COMMISSIONERS' COURT AGENDA REOUEST
PLEASE FURNISH ONE ORIGINAL AND NINE COPIES OF THIS
REQUEST AND DOCUMENTS TO BE REVIEWED BY THE COURT.
MADE BY: Dave Nicholson
MEETING DATE: May 9, 2005
OFFICE: Commissioner, Pct. 4
TIME PREFERRED:
SUBJECT: Consider and discuss a Peer Comparison Survey that analyzes the cost of
Kerr County Government compazed to twelve other Texas Counties with populations of
40,000 to 50,000.
EXECUTIVE SESSION REQUESTED: (PLEASE STATE REASON)
NAME OF PERSON ADDRESSING THE COURT: Commissioner, Pct. 4
ESTIMATED LENGTH OF PRESENTATION: 20 minutes
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:
THIS REQUEST RECENED BY:
THIS REQUEST RECEIVED ON:
5:00 P.M. previous Tuesday.

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.
30"' Apri12005
I have conducted a survey of budgets and staffing levels of *thirteen Texas Counties
using data provided by the Texas Association of Counties.
This study follows on and expands the findings of afive-county study by Judge Tinley in
2003 and my analysis of the productivity implications of that study that was presented in
2004.
Here aze some conclusions that can be drawn from this survey and analysis:
1. Ken is a very expensive government ranking 13/13 in "Efficiency of
Government"
2. Kerr has too many employees ranking 13/13 in "Employee Productivity"
3. The primary reason Kerr government is expensive is over-staffing.
Considering that some of these peer counties do not have large municipal populations, I
wondered if there might be some correlation between high county government costs and
lazge municipal populations; although that is counter-intuitive. Five of the thirteen
counties have a city with a population of 20,000 or more.
County	County Rank	City	City	
			Budget$/Pop	Pop/Empls
Maverick	2/6	Eagle Pass	N/A	116
Navarro	8/9	Corsicana	1434	84
Kerr	13/13	Kerrville	1669	70
Lamar	7/1	Pazis	N/A	N/A
Val Verde	1/2	Del Rio	N/A	N/A
These data show no correlation between municipal population and low county efficiency
or productivity. There is an inverse correlation.
I see that our county budget is fat and we need to go on a diet.
Dave Nicholson
* One county, Jim Wells population 39,326, did not respond
PEER COMPARISON SURVEY
TEXAS COUNTIES WITH POPULATIONS
OF 40,000 to 50,000
Efficiency of Government
Comparison
Employee Productivity
Comparison
County Rank Budget $/Population
County Rauk Population/Empl
Val Verde	1	101	Lamar	1	275
Maverick	2	170	Val Verde	2	263
Rusk	3	208	Hardin	3	252
Hardin	4	257	Rusk	4	228
Cherokee	5	267	Cherokee	5	218
Medina	6	351	Maverick	6	209
Lamar	7	353	Wharton	7	187
Navarro	8	356	Hood	8	186
Hood	9	359	Navarro	9	182
Wharton	10	383	Polk	10	177
Atacosa	I1	387	Atacosa	11	176
Polk	12	395	Medina	12	159
Kerr	13	414	Kerr	13	147
Data for Selected Texas Counties
2003 Population Estimates Between 40,000 and 50,000
Prepared by
The County Information Project, Texas Association of Counties
March 31, 2005
	P lation	Totat Market Value		FTEs
Cou	2000 Census.	2003 SDC Est.	2003.	Bu et 2003	20U3
Atascosa	38,628	40,667	$	1,601,824,786	$15,725,734	231
Cherokee	46,659	47,883	$	1,825,483,414	$12,567,408	220
Hardin	48,073	49,115	$	2,067,123,940	$12,623,877	195
Hood	41,100	44,543	$	3,072,194,050	$16,000,000	240
Jim Wells	39,326	40,390	$	1,290,533,621	N/A	N/A
Kerr	43,653	44,984	$	3,170,206,248	$18,600,297	305
Lamar	48,499	49,808	$	2,375,976,784	$17,560,607	181
Maverick	47,297	48,739	$	1,522,133,090	$8,288,496	233
Medina	39,304	41,120	$	1,943,542,139	$14,434,744	230
Navarro	45,124	47,014	$	2,022,457,005	$16,719,355	259
Palk	41,133	43,133	$	2,302,160,051	$17,024,931	244
Rusk	47,372	47,925	$	3,401,093,450	$9,693,068	210
Val Verde	44,856	46,296	$	1,466,047,436	$4,679,487	176
Wharton	41,188	42,145	$	2,136,847,141	$16,130,759	225
Sources
Texas Association of Counties. Salary Survey 2003.
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. County Report of Property Value -- 2003.
Texas State Data Center. Estimates of the Total Populations of Counties and Places in Texas for
July 1, 2002 and January 1, 2003.
Note
Although they are the best numbers available at this time, neither the budget nor the number of
Fuli-Time Equivalents (FTEs) should be considered authoritative. They are provided for
comparison purposes only.
KERR COUNTY PRODUCTIVITY INDICES
RATIO OF EMPLOYEES TO SELECTED METRICS
FIVE-COUNTY SURVEY CONDUCTED MAY 2003
COUNTY	8t1ERIFF OEPIJAIL	TAX	DI8TRICT CLERK	ROAD AND BRIDGE	COUNTY CLERK	MAINT.	ANIMAL CONTROL	BUDGET $/
		COUASSESSOR						POPULAnON
	
