A public hearing on the budget and tax rate will be held at 10 a.m. Aug. 29.
The background
Williamson County Budget Officer Ashlie Holladay presented a recommended $542 million budget to the court at an Aug. 8 meeting.
The recommended budget represented a 10.6% increase to the general fund and a 4.1% increase to the road and bridge fund compared to last year’s $505 million budget.
The breakdown
- General fund: $312.6 million
- Road and bridge: $60.32 million
- Debt service: $169.63 million
- $4.7 million carried over from fiscal years 2021-22 and 2022-23
- $12 million for the county's Long Range Transportation Plan
- $16.2 million for capital improvement projects in the general fund, and $14.57 million in the road and bridge fund
- $828,000 for a Liberty Hill EMS Station
- $4.4 million for 36 new full-time positions in the general fund, 64% of which are in public safety
- $482,000 for five new full-time positions in the road and bridge fund
- $3.5 million for 4% merit pay increase for civilian employees
- $887,000 increase to the law enforcement pay chart
- $20 million in debt defeasance
“The budget just seems appropriate to me for the dramatic changes that we’re going through as a county,” County Judge Bill Gravell said at an Aug. 8 meeting.
Also of note
The court also approved the maximum tax rate for this fiscal year at $0.3792, which is the voter-approved tax rate. The commissioners may now only approve a tax rate at or below that amount. Gravell and Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey said the court would likely approve a tax rate below the maximum.
County Auditor July Kiley recommended the court adopt the same tax rate from last fiscal year at $0.3756, bringing the county around $532 million in revenue.
Current situation
The commissioners amended the recommended budget by $520,810 at an Aug. 15 budget workshop meeting, bringing the total budget to about $543.07 million
The court added $263,703 to the budget for sheriff’s office vehicles not received during last year’s budget cycle, $220,663 for a deputy constable position in Precinct 4 of the county and $94,248 for a county district attorney victims assistance coordinator.
About $57,000 of professional service dollars were deducted from the budget.
