Higher pay offer for district court employees rescinded

Judge reverses decision to raise wages, doesn’t want to ‘open up Pandora’s box.’

Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape reversed a decision to award salary increases to some county employees, saying he and county commissioners did not want to “open up Pandora’s box” by awarding some requests and not others during the county’s budget process.

Last month, at the urging of district court judges who felt their employees needed a raise commensurate with their increased workload, Pape said he would assemble a committee that would consider each request on a caseby-case basis and set aside $20,000 for those salary bumps.

“I can’t say no to three district judges,” Pape said during an Aug. 20 Commissioners Court meeting.

But Pape backtracked as he presented a third draft of the county’s $40 million budget during the Aug. 27Commissioners Court meeting.

“We did not want to open up Pandora’s box by approving some salary adjustments, while not approving all that were requested,” he said, suggesting a comprehensive analysis of how county salaries compare in the local job market could be undertaken.

“The bottom line is a lot of people in this county are overworked and underpaid, so picking from so many is just not something we should engage in without a justifiable reason, short of a salary survey that says we’re out of line,” said Precinct 2 Commissioner Clara Beckett who, like all commissioners, is earning $72,382 this year.

Pape’s salary this year is $76,405. He also receives a $25,000 annual supplement from the state for judicial work.

District Judge Chris Duggan has been one department head pushing for increases for his court administrator and court coordinator, whose annual salaries this year are between $46,000 and $48,000, according to county records.

“Speaking on behalf of the folks that work in the district judge’s office, they do an amazing job. I think they deserve a substantial raise, or any kind of raise. But I will always respect whatever decision the county judge and the county commissioners make,” Duggan said. “I wouldn’t be asking for it obviously if I didn’t think it was warranted.”

Each department head will be receiving a sum of money that amounts to 2 percent of each department’s total salary expenditures to award merit-based raises to certain employees at their discretion. Additionally, all employees countywide will be receiving a 1 percent raise to account for a higher cost of living in the county.

About 100 Bastrop County deputies and jailers will be the only employees to receive a significant salary boost: A 1 percent increase would be added to all law enforcement officers’ base salaries; 1 percent would be added for a higher cost of living; a new $600 per year cellphone stipend would be issued; merit-based raises up to 4 percent are considered; and a 6 percent salary boost is also on the table.

The 2018-19 fiscal year budget will go before the Commissioners Court on Monday for final approval.