Bexar County employees finally are learning the results of a salary study meant to ensure their wages are competitive with both the private sector and other local governments.
The county commissioned accounting firm Baker Tilly to conduct the study last summer and included $11.25 million in its fiscal year 2022-23 budget to fund the recommended pay adjustments, which were expected to go into effect in January.
On Tuesday Bexar County commissioners reviewed and approved its recommendations after its release was delayed, due to a collective bargaining grievance filed by the sheriffs deputies union, county spokeswoman Monica Ramos said.
The Deputy Sheriff’s Association of Bexar County contends the grievance should have had no bearing on the county’s ability to release the study.
Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai said the raises would direct money to address severe staffing shortages at the district attorney’s office and the Bexar County Adult Detention Center.
The study recommended new, higher pay scales for full-time civilian employees, executives, information technology positions and attorneys. The largest pay increases went to attorneys, who pleaded with commissioners for more money at a meeting earlier this month. District attorney Joe Gonzales has cited low pay for a reason numerous attorneys in his office have departed.
Attorneys were previously included in the county’s pay scale for tax-exempt employees. Baker Tilly recommended creating a new pay scale — with an average pay increase of 11.51% — just for attorneys, as the county has done for IT employees, to be more competitive.
IT employees remain in high demand, the firm concluded, and those employees received the second-highest pay increase, at an average of 6.91%. Executives received an average pay increase of 2.19%, the lowest of the study’s recommendations.
Salary changes are expected to go into effect on May 31 paychecks. No back pay will be provided as a result of the delay, Ramos said.
For hourly employees, the changes include a 6.1% increase to the minimum wage, bringing it to $17.54, and a reduction in the number of pay levels.
All civilian employees will move automatically to the new minimum salary of their current pay grade, or receive a 2% pay increase, whichever number is higher.
The study also recommended new pay scales for uniformed officers working in the jail, where staffing shortages have caused low morale and a persistent reliance on mandatory overtime.
The new pay structure includes a 7.23% increase in salary for detention cadets, and adds two steps in the pay scale designed to improve retention.
New higher pay scales were also approved for uniformed employees working in law enforcement. All uniformed officers will be moved to the range closest to their current salary, without a decrease.
The total cost of the raises approved Tuesday comes out to roughly $14.8 million per year.
But the estimated cost for the remainder of this fiscal year came out to roughly half of what the court budgeted last October, $5.56 million. Ramos said the remaining $5.69 million would be returned to the general fund.
