Primary Department: County Administration
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Erica Lee Carter, County Administrator
Secondary Department: Management and Budget
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official: Daniel Ramos, Executive Director
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Policy
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request for approval of the Fiscal Year 2027 Strategic Hiring Policy and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
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Background and Discussion:
At the September 9, 2025, Commissioners Court meeting, Court adopted a Strategic Hiring Policy as part of the Fiscal Year 2026 budget adoption. The Policy is in effect for the duration of FY26, and began with the September 20, 2025, pay period and ends on September 30, 2026. To gather department feedback on how the Strategic Hiring Policy has functioned in practice and identify opportunities for improved implementation, the Office of County Administration (OCA) conducted two focus groups with representatives from six County departments in late July. The focus groups identified multiple opportunities to enhance implementation of the Strategic Hiring Policy while maintaining its fiscal objectives. Participants consistently recommended transitioning from repeated position-by-position approvals to a model that sets department labor budgets or savings targets at the start of the fiscal year, thereby granting departments flexibility to manage staffing within approved parameters.
The proposed Fiscal Year 2027 General Fund budget includes $5 million in Strategic Hiring savings. OCA and the Office of ...
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