County Auditor's email to Presidio County employees regarding pay period changes

Here is a copy of County Auditor Patty Roach's email to employees and elected officials regarding the changes made to the pay periods by Commissioners Court at the September 12th meeting. Apologies for the odd formatting. DB

At its regular September meeting, the Commissioners Court voted to change the County’s workweek and pay period.   This change was made because of a recently issued Attorney General opinion stating that the commissioners courts must review and approve claims (including payroll)  in an open meeting and cannot delegate  that authority to the Treasurer, Auditor or other person.   Many courts, including ours, have authorized payroll and certain other bills to be paid prior to their review.  These are ratified at a later time.  The Commissioners Court must now approve each payroll before it is paid out to employees.   This required a change in the County’s official workweek and pay period. Starting October 2, 2017: The work period/pay period will begin at 12:01 am, Monday. The following schedule will be used: Monday - Time sheets will be submitted to the Treasurer’s Office by 10:00 am. Monday-Tuesday - Payroll will be calculated, reviewed and corrected. Employees and supervisors will come by the Treasurer’s Office  on one of these days to sign off on any corrections. Wednesday - Payroll will be reviewed and approved by Commissioners Court. Thursday -Direct deposit information will be delivered to the bank by 10:00 am. Friday - Employees will be paid. There will be one transition payroll that will have a shortened number of days.  This payroll will run from September 20 to October 2.   This pay period will have 12 days instead of 14 days.  All other pay periods will have 14 days.  An item is being place on the September 19  Commissioners Court agenda asking that employees be allowed a payout of accumulated comp time  up to the number of hours they might lose due to the transition.   This would be available to all employees with accumulated comp time, even if they are below the normal payout threshold.   A second email will be sent after the meeting to let you know if this was approved. In addition, all employees/elected officials that are currently paid on a monthly basis will be switched to a bi-weekly pay schedule.   They will receive their regular monthly paycheck on September 25.   The first bi-weekly paycheck will be received on October 6.  The bi-weekly amount will be calculated by taking the annual salary and dividing it by 26 pay periods. Please let your employees know about these changes as soon as possible so they can plan accordingly.   If you or your employees have questions or if you need additional information, please let me know. Patty Patricia Roach, CPA Presidio County Auditor PO Box 423 Marfa, TX  79843 432-729-1990 (voice) 432-729-1995 (fax)