HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - Just weeks after averting a major budget crisis, Harris County Commissioners are set to consider raising the salaries of "rank-and-file" employees by $47 million.

Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey is sounding the alarm about a "Pay Equity" proposal aimed at County employees making less than $75,000 per year.

"This was only phase one. The next phase is going to be over $30 million. I say we stop now. We slow this down. We have the conversation. I, for one, trust our supervisors. I trust the people who are in charge of our staff to make good decisions on what people make," said Ramsey, who contends there are far more pressing needs for funding.

Ramsey says he seriously questions the validity of the $1.3 million study, in part, because it failed to factor in the C

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