Guidelines for the Salary Increase for Certain State Positions

Overview

Applicable to

• State agencies
• Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
• Teacher Retirement System
• Texas Permanent School Fund Corporation
• All staff at the Windham School District and Texas Juvenile Justice Department
• Non-instructional staff at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
• Texas A&M University System service agencies
• Article X agencies

Summary

The 88th Legislature, Regular Session, provided appropriations for salary increases for certain state positions in fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2025 with supplemental appropriations to increase the salary for two months in fiscal 2023.

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts is providing this general information about the salary increases to be implemented in the:

• Human Resource Information System (HRIS)
• Standardized Payroll/Personnel Reporting System (SPRS)
• Centralized Accounting and Payroll/Personnel System (CAPPS) HR/Payroll

Authorization

House Bill 1, General Appropriations Act (GAA), Article IX, Section 17.16, 88th Legislature, Regular Session.

Senate Bill 30, Section 9.01, 88th Legislature, Regular Session.

Details

Fiscal Year	Effective Date	Annual Increase in Salary
2023-2024	July 1, 2023*	5 percent with a minimum $3,000 per year
2025	Sept. 1, 2024	5 percent with a minimum $3,000 per year

*Provisions in Senate Bill 30, 88th Legislature, Regular Session provide funding in fiscal 2023 for two months of the salary increase authorized in the GAA to accelerate the effective date of the increase to July 1, 2023. There will not be an additional increase effective Sept. 1, 2023.

• Refer to Appropriations for the Salary Increase Allocation for Certain State Positions (FPP A.009) for Comptroller’s office guidance on appropriations for the salary increase.
• The appropriations may only be used for providing the salary increase for eligible employees and paying the associated employee benefit costs.

Eligibility

• The appropriations generally cover employees of state agencies, including employees of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Teacher Retirement System of Texas, Texas Permanent School Fund Corporation, all staff at the Windham School District and Texas Juvenile Justice Department, non-instructional staff at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Texas A&M University System service agencies (Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, Texas A&M Forest Service, Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, Texas Division of Emergency Management), and Article X agencies.
• The appropriations for a salary increase do not include the following:
  • Statewide elected officials
  • Justices and judges of the appellate and district courts
  • District attorneys
  • Criminal district attorneys
  • County attorneys performing the duties of a district attorney
  • Line-item exempt (non-classified) employees
  • Employees of institutions of higher education (except for employees of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and of a Texas A&M University System service agency)
  • Compensatory per diem of board or commission members
  • Instructional staff at the Texas School for the Deaf and the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired whose salaries are statutorily tied to the salary schedule at the Austin Independent School District
• The rider does not authorize a salary increase for individuals holding an exempt position. The salary amount for those individuals may be increased only in compliance with the GAA, Article IX, Section 3.04.
• The rider does not authorize any salary rate above the maximum rates specified in the classified salary schedules.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will the salary increase be automatic?

The 5 percent increase (with a $3,000 per year minimum) is built into the minimum and maximum amounts for the salary schedules effective July 1, 2023, and for fiscal 2025. For CAPPS Central agencies, CAPPS will apply the increase automatically for eligible employees on July 1, 2023, and Sept. 1, 2024. Other agencies and institutions, including CAPPS Hub agencies, must calculate and apply the increase themselves for eligible employees.

SPRS Agencies

Agencies that report to SPRS must submit the new pay rate effective July 1, 2023, for eligible employees using reason code XXX, and must submit the new rate on the F25 record effective Sept. 1, 2024. These amounts will be validated to ensure that the proper increase has been applied. SPRS will also validate that those employees who are not eligible will not receive the increase.

CAPPS HR/Payroll Agencies

For agencies that use CAPPS as their internal HR/payroll system, the system will generate the pay increases effective July 1, 2023, and Sept. 1, 2024, for all eligible employees with reason code XXX and reason code F25, respectively. CAPPS will also ensure that those employees who are not eligible do not receive an increase.

How will the Comptroller’s office monitor the salary increase?

The pay increase actions apply before other routine salary actions and are separate actions that allow the Comptroller’s office to monitor the amounts awarded to each eligible employee.

Note: The Texas A&M University System must ensure that eligible employees of its service agencies receive the 5 percent increase (with a $3,000 per year minimum) effective July 1, 2023, and Sept. 1, 2024, and must properly report the action to HRIS using reason code 931.

How will the amount of the salary increase be calculated for a salaried part-time employee who is entitled to receive the increase?

