A post-recommendation workshop will be held in the afternoon, starting at 1 p.m., where elected county officials and departments will have the opportunity to make requests that were not recommended in the budget.
A public hearing will be held Aug. 28 at 10 a.m. to give the public the opportunity to express their opinions on the budget before the final FY 2019 budget is adopted. Leading up to the public hearing and budget adoption on Aug. 28, the public can comment on the budget by signing up for citizens comments at regularly held Commissioners Court meetings on Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. in the Williamson County Courthouse in Georgetown.
The process of budget adoption follows a standard procedure with the ultimate goals of transparency and accountability all while addressing the needs of the community, the release said. After county elected officials and department heads put together their requested budgets, the Budget Office reviews historical data on spending, current trends on costs and expenses, along with other data to decide what to recommend as a budget based on the needs of the community.
A recommended budget is then presented to the Commissioners Court for discussion. It then hears the initial budget recommendation as well as post-recommendation requests from elected officials and department heads. Then, through two public modification voting sessions, makes changes to the recommended budget. Before the budget is adopted, a public meeting is held where any resident can voice his or her opinion on the budget and where money should and should not be spent, the release said.
After the public hearing, changes can be made, if necessary. Once a final budget is assembled, the Commissioners Court votes and approves the budget.
At the same time, the tax assessor-collector calculates the effective and rollback tax rates for the county. The county auditor then forecasts how much funding the county can expect in the upcoming fiscal year. The court sets a maximum proposed tax rate.
Two public hearings are scheduled to discuss the proposed tax rate on Aug. 14 and Aug. 21 at 10 a.m. during the regular Commissioners Court meeting. The court will adopt the tax rate Aug. 28.
Budget information can be found on the website at www.wilco.org/budget. Below are the dates for the budget presentation at the Commissioners Court, the post-recommendation workshop, the budget modification voting sessions, the public hearing, and the adoption of the fiscal year 2019 budget, all of which are open to the public. If you cannot attend a meeting, all Commissioners Court meetings are recorded and available on the website.
Budget dates to know:
Aug. 7, 9:30 a.m. - Fiscal year 2018-19 budget presentation to the Commissioners Court (during Commissioners Court meeting)
Aug. 7, 1 p.m. - Post-recommendation workshop
Aug. 14, 10 a.m. - Public hearing on proposed maximum tax rate
Aug. 16, 8:30 a.m. - Budget modification voting session
Aug. 21, 10 a.m. - Public hearing on proposed maximum tax rate
Aug. 21, 1 p.m. - Budget modification voting session
Aug. 28, 10 a.m. - Public hearing for FY year 2018-19 budget (during Commissioners Court meeting)
Aug. 28, 9:30 a.m. - Adopt FY 2018-19 budget (during Commissioners Court meeting)
Aug. 28, 9:30 a.m. - Adopt county tax rate (during Commissioners Court meeting)
