Dallas County commissioners voted to give themselves and other elected county officials a 5% raise last week, at a cost to taxpayers of more than $150,000 per year.
The measure did not pass unanimously. Commissioners Theresa Daniel and John Wiley Price voted for the pay increases. Commissioner Elba Garcia voted against the raise.
Commissioner Andrew Sommerman and County Judge Clay Jenkins abstained from voting, allowing the item to pass 2-1 during Tuesday’s meeting of the Commissioners Court.
Garcia and Jenkins both said during the meeting that they would not accept the raises. Aside from that, commissioners did not discuss the measure.
“When you run for the office you know what the job pays. I stick with what it was when it was sworn in that year,” Jenkins told The Dallas Morning News. “The voters knew what the job paid when they voted me in.”
Judge Jenkins is currently paid $209,073 by the taxpayers every year. Garcia is paid $175,802, while the other three commissioners are paid $181,076, per the DMN.
Commissioners approved the 5% raise, not just for themselves but for every elected official in the county. The item was labeled a cost of living increase and will cost the taxpayer an additional $151,651 annually, reported the DMN.
District Attorney John Creuzot will also receive a raise. However, Dallas County Human Resources Director Bob Wilson told the DMN only a portion of Creuzot’s $140,000 salary is paid by the county.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Creuzot has been previously criticized for allegedly letting criminals go free. His policy of not prosecuting suspects for thefts valued under $750 led to critics accusing him of being soft on crime before it was eventually reversed.
The new salaries of other officials who will receive a raise are as follows, according to the DMN:
- Sheriff Marion Brown — $192,386
- Tax Assessor/Collector John Ames — $175,237
- Treasurer Pauline Medrano — $175,237
- District Clerk Felicia Pitre — $175,237
- County Clerk John Warren — $175,237
- Justices of the Peace — $151,252
- Constables — $141,633
Meanwhile, county employees in managerial roles are paid between 2.6% and 3.5% less than they would make in the private sector, according to Wilson, per the DMN.
The raises come as Dallas County struggles with allegations of child neglect, an overflowing county jail, and software issues that resulted in a failure to pay its workers for months on end.
The Dallas Express contacted county commissioners for comment but received no response by press time.
