We recently reported the salaries of the El Paso County Commissioners Court for FY 2015-2024, but we decided to do a deeper dive and investigate their salaries going back to FY 2007.
As one can observe on our new chart, the salaries of the County Judge and four Commissioners increased gradually through FY 2015, but significantly faster than the rate of inflation, and then spiked sharply upwards.
COUNTY VOTED TO CUT THEIR SALARIES AND BENEFITS FOR FY 2011
It is interesting that for FY 2011, the Commissioners Court voted to cut the Judge’s salary by 19.4% and the Commissioners’ salaries by 7.7%. Moreover, they voted to eliminate their $8,000 annual car allowance, which has never been restored.
At that time, the Court consisted of County Judge Anthony Cobos and Commissioners Annabell Perez, Veronica Escobar, Guillermo Gandara, and Daniel Haggerty. Two of the five, Cobos and Gandara, would subsequently be arrested by the FBI, convicted of felonies, and sentenced to federal prison.
Strangely, the County Commissioner of Precinct 3 was paid up to 10% more than the other Commissioners until FY 2012.
112.9% INCREASE IN COMMISSIONERS’ SALARIES SINCE FY 2015
Since FY 2015, the County Commissioners Court has voted themselves a series of generous salary increases.
In FY2015 our County Commissioners earned $62,680 but then voted themselves a 42.4% pay increase for FY 2016, a 1.0% increase for FY 2018, a 4.0% increase for FY 2019, a 22.6% increase for FY2020, and a 16.2% increase for FY 2024. They now earn 112.9% more than they would have earned in FY2015.
In FY2016, our County Judge earned $87,577 but then the Commissioners Court voted him a 16.5% increase for FY 2017, a 1.0% increase for FY 2018, a 2.0% increase for FY 2019, a 25.1% increase for FY 2020, and a 16.1% increase for FY 2024. As a result, County Judge Samaniego earns 74.4% more than Veronica Escobar earned in FY2015 when she was County Judge.
There are two current members of the Commissioners Court who have served since FY 2015 and voted for every budget since: Commissioner Carlos Leon of Precinct 1 and Commissioner David Stout of Precinct 2. Both men have seen their salaries more than double since they were first elected.
POLITICAL PUSHBACK
This past August 28, Commissioner Iliana Holguin of Precinct 3 was the only member of the Commissioners Court to vote against the latest double-digit salary hike.
The public outcry against the pay increase has been intense, with angry taxpayers speaking at public comment and submitting opinion essays to the local media.
Ryan Woodcraft, the Libertarian candidate vying to replace Carlos Leon as Commissioner of Precinct 1, is a fierce opponent of the recent salary hike and has vowed to return the $18,600 increase to the community if elected.
COMMISSIONERS’ STAFF EARN MORE THAN THE MAYOR OF EL PASO
With all due respect to our friends at the County, we feel strongly that the County Judge and Commissioners are now paid far too much. They are not required to possess any particular qualifications, neither academic nor professional, that would justify such high compensation.
The same is true of many other County employees. For example, the Senior Policy Advisors of the County Commissioners now earn more than $101,000 per year, far more than the Mayor of El Paso (compared to under $60,000 for the equivalent staff of City Council representatives).
We hope that Woodcraft wins his election so that he can join Holguin on the Commissioners Court in an effort to control County spending. Please consider lending him your support by donating to his campaign!
