07/07/15  Jefferson County Quorum Court Meets Today

The Jefferson County Quorum court meets this afternoon at 5:30 at the Quorum Court meeting room at the courthouse to discuss a shortfall in county funds.  The problem is how to make county payroll on July 15^th. According to Jefferson County Treasurer Elizabeth Rinchuso, the county is nearly 115 thousand dollars short of being able to meet payroll. At a previous meeting, JP's voted 8-5 to table a proposed ordinance that would have reduced the salaries of employees paid from the general fund. The move would have saved enough money to meet the payroll, but several JP's objected to it. Under the proposal the justices tabled, the offices of the County treasurer, tax collector and assessor would be exempt from salary cuts because their offices are self-funded.  Reducing all other salaries paid from county general by twenty percent would potentially save the county 120 thousand dollars per month. More than 100 workers would be affected by salary cuts if the proposal passes. Elected officials' salaries would not be cut, state law states that those salaries cannot be changed during the officials terms.