A taxing story that’s raising salaries, eyebrows

It apparently created quite a stir when I reported in the Sept. 10 edition of the Journal-Spectator that the Wharton County Commissioners Court was set to give themselves large raises next year.

I was a little perplexed that folks from County Judge Phillip Spenrath to people commenting online seemed to feel I had it out for them or was exposing some big secret. I guess that’s the nature of the beast that if something is on the front page of the paper is must be bad news.

Reporting how government spends your tax dollars is just good journalism. One of the roles of a journalist is to be a government watchdog. Unlike what some detractors of the story have implied, it never once said the raises were a good or bad thing, deserved or undeserved. It never said they were doing anything wrong or in secret.

My guess is that people here were surprised to see a story like that in the paper. Apparently, coverage like that didn’t happen here very often. In my line of work, we do stories like that all the time. I put a lot of effort into the story to make sure my information was correct and I take comfort in the fact that no one has pointed out any mistakes or errors with it.

The story had a two-fold purpose. First, it was to inform readers that the commissioners were set to vote on the 2023 tax rate and budget. Secondly, it was to let readers know that the commissioners were poised to give themselves a bigger raise than they were giving most every other county employee. That’s information that every voter and taxpayer has a right to know. It’s up to them to decide if that’s good news or bad.

Had I not reported that they were about to give themselves an $8,000, 10.5% raise, someone could have easily accused me of covering it up or being negligent in my reporting. I was surprised at the budget hearing when the commissioners increased proposed raises for all county employees, and upped their own raises to $11,000, or 14.4%. That was a bold move.

When Judge Spenrath found additional revenue in the budget, he had several options. He could have proposed lowering the tax rate, putting the money to other capital needs, putting it in reserves, or, as he ended up doing, providing bigger raises.

From a leadership standpoint, I must say I admire Judge Spenrath for looking out for his employees. One thing I have learned from years of following Zig Ziglar and Dave Ramsey is that if you take care of your people they will take care of you and your business. Ramsey insists that good people should be paid very well. In crafting the budget, Spenrath has made sure the people working for the county are very well compensated. I highly respect that.

While I fully understand and appreciate the need for Spenrath and the four commissioners to appropriately adjust their salaries to stay ahead of those they supervise, I still find it somewhat troubling that they would give themselves a raise that is nearly double the 7.5% inflation rate.

I have yet to encounter anyone in the private sector that is getting a raise that will be anywhere near the rate of inflation. I believe the average person will see little to no raise because their employers are struggling to keep up with inflation, supply chain issues, and staffing. For many, it’s a question of staying employed with little to nothing in the way of a raise or being unemployed.

Because the commissioners increased the salaries in the proposed budget, they were not able to adopt it at the last meeting. Instead, another hearing will be held on Sept. 26, at which time they are expected to adopt the budget and set the tax rate. The tax rate is going down from $.42479 per $100 property valuation to $.39056.

That three-cent drop reflects the sharp rise in property appraisals this year. While the no-new revenue tax rate is lower, some people will still pay more property taxes because their homes or businesses are valued so much higher. There will be some who pay the same or less. The county will not collect more in taxes from existing property than it did last year. The increase in property tax revenue comes from growth – new homes and businesses.

If you want to know more about how the commissioners – or any taxing entity – spends your money, you are always welcome to attend their meetings. If you can’t or don’t want to do that, I’ll be doing my best to make sure it’s reported in this newspaper, whether the government officials like it or not.

Joe Southern is the managing editor of the Wharton Journal-Spectator and the East Bernard Express. He can be reached at news@journal-spectator.com.