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COMMISSIONERS COURT AGENDA REQUEST
PLEASE FURNISH ONE ORIGINAL AND NINE COPIES OF THIS REQUEST AND DOCUMENTS
TO BE REVIEWED BY THE COURT.
MADE BY: Dave Nicholson
MEETING DATE: November 24003
SUBJECT: (PLEASE BE SPECIFIC)
OFFICE: Commissioner, Precinct 4
TIME PREFERRED:
Consider, discuss and establish Merit Pay Policies and Procedures.
EXECUTIVE SESSION REQUESTED: (PLEASE STATE REASON}
NAME OF PERSON ADDRESSING THE COURT: Commissioner Pct. #4
ESTIMATED LENGTH OF PRESENTATION:
IF PERSONNEL MATTER -NAME OF EMPLOYEE:
Time for submitting this request for Court to assure that the matter is posted in accordance
with Title 5, Chapter 551 and 552, Government Code, is as follows:
Meeting scheduled for Mondays: 5:00 P.M. previous Tuesday.
THIS REQUEST RECENED BY:
THIS REQUEST RECEIVED ON: ~
All Agenda Requests will be screened by the County Judge's Office to determine if adequate
information has been prepared for the Court's formal consideration and action at time of Court
Meetings. Your cooperation will be appreciated and contribute towards you request being
addressed at the earliest opportunity. See Agenda Request Rules Adopted by Commissioners'
Court.
KERR COUNTY
Merit Pay Policy
POLICY
It is the policy of Ken County to grant pay increases to employees who exhibit
meritorious job performance.
DEFINITIONS
Employee is any full-time, regular Ken County employee excluding elected officials.
Merit Pay Increase is an amount added to base salary over and above the employee's
salary as determined by the "grade/step schedule". The dollar amount of the merit
increase is added to the base salary as the employee's base salary is changed due to
movement on the grade/step schedule or the granting ofcost-of-living increases.
Meritorious Job Performance is accomplishment, above and beyond the normal job
expectations, which improves work productivity by reducing costs or increasing
revenues. Meritorious job performance is measurable and has a positive impact on
budgets. Merit pay increases may also be granted to employees who perform their duties
in a way that is above and beyond the normal job expectations and accomplish significant
or sacrificial results regardless of budgetary impact.
PROCEDURES
Nomination. Elected Officials and Department Heads shall submit any nominations of
employees for merit pay increases to the Commissioners' Court according to the
following schedule:
Nominations Due Date
October 1
January 1
April l
July 1
Increase Effective Date
November 1
February 1
May 1
August 1
Nominations are confidential. Nominations shall include a description of the employee's
specific accomplishments that are beyond the normal job expectations and an accounting
of the impact the accomplishments have on productivity and budgets.
Evaluation. Commissioners' Court will meet in Executive Session to evaluate each
nomination and assign a pay increase to any nominations approved by the Court.
Supervisors making nominations shall be available to discuss the nomination with the
Court.
.- Notifrcation. Commissioners' Court will notify supervisors and the County Treasurer of
approved nominations and the amount of pay increases. Supervisors will inform the
employee being granted a merit increase.
COMMUNICATION
Merit Pay Policy. Elected Officials and Department Heads shall inform all employees of
this policy and encourage employees to find ways to improve productivity.
Merit Pay Awards. Names of awardees and the basis of the award will be announced.
Statement and alternate plan for Merit Increase Policy
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I am a strong advocate for the establishment of a Commissioners Court
policy that awards merit increases to deserving Kerr County employees.
Such a policy, if properly constructed, can create strong incentives for
employees to improve their job performance.
I believe merit increases should be awarded for extraordinary job
performance within the individual employee's department; notwithstanding
possible cost reductions or future positive budget impact.
Having said that, I believe Commissioners Court should review for merit
increases ONLY those employees who work directly for Commissioners
Court. All other employees should be reviewed for merit increases ONLY
by their elected official and/or department head.
To accomplish a merit policy of this nature, each year Commissioners Court
must determine the amount of funding to be allocated for a merit increase
pool; by formula that takes into consideration the number of employees in
each department, elected officials and department heads will be advised their
proportionate share of the merit increase pool available to them. This
applies, likewise, for employees who report directly to Commissioners
Court.
NOTHING IN THE POLICY SHOULD CONVEY TO AN ELECTED
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OFFICIAL OR DEPARTMENT HEAD THAT THEIR PROPORTIONATE
SHARE MUST BE AWARDED IF, IN TRUTH, AFTER EVALUATION
THEY HONESTLY BELIEVE NO EMPLOYEE MERITS
CONSIDERATION. BUT THIS WILL BE THE DECISION OF THE
ELECTED OFFICIAL OR DEPARTMENT HEAD SOLELY.
Finally, a merit policy designed in this fashion will eliminate needless
contention between elected officials/department heads and Commissioners
Court, and satisfy the intent of the law and Attorney General's opinions
regarding this matter.