StemCell Therapy

Imagine for a minute that you want to help animals, want to preserve history or serve as a volunteer firefighter or help veterans in Kerr County. So, the best possible solution is to ask the Kerr County Commissioners Court to help fund those endeavors.

If those areas interest you, just be warned that you better find alternative funding, because the Kerr County Commissioners cant seem to commit when it comes to funding those things. Using the excuse that they were required statutorily to spend money on certain services, the commissioners held up funding for volunteer fire departments, veterans and the historical commission. After pressure from residents, especially veterans, the county delivered the money although less than what was previously given to the groups.

When it comes to funding for themselves, the county commissioners were pretty quick to give themselves a raise. Well, its not really a raise if you believe the county but its a longevity increase, which will be doled out to every member of the commissioners court.

This was part of the 2021 budget approved by the commissioners on Monday. The salary part of the budget was voted on separately and approved unanimously. So heres how this breaks down:

During their meeting, the commissioners made it clear that this was a requirement based on a previous action the court made to grant longevity increases for elected officials.

Moser said it was very important for people to understand that this was a longevity increase. The total amount of money the commissioners gave themselves adds up to about $3,500.

You can call it anything you want. You can say its required. But it is within this courts authority to take action to reverse this.

Sure, its great that they will give longevity increases to all county employees, but you dont have to give one to yourselves. Take one for the team, and bypass the raise.

This move speaks to the problem with the court on the subject of fiscal responsibility. By comparison, the city of Kerrville adopted a budget that essentially froze salaries and will leave some positions unfilled.

The citys top management, led by City Manager Mark McDaniel, all took voluntary pay cuts. Others in the city staff attempted to volunteer to take pay cuts to help the citys bottom line, but those overtures, while appreciated, were rejected by the City Council.

In turn, the city has vowed not to reduce essential services when it comes to its 2021 budget.

In contrast, in recent weeks, the county has made it clear to organizations, such as volunteer fire departments, that it no longer has the money to provide funding for those efforts and that they should seek funding through other sources.

The county went through an arduous exercise last year in saying it could no longer afford some of the animal control services it provides the community. The countys answer has been to solicit nonprofit groups, such as Kerrville Pets Alive, to handle the work they dont want to do or to fund.

Earlier this year, county officials discussed defunding the veterans service office, which plays an essential role in helping Kerr County veterans navigate the complex Veterans Affairs Administration, along with other services. That drew appropriate outrage from many members of the veterans community.

This last week, the county asked the Historical Commission to defend its budget requests, before approving a meager $4,500.

The coronavirus pandemic has hurt Kerr County economically, but the region appears to be doing better than others. The uncertainty that the virus brings economically shouldnt be discounted.

The fiscally prudent course of action would be to hold off on raises, especially for elected officials, and especially if it means preserving services that benefit residents.

Drafting a budget is one of the courts most important responsibilities. It is within their realm of authority to forgo these raises and instead direct that money to services that will benefit their constituents.

See the rest here:
OPINION: Elected officials salary increase send the wrong message - dailytimes.com

This entry was posted on September 21, 2020 at 6:53 pm and is filed under Longevity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |