County Retirees To Get A Raise

The Fayette County Commissioners Court met last Thursday. Among the business that day, they voted to approve a one percent cost of living adjustment to Fayette County Retirees through the Texas County and District Retirement System (TCDRS).

Retired Pct. 2 Commissioner Gary Weishuhn was on hand for the discussion.

“I’d like yall to consider the one percent,” Weishuhn said. “It’s been years since we had a cost of living raise. Just speaking for myself and all the retirees, we could definitely use it.”

“We have not given a cost of living adjustment to retirees since, I believe, 2017,” said Pct. 1 Commissioner Jason McBroom. “My gosh, look what groceries have done since 2017. They’ve doubled.”

The raise will not immediately affect the County budget since the County pays more into the retirement system than the minimum required to fund current retirees. The County Auditor’s Office reported that a lump sum payment of $300,000 would completely fund the one percent raise without raising future rates.

Commissioners discussed various ways to offset the effects of the raise, such as increasing their “elected” rate even higher than the minimum rate, or possibly making a lump-sum payment to the retirement system in next year’s budget, or spreading out a lump-sum payment over the course of a few budget cycles. They did not take any action on those options at Thursday’s meeting. The Commissioners asked the Auditor’s Office to schedule a meeting with a representative from TCDRS to discuss those options.

Courthouse Work Approved

Commissioners also approved and accepted a bid from Summit Fire & Security to replace the backflow and post indicator valve at the courthouse. This valve prevents the backflow of any contaminated water into the public water supply. Steven Svec, who heads up courthouse maintenance for the county, brought the item up at the Commissioners meeting two weeks ago after the equipment failed an inspection. At the time, Commissioners asked him to bring them estimates for repair or replacement. At Thursday’s meeting, Svec presented two options: 1) a repair job that would cost a little over $10,000, with no guarantee that it would pass inspection; or 2) a complete replacement that would cost about $28,000.

Svec said the equipment was installed in 2003 during the courthouse restoration project. After some discussion, Commissioners voted for the complete replacement.