;:	Total	Rural	Area	Jail	'3	Total	Rep	Reg	~ "~':"	# Casea	~ ~'"...	Area	Roed		Total	"%	No. Builtlinps	!~, - ::	# Animals Handled		

'	
Pop	
Pop	
Sq mi	
Beds	
."	
Pop	
Voter	
Veh	
-%~		
~`. ~'	
Sq mi	
Miles		
Pop	s .					
.... ...		~~				5
M'vi
~		1.t4 it					*f' i		( ~Ai		'.	
KERR			21	a.a					?
€	tae	-~,~"~~	.41•	n.o	r		-~~-	.er	~ ~		az	
																					
CHEROKEE	1658	1097"	38•	5
4	-	4995	3012	4128	i~;~ ;'	188	`*	32	18
6	~~'	7908•		1
5		N/A		$270
				.	.				"		r_ ..
~		.	.		`	.			o-	
									.;sY -		.~ n~			•x:		~
C				3
.	
HOOD	939	829		6
8•	:£	8307•	4330	702$	~
~ ~
'		~
e~
~	14		~	4014	'`
'?		J	1800'	;s.•	248•
				.	,	.			5
3
.		~,
~,
,					~,
_		T.-.			
																					
LAMAR	1534•	717	28	5.3	;~	4461	2742	4403	,,`"	308	"
3	N/A	30.8		8135	'	187		N/A		$359
											~. 2
"	N/A									
RUSK	1285	978	25		+.	4322	2858	3980	~	N!A	~	N/A	16.1		4754		NIA		N/A		$312
• Ma»t Preductive
~uctive
documents/Comparison
2003/2004
Coutdy Comparison
:ounty	KERR	CHEROKEE	HOOD	U1MAR	RUSK	
:ounty Judge
telephone Number	Pat 7lnley
830.792-2211	Chris Oavis
90368}2324	Andy Raah
817-5793200	Chuck SuperWlle
90}737-2410	Sandra Hodges
903657-0302	
a0 UlatlOn - 2000	43,653	46,600	41,000	48,959	47,541	
3ud et 2007/2003	16soo.z97	1zss7,asa	1o,1s7,ooo	17ssoso7	1a,ets,ose	
						
.'.OUn JUd a Sala	60,352	37,579	58,412	60,329	52,071	
NO. Em 10 @es	t Coun Heporter	1	7	1		
cM Sala level				za,aes		
EX r. Sala	42,965		31,718	27,986	24,500	
No. Probate Cases filed Last Year	292	739	156	174		
No. Mental Health Cases filed Last Year	622	1,657	6	224		
No. Juw;nlle Cases filed Lest Year	158 "'	116	73	52		
						
