The Hill County Commissioners Court reviewed the county’s latest salary survey and continued discussing the future of hotel occupancy tax collections during a meeting held Tuesday, May 13.
Commissioners approved a contract with Public Sector Personnel Consultants in January with the goal of correcting issues from a previous salary study that some county employees felt did not accurately reflect their duties.
The county previously hired Evergreen Solutions to determine what its pay scale should look like based on job descriptions and market conditions, but the court determined that a new study was needed and selected Public Sector Personnel Consultants to do the work.
Treasurer Rachel Parker said that she believes the new company did a better job. “I do feel there is still some disparity in certain departments that needs to be addressed by those elected officials,” she said.
Sheriff Hunter Barnes said that the study included some good recommendations for his department, but some areas need to be corrected with the court’s permission.
Chief Deputy Tim Westmoreland presented numbers showing that the recommended pay increases between ranked positions don’t seem to make sense and leave little incentive for an employee to accept a promotion that comes with more responsibility but not much of a pay increase.
The chief deputy and sheriff pointed out that they only have an issue with the structure of the proposed pay scale and said they are not asking for an overall increase in the department’s payroll.
For instance, Westmoreland presented numbers showing that an investigator would make more than a ranked corporal under the proposed scale.
The percentage increase between ranks also did not make sense, he said. A promotion from corporal to sergeant would come with a 7.38% pay increase, for instance, but that drops to 2.4% from sergeant to lieutenant, 4.92% from lieutenant to captain and 4.94% from captain to chief.
The differences were even greater in the jail, where the proposed increase from corporal to sergeant was 4.95%, sergeant to lieutenant was 12.32% and lieutenant to captain was 17.24%.
“I think with discussion and common sense we can figure this out pretty easily,” Westmoreland said. “Obviously, anybody who achieves a rank or takes on more responsibility needs to be compensated.”
Information Technology Director Phillip Cantrell presented similar issues in his department, and County Judge Shane Brassell said that it was noted that IT’s proposal included some oddities.
“It’s good information about what’s around us,” Brassell said, “but we don’t have to do everything that’s in the survey.”
The court will continue discussing the issue, and the sheriff’s office will prepare a plan to spread out the pay increases more evenly between ranks.
Commissioners also discussed the renewal of the county’s contract with GovOS, a service that assists with hotel occupancy tax collections. That led to the continuation of a discussion that began earlier this year about whether the county should even continue collecting the tax.
In 2007, a group of Hill County residents worked with the Texas Legislature to get a hotel occupancy tax approved in Hill County. The tax is collected from hotels, motels and those offering short-term rentals through Airbnb and similar platforms in unincorporated areas of the county. The tax proceeds can only be used for economic development efforts that support tourism and lead to “heads in beds” for those renting rooms in unincorporated Hill County. In the past, the county has used that money for advertising and the county’s TexasGetawayVacation.com website.
In January, the court discussed whether to continue collecting the tax and, if so, how to ensure that all those renting rooms in the county are collecting it as required. County Auditor Susan Swilling said that the problem with the program is that some collect the tax and others don’t.
The county solicited input from those renting rooms to visitors, and Parker said that 12 responses had been received and all were in favor of eliminating the tax.
Judge Brassell said that he was recently contacted by an individual in economic development who suggested that the county develop a tourism website. When they tried to locate one, they could not find the county’s existing site. “That’s a problem,” he said.
Tax Assessor/Collector Krissi Hightower said that her office collected $56,500 in hotel occupancy taxes from October 2023 through September 2024. Last year, the county’s contract with GovOS was $22,445.
“It seems very governmental that we’re taxing to pay a bill that we wouldn’t have if we weren’t taxing,” Brassell said, adding that there is a narrow scope of permitted uses for the tax revenue.
Another factor is legislation currently being considered that would give the state comptroller the authority to collect and disburse hotel occupancy taxes.
The court voted to continue the GovOS contract on a month-to-month basis for at least one month while the county assesses its options. Otherwise, the payment portal would have become unavailable to users this month.
Commissioners also discussed renewing an expired lease agreement with the Corps of Engineers for Chisholm Trail Park on Lake Whitney.
The county’s lease agreement for the park expired in 2022, and the Corps has presented the county with three options: renew the lease and resume management responsibilities, bringing the park into full compliance with Corps standards; allow the lease to expire and perform remediation actions, such as fencing off the area, removing campsites and bathrooms and returning the land to its natural state; or a partial closure with limited access, in which the county would close the majority of the park but maintain a roadway for public boat ramp access.
The Corps is expected to present an analysis of each option with cost estimates and requirements to the court at a future meeting.
Taylor Justice, president of the Chisholm Trail Park association, told the court that the association is active and has been cleaning up the park and would like to keep it open. He said if the county could help with road maintenance, the association could handle everything else through donations.
County Attorney David Holmes explained that in the past, the county has leased the park from the Corps and then subleased it to the association with the Corps’ permission.
Commissioners are expected to continue discussing the issue after receiving more information from the Corps of Engineers.
Commissioners held a public hearing on placing a no thru truck traffic sign on HCR 2134. There were no public comments, and the proposal was approved.
Public hearings were set for June 10 on proposals to close Bobwhite Drive between Susan Drive and Via Vincent and to implement 35 mile-per-hour speed limits on HCRs 1258 and 1300.
Other notable action at the meeting included approval of a real estate contract to purchase land near the sheriff’s office from Brendan Thomas.
ANCO Insurance, the county’s insurance broker, was also authorized to seek bids on ancillary insurance products for next fiscal year.
The court approved the sale of fireworks during the Memorial Day holiday, from May 22 through May 26.
Commissioners voted to approve Kim Stevens as director of the Heart of Texas Housing Finance Corporation. The Articles of Incorporation of the corporation require that a director be jointly appointed by McLennan, Bosque, Falls, Freestone, Hill and Limestone counties. The City of Waco has requested that Stevens fill the position.
The court approved renewal of an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation that allows Hill County law enforcement personnel to access mutual aid state radio channels.
An agreement was approved with TLOxp for constables. The database will allow constables to locate contact information for individuals to help facilitate service.
The court’s next regular meeting is set for Tuesday, May 27, at 8:30 a.m. in the Hill County courtroom of the courthouse.
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