A loss for Collin County - and its employees

After almost twenty years of receiving annual bonuses based on longevity of service within the county, our county employees will now have their own bonuses reduced, and any new hires to the county will not receive them at all. Commissioner Hoagland, who had his longevity pay severed last year after it became a political issue, has finally succeeded in decreasing this benefit to the employees of the county.

But what did they lose? More than anything else, a motivational tool for hiring and retention of county employees. Longevity pay was touted as unneccesary because Collin County is 'agressive' in their salary system. But being agressive as a government entity is near impossible unless you take into account annual bonuses and benefits that private sector employees receive. And longevity pay USED to do that for the county.
It was a retention tool and a morale builder because it not only gave employees a reward for sticking around, it gave them something to look forward to in the far future. Now in five short years, we'll have two classes of employees - those who get big checks at the end of each year, and those who wonder what the heck they're still doing working for the government.

Winners and Losers in the 2007 Bond Package

In today's bond election, voters agreed to disagree with Keith Self about expansion and maintenance for Collin County's roads. We gained a leg up on the inner-city congestion and poor infrastructure of roads in nearly every city of the county. Even parks throughout the county received a boost, although by the time $17 million gets spread out over every city in the county, no single park project will be totally funded.
There was one big loser, though. Keith Self led a one-man crusade to stop progress in the county, and he kept citizens from understanding what the real problems were until it was almost too late. Fortunately, labelling vital infrastructure needs as "pork" didn't quite resonate with voters, and it looks like Collin County will move into the next phase of its development after all.

Another area of progress is the School Board bond packages for Prosper and Lovejoy ISDs, and the tax increase for Blue Ridge ISD. These school districts need funding to increase their capacity for our ever-growing county, and we're fortunate that the voters recognize how fast their cities are growing.
As we continue on, with our oasis of home price increases and new home building, Collin County is going to need forward-thinking citizens more and more.