During their July 9 meeting, Travis County commissioners will begin discussing setting their own salaries and the salaries of other elected officials.
Travis County Commissioners Court will vote on July 16 to publish a public advertisement listing the proposed salaries for the 2014 fiscal year and vote to approve the salaries Aug. 6.
The 2014 fiscal year will run from Oct. 1, 2013, to Sept. 30, 2014.
Draft salaries for most of the elected positions were not included in background documents for the July 9 meeting.
In a letter to the court, Assistant Budget Director Diana Ramirez said the county is still working on drafting the advertisement.
Ramirez wrote that the advertisement will propose a 3 percent salary increase for some elected officials.
Commissioners Court
During the 2013 fiscal year, County Judge Samuel Biscoe's base salary was set at $114,925, while the commissioners' salaries were set at $95,595.
The commissioners' base salary is expected to increase by 3 percent from $95,595 in the 2013 fiscal year to $98,463 in the 2014 fiscal year.
Two commissioners have already requested to be paid below the 2013 fiscal year rate.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Bruce Todd agreed to be paid $1 when he was appointed to finish former Commissioner Sarah Eckhardt's unexpired term. In April, Eckhardt resigned after announcing her intention to run for county judge when Biscoe retires in 2014.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Gerald Daugherty asked to have his salary set at $90,109—the salary rate during the 2010 fiscal year.
Other positions
Ramirez noted the following changes in her letter to the court:
The maximum salaries of district judges may increase in the 2014 fiscal year. District judges are paid by the state and the county.
During the 2013 legislative session, the state Legislature approved increasing the state's portion of judges' salaries from a maximum of $125,000 to $140,000.
County budget officials recommend increasing the county's portion from a maximum of $15,000 to $18,000 because the raise was the judges' first increase in seven years, Ramirez wrote.
The district judges' salary increase affects associate judges, who are paid 80 percent of the district judges' salaries.
"If Commissioners Court sets the district judges' salaries at $158,000, the associate judges' salaries would be increased to $126,400," Ramirez wrote.
The draft advertisement will not include a 3 percent salary increase for the district attorney. District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg has indicated that she will not accept an increase to the county portion of her salary, Ramirez wrote. The state portion is set to increase because of legislative action.
