Williamson County commissioners voted earlier this month to raise their own salaries, along with most other county elected officials, by 3 percent, and to grant a few other elected officials a 4 percent pay hike.

The exception to the percentage increases was in the county attorney’s office, where commissioners voted County Attorney Dee Hobbs a flat $10,000 pay hike for this year. The understanding is that the county attorney will get another $8,000 next year, bringing the office more in line with other like counties in Texas.

A study showed that the Williamson County Attorney is paid significantly less than county attorneys in similar counties. The total $18,000 increase in the 2014-2015 budget and the 2015-2016 budget should bring the salary in line, commissioners said. Hobbs will then be paid the same as county court-at-law judges.

The 3 percent hike went to the county judge, the county treasurer, the sheriff, the tax assessor-collector and four precinct constables, as well as to commissioners. The county clerk, district clerk and four justices of the peace got the 4 percent raises.

Precinct 4 Constable Marty Ruble, whose office is in Taylor, argued that constables should be paid the same as justices of the peace. He said constables have the same or greater responsibility and supervise more people.

“I have a sergeant who makes almost as much as I do, a lieutenant who makes more than I do, and a chief deputy who makes more than that,” Ruble told commissioners. “I’d like my chief deputy to run for this office, but he won’t because he can’t take the pay cut.”

Ruble, who said he’ll run only one more time for the constable’s office, said failure to increase the pay will mean the office will go by default to older, retired office-holders because younger people can’t afford to take the elected position.

“Whether I decide to go or voters decide for me, I want to see someone young enough,” he said.

In fact, Precinct 4 Commissioner Ron Morrison offered an amendment to the original motion, giving constables the same 4 percent pay hike as justices of the peace, but was the only one to vote for the amendment.

Precinct 2 Commissioner Cynthia Long said before the vote she would vote against the proposal, saying since justices of the peace are on call all the time she didn’t believe constables should be paid the same.

The original proposal passed unanimously.

Commissioners discussed the pay hikes last week before bringing it to a vote on Tuesday and made a point of saying they’re not putting elected officials before county employees by voting earlier on their pay increases.

Instead, elected officials’ pay had to be decided on this week because by law they must be given a chance before a grievance committee.

That has to be done before commissioners can approve the budget – which must be sent to the county clerk’s office before Sept. 30 each year.

Commissioners conceded that the vote on elected officials’ salaries is a portent of how they’ll decide what county employees get in the coming fiscal year, but cautioned that the Tuesday vote is no guarantee of any kind of pay raise for the county’s 1,500 workers.

Most employees got 3 percent pay raises last year after going without salary increases for several years during the economic slowdown.

Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Bill Gravell Jr. argued that the county has “masterful” infrastructure and parks plans but no overall personnel pay plan. County Judge Dan Gattis told him that the county has adopted a scheme under which department heads can reward employees with pay raises within their overall budget, and said that plan should continue for the foreseeable future.