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Resident praises proposed tax rate but urges review of recent elected-official pay hikes
Summary
At a Sept. 17 public hearing on Parker County’s FY25–26 tax rate, resident Richard Geyser supported the proposed rate but criticized large, recent salary increases for elected officials and urged the court to favor cost-of-living adjustments and correct internal disparities.
The Parker County Commissioners Court opened a public hearing on the proposed FY25–26 tax rate and heard public comment from Richard Geyser of Weatherford, who praised the proposed tax rate but urged the court to re-examine recently published salary increases for elected officials.
“I appreciate that rate,” Richard Geyser said, then added that he was concerned about the size of recent raise schedules: “you’re looking at a 25% salary increase for at least longest-serving members on this board … 31% increase in salary for sheriff, 27% increase for the county and district clerks, 18% for the tax assessor … 20% in constables.” Geyser told the court that, in his view, adjustments should favor standard cost-of-living increases rather than what he called large, longevity-based raises.
County leaders responded that some increases were driven by statutory or judicial pay schedules. One commissioner explained that certain salaries “were handed to us” after legislative or judicial-level changes, limiting the court’s ability to set those numbers locally. The court acknowledged the tension between mandated increases and internally managed pay lines and said it will continue to review parity issues as the budget process proceeds.
The public hearing was closed at 9:19 a.m.; the rest of the special meeting proceeded to budget items, capital requests and personnel adjustments.
