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Resident urges county to update pay survey and raise salaries to retain employees
Summary
A Rockwall County resident told commissioners the county's 2021 market survey is outdated, cited rapid county population growth and urged the court to consider raises to retain trained staff.
A Rockwall County resident, Colin Aaron, spoke during public comment on April 22 and urged the commissioners to revisit employee pay decisions, saying the county's 2021 market survey is out of date and that rapid population growth has increased workloads for county staff.
Aaron told the court the county population increased from roughly 107,800 in 2020 to about 137,000 in 2024 and said the county's mid-level positions were not competitive with neighboring counties. He urged commissioners to rely on department heads' firsthand knowledge of job duties rather than only on the older market survey and suggested allowing commissioners and other officials to "experience what this person does" before denying a raise.
Why it matters: County officials have relied on a 2021 market update in prior pay decisions. The speaker said higher local population and increased workloads make retention harder and that the county pays to train employees who later leave for higher pay elsewhere.
Key quote "You need to, experience what this person does...instead of turning to an outdated survey, you should trust the department heads who actually see what their workers do," Colin Aaron said.
Outcome This was a public comment during the court's public forum; commissioners thanked the speaker but did not take immediate formal action on salary policy at the meeting.
Ending Commissioners did not make changes to pay policy during the meeting. The topic may resurface during departmental budget requests.