COmm133(Onere	36,870	34,840	47,488	40,134	42,071	
'.No. Em to ees	t	1		6		
E Safa Level		26,265		19,320		
r. Sala	za.oo9			25,425		
						
Unit Road stem YIN	Y«	No	v«	N	No	
E ineer Sala	z3,ze6 P/r					
Administrator Sala	ss,73e		47.e5o		36682	
Precinct Road S stem YM	No	r«	No		v«	
No. Office Em to ees	z	1	i			
No. Road Em to ees	23	32	30			
E Sala Level	nss6	z1,2ae	16szs			
f. Sa[e	29,427		38,563		24,450	
						
CO. Treasurer Sala	40,243	34,840	45,006	39,022	42,071	
No. Em to ees	1	z	z	o		
E Sala Leve(			n,a7s			
E% r. Sala	26,009		31 718			
						
CO. Attorne Sella	98,286 '	82,280'	101,700	100,000	12,054	
No. Asst Co. Attorne	2		z	a		
SaW Level	37,668		28,665	51120		
r. $aia	41,577		49,875	69,920		
No. Other Em Io ees	a	z	s	5		
Sale Leve(	21,347	16,980	17,479	16,640		
EX r. Sala	26,010	25,000	26,904	26305		
					1 k1v«. 28,744	
How many Mistlemeanor cases						
ere sled in						
your county last year?						
CINI	582 "'	154	431	257		
Criminal	2576 °'	984	1,324	2168		
						
Co. Cleft( Sala	40,243	34,840	45,006	39,022	42,071	
Chief ~ Sala	26,660	21,382	26.779	27,986	24,500	
No. Other De Clerks	13	a	s	s	e	
Sala Level	n,9sa	lssao	n,a7s	lssao	zl,ooo	
EX r. Sala LeV¢I	25,376		26,904	23,660		
						
						
Cou Court At Law Y/N	r«	v«	yes	v«	yea	
Court Re rter Sala	43,737	32.935	61,000	35,131	39788	
No. Em ees	z	3	1	1	1	
E Sala Level		zl,eae	za,zss	zo,a4o	2gsoo	
Ex r. Sala Levei	33,709'		35,020	30,830		
						
						
						
						
						
2003/2004
County Comparison
Coun	KERB	CHEROKEE	HOOD	WAAR	RUSK	
						
Dist Clerk Sala	40,243	34.840	45,006	39,022	42,071	
Chief De Sala	ze,7os	z7se7	zs,ost	v,aas	24soo	
No. Other De Clerks	7	s	s	s	7	
Ent Sala Level	19,e67	lasso	17,a79	7ssao	zl,ooo	
Ex r. Sala	2ss6o		2a,a75	23,660		
						
How many court cases were						
filed In your county last year?						
Civtl	750 "'	943	516	1595		
Cominal	593 "'	362	309	872		
						
						
Co, Auditor Sala	39, 773 PR	44,500	87.533	44,657	46,104	
No, Em 10 ees	2	3	3	3		
Sale Level	24,757	18,000	19,271	20,235		
EX r. Sella	28,709		26,904	34,145	24,500	
						
COU Sheriff Sala	45,985	38,088	45,659	40,139	42,071	
Chief DB Sala	44,763	32,000	380,777	34,768	33,324	
No, Other De uties	38	t9	27	78	25	
Sale Level	26,001	27,000	24,730	20,840		
r. Sale	36,739		37,235	30,830		
NO, Secretaries	6	2 7-p/t	6	6	2	
E Sala Level	nssfi	21,000	17A7a	1s,64o		
f. Seta	23,564		24,479	23,660		
No. Dis tchere	7	7	tz	s	e	
E Sale Level	20,373	21,000	21,832	17,565		
EX r. Sela	23,557		31,718	25,605	24,500	
						