Fiscal Year	The amount of the increase will be the greater of …
2023-24	5 percent of the employee’s annual salary (as reduced to account for the employee’s part-time status), or	$3,000 per year multiplied by the percentage of 40 hours that the employee is normally scheduled to work each week (not to exceed 100 percent).
2025	5 percent of the employee’s annual salary (as reduced to account for the employee’s part-time status), or	$3,000 per year multiplied by the percentage of 40 hours that the employee is normally scheduled to work each week (not to exceed 100 percent).

How will the amount of the salary increase be calculated for an hourly employee who is entitled to receive the increase?

Fiscal Year	If the amount of the salary increase is equal to ...	then the employee's hourly rate after the increase would be equal to ...
2023-24	5 percent of the employee’s annual salary	105 percent of the employee’s annual salary rate before the increase, divided by 2080 hours
	A $3,000 increase in the employee’s annual salary,	$3,000 plus the employee’s annual salary rate before the increase, divided by 2080 hours.
2025	5 percent of the employee’s annual salary	105 percent of the employee’s annual salary rate before the increase, divided by 2080 hours
	A $3,000 increase in the employee’s annual salary,	$3,000 plus the employee’s annual salary rate before the increase, divided by 2080 hours.

Which employees are not eligible for the salary increase?

• Statewide elected officials
• Justices and judges of the appellate and district courts
• District attorneys
• Criminal district attorneys
• County attorneys performing the duties of a district attorney
• Line-item exempt (non-classified) employees
• Employees of institutions of higher education (except for employees of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and of a Texas A&M University System service agency)
• Compensatory per diem of board or commission members
• Instructional staff at the Texas School for the Deaf and the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired whose salaries are statutorily tied to the salary schedule at the Austin Independent School District

Will there be another increase effective Sept. 1, 2023?

No; the provisions in SB 30 accelerate the effective date of the increase provided for in the General Appropriations Act (GAA), Article IX, Section 17.16, House Bill 1, 88th Legislature, Regular Session. They do not provide for an additional salary increase.

If the increase is effective July 1, 2023, how will employees paid according to Salary Schedules A and B who are within 5% of the maximum of their assigned salary schedule receive the full amount?

SB 30, 88th Legislature, Regular Session, authorizes an adjustment to salary schedules A and B effective July 1, 2023.  The minimum and maximum amounts on Salary Schedules A and B are increased by 5 percent (with a $3,000 per year minimum) to allow an eligible employee to receive the increase and still remain within the limits of the schedule.

How will Salary Schedule C be adjusted for the increase for Schedule C employees?

The designated amounts on Salary Schedule C are adjusted to accommodate the legislative intent for an increase for those employees whose job classifications are paid through Salary Schedule C. Effective July 1, the employees’ salaries are adjusted by the appropriate pay increase.

If my agency hires a new employee on July 1, will that employee be eligible for the pay increase?

The salary tables have been adjusted by the 5 percent increase (with a $3,000 per year minimum) and provide sufficient range of salary to allow agencies to hire the employee at any level within the range of salaries for the appropriate pay group that the agency and the employee have agreed is the proper salary. The new hire salary is always determined by the agency and agreed to by the prospective employee at the rate appropriate for the job classification based on agency criteria.

How is the amount of the increase calculated for newly hired eligible employees?

The 5 percent increase is built into the maximum amounts in the salary schedules for July and August of fiscal 2023, per SB 30, and for fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2025, per HB 1. Both bills authorize a salary increase for all employee positions of state agencies paid according to Classification Salary Schedules A, B and C for included agencies.

Fiscal 2023 and 2024

For eligible employees hired during July and August 2023 and in fiscal 2024, agencies are allowed to use the funding appropriated for the increase for the portion of the new hire’s salary that can be attributed to the 5 percent salary increase. The minimum increase for this period is $250 per month.

Note: Employees hired during July and August 2023 and in fiscal 2024 are considered existing employees for the purpose of calculating the increase for fiscal 2025.

Fiscal 2025

For eligible employees hired during fiscal 2025, agencies are allowed to use the funding appropriated for the increase for the portion of the new hire’s salary that can be attributed to the 5 percent salary increase. The minimum increase for this period is $250 per month.

How many salary increases will employees receive?

Eligible employees will receive two 5 percent or $250 per month increases. HB1 provides increases for Sept. 1, 2023, and Sept. 1, 2024. SB 30 begins the increase on July 1, 2023, but the SB 30 increase may not be considered when determining the increase for Sept. 1, 2023.

Are there any limitations on using the salary increase funding provided in SB 30 and HB 1?

If a position’s salary was already increased to a minimum of 5 percent or $250 per month, and the position experiences turnover, agencies may not use this legislative salary increase funding to further increase the salary for the position.