NEW BOSTON, Texas-Bowie County elections authorities have determined petitions containing more than 7,100 voter signatures calling for an increase in Bowie County Sheriff's Office employee pay are valid.
Nine days after the deputies presented the Bowie County Commissioners Court the petition on Aug. 8., Bowie County Elections Administrator George Stegall said his office had verified the signatures. They used a random sampling method and found that the petitions contain more than the amount of valid signatures needed by the sheriff's office.
Stegall added that he will likely present them to the commissioners court during their second regular monthly meeting Monday.
For Bowie County, the petition only required about 5,700 signatures to increase pay for deputies. The petition also contained the names of five qualified county resident voters on the petitioners' committee that will negotiate with the commissioners court regarding sheriff office employee salaries.
The petition further states the proposed minimum salary for each rank, pay grade or classification and cites the effective date of the proposed salary increase.
Since early July, BCSO deputies have been asking county citizens to support efforts to increase their salaries to levels equivalent to those of the Texarkana, Texas, Police Department.
Research conducted back in June shows that the deputies are paid salaries amounting to 31 percent less than salaries paid to both the TTPD and Arkansas-side police.
The requested pay increase could add more than $500,000 to the county's overall annual budget for next year, according to figures released during the Aug. 8 meeting.
If commissioners choose to let voters decide, the only issue that may be submitted is whether the minimum proposed salaries should be adopted. Once this is decided, the proposal could then be placed on the Nov. 8 election.
If it's left up to the voters, the ballot must provide for voting for or against the proposed salary increases, include the annual cost of the raises and whether or not the pay hikes would cause an increase in ad valorem property taxes.