Some Doña Ana County elected county officials to get 15 percent pay hikes By Alexia Severson aseverson@lcsun-news @AlexiaMSeverson on Twitter Posted: 12/09/2014 06:34:25 PM MST LAS CRUCES >> Doña Ana County commissioners voted 4-1 Tuesday to increase the salaries of other elected county officials by 15 percent, but leave themselves out. The state Legislature grants authority to counties to approve pay raises for elected officials up to a certain amount. The county treasurer, assessor, clerk, sheriff and probate judge positions will receive a 15 percent increase effective at the initial date of each new term, which for some seats is Jan. 1. No provisions were made for increases for the county commission. District 3 Commissioner Ben L. Rawson was opposed. I think the same rate should be for all elected officials, Rawson said. I think its important moving forward that we dont cherry-pick certain officials over others. Commission Chairman Billy Garrett admitted that he would benefit from a pay increase but made the motion to exclude commissioners from the proposal. I think that this commission is really dedicated to finding fair compensation for everybody, Garrett said. It just happens that were dealing with this first. And I think the great difficulty and challenge is for people not to look at this as being self-serving when were voting on things that affect us. According to the county, Treasurer David Gutierrez, Assessor Andy Segovia and Clerk Lynn J. Ellins all make $65,499 annually. Probate Judge Alice Salcido earns $28,808 and Sheriff Todd Garrison makes $68,307. With the 15 percent pay increase, those elected to county treasurer, assessor and clerk will now make $75,324, probate judge will make $33,129 and county sheriff will make $78,553. The increase will cost taxpayers a total of about $24,392 a year when all raises take affect. County commissioners take home an annual salary of $29,556. This resolution affects not only the individuals who are going into office for the next term, but also those who will be going into new terms in two years, Commissioner Wayne D. Hancock said. The positions havent had a pay increase since 2008, Garrett said. As we look at compensation for the elected officials, it is interesting to think that we pay a lot of the (sheriffs) deputies the same as the elected officials, Rawson said. Holiday pay Commissioners also approved 13 paid holidays in 2015 for employees. Workers recently have challenged a proposal to remove some paid holidays from the calendar. Garrett said he wanted a 12-day schedule. The holiday schedule, as far as Im concerned, is a balance between days that the county is open to serve the public and the days that employees essentially have a paid day off, Garrett said after the motion was passed 4-1. I felt that given the environment that were living in, that we could go to a 12-day schedule. A year ago, county commissioners opted to shave one day — a spring holiday — from a list of 14 paid holidays county employees received in 2013. Other holidays that had been proposed as cuts were left in the schedule. Commissioners backing the move said it was one way to cut costs and bring the countys calendar closer in line with the state and federal governments, which give employees 10 paid holidays per year. Last year, we had talked about cutting back to 12 days and that had not been supported by the commission, Garrett said. I brought it up again this year as a matter of looking at a combination of public service and budget. Several county employees voiced their support of the 13-day holiday schedule at the meeting. I appreciate the interest of the employees and the other commissioners, Garrett said. Holidays are really important in terms of family. Its a very tough trade-off that we sometimes have to make. The holiday schedule that was adopted is in line with regional holiday schedules for other governmental entities, county spokesman Jess Williams said. In fact, its quite a lot fewer that what the El Paso employees get at 18. Commissioners also approved a vote accepting roads in the Rios Encantados subdivision for county maintenance. Alexia Severson may be reached 575-541-5462.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 15:27:16 +0000
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