Quorum Court allows 1 employee salary raise
An appropriation ordinance to allow the Jefferson County Tax Collector Tony Washington to raise the chief deputy salary to $50,000 was finally approved during a short regularly scheduled Quorum Court meeting Monday evening.
The original vote on the matter occurred in November. It was later discovered that the pay raise was placed in the bookkeeper’s slot instead of the chief deputy’s position.
That discrepancy irritated several members of the Quorum Court who questioned the discrepancy.
That led the Quorum Court to rescind their earlier vote and to direct Washington to resubmit the paperwork with the correct names and titles on it.
Justice of the Peace Alfred Carroll Sr. motioned to table the ordinance, but he received no second.
The ordinance passed with one nay by Carroll.
In a follow-up interview with Carroll about his vote, he said he was concerned about another employee in the tax collector’s office who was seeking a raise and had been denied.
In January, Samella Thomas, a deputy tax collector who had submitted a complaint about what she alleges is unfair treatment in the tax collector’s office, came before the Quorum Court for help.
She read a prepared stateDuring
Carroll said he fears a lawsuit against the county will surface because of the decision of the Quorum Court. However, according to Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson, the Quorum Court does not have the authority to get involved in an elected official’s personnel decisions and processes.
ment to the justices of the peace, which detailed her longevity in the same position as newer hires while still receiving the lowest pay.
“I’ve written a letter to my boss explaining and complaining of unfair practices and discrimination in the Jefferson County’s Tax Collector’s office,” said Thomas during the January meeting that both Washington and Washington’s bookkeeper, Paula Splawn, attended.
“I’ve talked to him on several occasions, and he told me there was nothing he could do and that it would have to come to Quorum Court,” Thomas said.
Thomas said she has been a deputy tax collector since March 2008 and is still in the same position. According to Washington, Splawn is an asset to his office, does most of the critical work and is deserving of the raise
“There’s another employee in that department that came before us with a grievance that she hadn’t had a raise, and she has been there longer than anybody,” said Carroll, who added that he disagrees with giving employees a large lump sum raises.
Carroll said he believes employees should be given a raise based on a pay scale.
In a prior meeting, Washington explained that Splawn’s salary was maxed out in the bookkeeper’s position; therefore, he was changing her title to chief deputy.
“To me, that department needs to resolve that issue before it turns into a grievance and then talks about raising salaries because you still have a disgruntled employee who has come to us and said she has not been treated fairly, and she has made her boss aware, and he said he could not do anything about it,” Carroll said.
Carroll said he fears a lawsuit against the county will surface because of the decision of the Quorum Court. However, according to Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson, the Quorum Court does not have the authority to get involved in an elected official’s personnel decisions and processes.
According to Robinson, the county is actively working on revamping a policy, based on an auditor’s recommendation, that would affect every county office.
“We are rewriting our policy, and that will be in there where the Human Resource Committee will be able to hear complaints from employees,” said Robinson.
“That’s going to be done, but right now, with that not in place, we don’t have the authority.”