 3 percent raise to the county's 4,000 workers, who last year received a 3 percent lump-sum payment in lieu of a raise. In 2008 and 2009, workers got 3 percent raises.

"We're looking at a raise, but I think it's going to be an uphill climb," said Whitley, noting that it would add about $9 million a year to the county's payroll, which was $223,785,451 in 2010.

As elected officials from Washington to Austin to the tiniest towns struggle to close budget gaps, to even consider a raise makes the county a rarity.

"In this climate, to have a governing body that is still talking about pay raises, I think you could say they are well and truly blessed," said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

In Fort Worth, general fund employees other than police and firefighters haven't had a raise in four years. Arlington city employees have not received a raise in three years. And in Keller, workers have not received across-the-board raises since October 2008, except for 33 who got cost-of-living adjustments last year.

State workers did not get raises in 2010 or 2011. They got 2 percent raises in 2008 and 2009, said Ray Hymel, a contract lobbyist for the Texas Public Employees Association.

"We would be very pleased to get a 3 percent raise," Hymel said. "We don't expect anything over the next two years."

Still, a 3 percent raise is not out of line with what Tarrant County employers are giving in 2011, according to Whit Smith, president of The Whitney Smith Co., a consulting company in Fort Worth that conducts local salary surveys.

With the Texas Legislature trying a close a shortfall in the billions of dollars, county commissioners are worried about the red ink trickling down and complicating their fiscal plans.

"I think our budget would be fine if the state would leave us alone," Commissioner Roy Brooks said. "They are likely to shove a lot of expenses on us."

A flat budget is a good budget in today's economy, and commissioners say Tarrant County's sound fiscal footing is based on conservative spending and a healthy pension plan. The county also does not depend on sales tax revenue, which has hurt many city coffers.

"We keep our reserve fund fully funded. We keep a triple-A bond rating, which is something most counties don't have. We are very fiscally conservative when it comes to our taxpayers' money," Brooks said.

Considering that Tarrant County's population grew by 25 percent, to 1.8 million, over the last decade, Whitley said the county payroll has stayed relatively flat, going up less than 12 percent since 2007.

Commissioner Gary Fickes said pay raises will be just a small part of the budget discussion.

"I would like to be able to give them a raise. But it depends on how much efficiency we can create. We are not going to go in the hole to give salary increases," Fickes said. "I don't want Tarrant County to get in the same boat that some other government agencies are in."

Commissioner J.D. Johnson shares that sentiment.

"We have been keeping a close eye on spending. But there are still a lot of unknowns. I wouldn't guarantee anybody a raise, but if it's possible, I would like to do it," he said.

Commissioners say there's a fine balance between holding salaries down and retaining employees.

"If we lose people ... we may have to pay more to hire new ones," Whitley said. "We stay at a pretty low salary level; we pay at a range where about 75 percent of people are making more than our people, but that is offset by our better benefits."

Under the county's pension plan, workers generally retire on about 35 percent of what they make, he said.

Fourteen county employees earn more than $150,000 a year, led by County Administrator G.K. Maenius at $216,221, according to an online database compiled by The Texas Tribune.

A total of 203 county employees make more than $100,000 a year, but the median salary is $42,723.

Steve Campbell, 817-390-7981

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