Texas AG says counties can spend COVID relief funds on extra pay for elected officials without

Texas AG says counties can spend COVID relief funds on extra pay for elected officials without public notice

by Trent Brown, Texas Tribune


While Texas counties have to notify taxpayers before increasing elected officials’ salaries, they likely don’t have to have to give such advance notice when using federal COVID-19 relief funds for certain pay increases, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a nonbinding opinion this week.

Tyler County, located about 120 miles northeast of Houston, received more than $4 million in direct federal funding under the American Rescue Plan Act last year. Now, elected or appointed county officials who have worked during the COVID-19 pandemic could each receive up to $25,000 of that funding.

This week, Paxton’s office issued the nonbinding opinion in response to a February request from the Tyler County auditor.

According to state law, any increases in elected officials’ “salary, expenses, or allowances” must be noted in advance for public review before the annual county budget is approved. Tyler officials wanted to know whether they were allowed to pay their employees and officials from those federal funds even though the payments were not included in the annual budget. The opinion likens those relief funds, known as “premium pay,” to hazard pay and said a court would likely conclude they do not fall under the category of salary that requires advance notice. According to the attorney general office’s opinion, that means the county could allocate the funding to its officials without waiting for the budget review.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/09/22/texas-counties-covid-hazard-pay-attorney-general/