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Bexar County commissioners on Tuesday voted themselves and all other elected county officials a 10% pay raise — or a 5% raise for each of the next two years.
A citizens committee recommended the pay increases to put the pay of Bexar County leaders on par with those of the biggest five Texas counties.
County Judge Peter Sakai's pay will rise to $198,000. The average county commissioner pay will rise to $157,000.
Sakai was not shy about taking the pay raise for the work done by commissioners. "I'll take the pay raise, but these commissioners work hard and they represent their precincts, and I rely on them to tell me what the needs of their precincts are, so I wanted to say 'thank you,' " he told the commissioners in open court.
Even with the pay bumps, Bexar will still trail behind the five big county averages of nearly $195,000 for county judge and $169,000 for county commissioner.
Commissioners have previously approved two separate 5% pay hikes for county workers.
In other action, commissioners approved a 90-day ban on outdoor burning as the wildfire risk to homes grows.
Much like California, homes in grassy, brushy, or wooded areas of rural Bexar County could be engulfed by wildfires as a drought continues.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Grant Moody said a home in the Sendero Verde subdivision in northern Bexar County was recently consumed by a grass fire.
"Last Friday, we had an incident in Precinct 3 — a home was a total loss in a fire that took place just east of 281," he said as he informed commissioners about the existing fire dangers across the county.
Firefighters said the blaze was sparked by construction work. No injuries were reported but some residents had to be evacuated.
Bexar County Fire Marshal Chris Lopez encouraged rural residents of the county to protect their homes against wildfires. He said potential wildfire fuels, such as propane tanks and wood piles, should be moved away from structures.
He also suggested watering where possible around the perimeter of homes.
Lopez said wildfires can be sparked by vehicles parking in dry grass and tossed cigarettes, but he said most are started by poorly managed outdoor burning of trash in burn barrels or pits. Such burns should be covered with a mesh screen dense enough to keep sparks from flying away.
The ban approved by commissioners now prohibits the practice for three months, unless fire prone conditions improve.
In other action:
- Budget transfers: Commissioners tabled budget transfers of around $2 million to replenish the budgets in the courts used to pay court appointed attorneys after some debate over cost projections. Commissioners tabled the budget transfer until their next meeting to give court judges an opportunity to appear to explain the costs of court appointed attorneys to the court.
- Volkswagen lawsuit: Voted to accept $150,000 as the county's share of lawsuit against Volkswagen. States and counties across the U.S. won part of $3 billion from Volkswagen to go toward projects designed to reduce pollution to mitigate the harm done by Volkswagen.
- More space: Approved the buildout for a new Probate Court Number 3 in legal library space freed up by the digitization of law books.
- Boeing anniversary: Approved a proclamation to recognize Aug. 10 as Boeing's 25th anniversary in Bexar County.