Jail Administrator Sala	34,11s	32,000	30,718	25930	32,489	
No. Em l0 ees	37	18	32	35	19	
Sa18	20,313	21,000	27,103	17,585		
Ex f. Sale	26,001		27,184	25,605		
No. Secretaries	z		7	1	7	
Sila	17,958		17,479	20,235		
EX f. Sala	22,989		24,475	25,605		
						
Now man trods tloes						
rjatl conteMY	1a2	102	192	198	90	
						
Do a have prtsonen						
m otller entltles						
ouhide the caurtty7	Yes	No	yes	No	no	
						
CO.78x All: Sala	40,243	34,840	45,006	39,022	42,431	
Chief De Sala	27,326	21,936	28,687	25,930	24,500	
No. Other De Clerks	11	7 t-P/1-	s	s	a	
E Sala LBVOI	17,958	16,980	77,479	76,640		
E1C r. Sala	26,070		24,475	23,660		
						
Justice of PeaeeSala	32,055	27,744	45,006	39,022	30900	
HI hILOW	All Pd Same	dl pd. Same	2 jp	39,022/9,339	S jp 424,034	
NO. Em k1 BBS	1 Clk Each (4)	t~lr each	2 elk ea.	2		
E Sala Level	2o,ezs		17,a7a	zo,z3s		
r, Sala	zz,s9e		za,476	zs,3o5		
						
						
						
						
						
						
						
2003/2004
County Comparison
Court	KERR	CHEROKEE	HOOD	LAMAR	RUSK	
						
COrtstables $ala	29,492	29,304	29,867	29,267	27466	
Hi hlLow	Ap Pd, Same (4)	Ail Pd. Same (4)	2			
						
~Ilalflt@nant@ SU rVleOr Sala	38,199	22,914	39,082	32,609	29400	
No. Em 10 ee6	9	2	3	3		
Etn Sala Level	15486	16,980	2J 259	1d,P 15		
EX f. Sala	28,009		35,D20	31,830		
How many facilitles Or buildings						
dceb ur county malntain7	6	3	7	5	4	
(on include moae ow•r 7000 a)						
						
k your maintenance tleparfinent						
centralized wim one Indiv(dual						
sponalble for all taciliges7 YIN	Yes	No	yes	Yes	yes	
						
Animal Control SU rvk30r Sala	27,681	WA	31,902	None	Ne	
No. Fan to ees	4		z			
Sala Level	17,958		24,965			
Fat r. Seta	21.347		3e,aso			
						
How many animals do ou						
hendk each yaaR			3,600			
						
Exteptslon ant Sala	15,129 "(2)	16,619"	10,002	12,049	11,500	
No. Em b ees	2	1	1	s	1	
Sala Level	z3,5sz	1s.eao	n,a7s	19,as7	2a,5oD	
r. SaW	2e.oa9		za,a7s			
						
Chief Juvenile Probation Sala	47,ae7	AemJonl79,oco	sz.9sa	s1,76e		
No. JPO	4	5	5	3		
Sala t.eVel	24,231	22,800	23,267	23,215		
f. Seta	27,422		34,878	29,265		
No. Other Em to ees	1	a	i	1		
Sala Level			19,211	16sao		
EX r. Sala	32,000 •F '		26,904	23,660		
						
Com afar Services					
Out Sourced YIN				No	yes	
In House YM	rea	rea	yes	Yes		
No. Em to ees	1	1	3	1		
Sala level		11,500	za,9ss			
F1C r. $ala Level	30,916		38,800	36,223		
						
						
						
GENERAL QUESTIONS						
						
						
Do your provide employees with						
medical lnsuranceT YM	Yes (Employee only)	Yes	yes	Yes	yes	
						
hat X tlo you DaY of the	100%	100%	1	700%	100%	
medical insunnce7						
						
` mclttaes state suppfemem
"Cou11ty Portion
"' Amlual Report of the Texas Judicial System -Fiscal Year 2002
Note: (lamer County) The entry level salary k the lowest salary for errtry level employees and the experienced salary
k the highest salary for a given pay group.