Reprint from the Progress Times - January 5, 2007
©Progress Times 2006 - All Rights Reserved

Budgeting, Salary Measures Approved In County Meeting

By David Rodriguez

While most of the Valley prepared for their New Year’s Day celebrations, the Hidalgo County Commissioners Court was already back at work in the first meeting for incoming County Judge J.D. Salinas on Monday, January 1.

Salinas, who beat incumbent Ramon Garcia by 300 votes in the March Democratic primary elections, was sworn in by former state comptroller John Sharp.

The agenda for the meeting revolved around salaries and budgeting for the county.

In Commissioner Palacios’ Precinct 2, a request to approve creating eight temporary maintenance positions whose employment was not to exceed June 30 was granted. Each position will be offered at a rate of $8.50 per hour.

Precinct 2 was granted permission to create a new position in the 2007 budget for an office clerk. The salary was set at $26,000.

The Commissioner’s Court also gave its seal of approval to the 2007 budget at the department level. Intra-department, inter-department and inter-fund transfers will continue to require the Commissioner’s Court approval.

The court also decided to designate and authorize the Budget Officer to amend the budget by transferring amounts budgeted for certain items to other budgeted items "as necessary for County operations" with monthly reports to Commissioner’s Court.

Within the Sheriff’s department, the court’s discussion was primarily concerned with pay grades, rates and job classifications. Four LVN positions were reclassified as Certified Medical Assistants with salary being reduced from $46,518 to $28,000. Two new Certified Medical Assistant positions were created as well. The position of Crime Scene Specialist was changed to Crime Scene Supervisor and a salary of $41,400 was set. The Secretary III position was reclassified as QuarterMaster and a salary of $26,690 was set. Accordingly, Secretary II was reclassified as well and will now be called Assistant QuarterMaster with a set salary of $24,250.

The Sheriff’s department wasn’t alone in being financially retooled. Within the Health Department, the salary for the position of Administrative Assistant was decreased from $45,895 to $40,000.