Salary grievance committee recommends raise for Justice of the Peace John Terry

The Guadalupe County Salary Grievance Committee on Aug. 31 recommended raising Justice of the Peace John Terry’s total compensation to $97,972.

Beatrice Bejarano moved the measure and Carol Schimkew seconded. The roll-call vote recorded six members in favor and two opposed. Under the local-government statute explained at the hearing, a committee recommendation with six to eight votes requires Commissioners Court to reconsider the item; a unanimous nine-member vote would have required the county to change the budget automatically.

John Terry told the committee he filed the grievance because he received no explanation for why elected officials were excluded from a 3% cost-of-living adjustment given to county employees. “This only comes out to $102 a paycheck for me,” Terry said, describing the requested 3% COLA as modest. The judge and budget staff described this budget year as unusually constrained after the appraisal district reported unusually large exemptions that reduced taxable value.

The committee’s recommendation bundles the requested COLA with longevity, an auto allowance and a cell-phone stipend; members clarified the motion reflected that package. The committee asked staff to prepare the written recommendation, which will be forwarded to Commissioners Court for its final decision.