Terry County will propose raises

The Terry County Commissioners Court is gearing up for budget sessions for the 2023 fiscal budget, and they are proposing an increase in salaries across the board. According to Terry County Judge J.D. Wagner, the Court is looking at doing a 5% salary increase for all county employees including elected officials.

Judge Wagner said, “We’ve (Commissioners Court) have not given the county employees a raise in two years. We didn’t for the 2020 budget and the 2021 budget. If we didn’t propose it this year, they would’ve gone three years without a raise.”

Terry County receives the majority of its revenue from property taxes, in which it is already capped at $0.80 per $100 valuation. The Texas Comptrollers’ Office shows under state tax law, in Sec. 9. “(a) No county, city or town shall levy a tax rate in excess of Eighty Cents (80¢) on the One Hundred Dollars ($100) valuation in any one (1) year for general fund, permanent improvement fund, road and bridge fund and jury fund purposes.” So Terry County will most likely need a higher property valuation for the 5% raises. With that being the case, the County has not adopted or spoken about what the tax rate will be.

The Following information is published in compliance with Texas Loca Government Code Section 152.013(b)(1), 152.013(b)(2) and 152.013(c). The amount proposed for an elected official cannot be increased except by a vote of the Commissioners Court and republication of this information before a formal budget hearing open to the public. The proposed amount for any other employee may be increased upon action by the Commissioners Court. The proposed amount for any employee or elected official may be decreased upon a vote by the Commissioners Court. Here is a list of the elected official’s annual salaries current and proposed increases, plus the difference.

Listed: Position, Current Salary, Proposed Salary, and Increase.

Note: District Judge and County/District Attorney salaries are proposed by the state.