GEORGETOWN — Williamson County has its budget set for the upcoming fiscal year.
The Commissioners Court unanimously approved an amount of $560,109,974 for the total county budget during their Aug. 29 meeting. The budget consists of the general fund, road and bridge fund and debt service fund.
Commissioners additionally approved a 7.8% increase for the total county tax rate. The new rate will increase property taxes on the average homestead residence by approximately $130.
“Budgets are the end product of much compromise and anguish,” Precinct 1 Commissioner Terry Cook said. “In the end, our combined goals are to provide for the future needs of both our residents and our county departments. I believe this budget meets the majority of these needs.”
The general fund budget, which totals $318,142,882, includes 45 new full-time positions and moves two part-time positions to full-time.
Some county public officials say it is not enough.
While the budget was actively being approved, Sheriff Mike Gleason and Deputy Charles Duvall, president of Williamson County Deputies Association, spoke against the commissioners’ decision to add additional funding for only four deputy positions in a press conference outside the courthouse.
Citing an internal salary study that suggests the county would need over 400 additional deputies to meet the national average for staffing, the Sheriff’s Office and the Williamson County Deputies Association asked commissioners for a budget allotment that would fund just over 20 additional hires.
During the previous week’s meeting, a motion made by Cook for 11 new deputies failed due to a lack of a second. The four positions added are in addition to funding for two new deputy hires.
Now that their desired number was not met, the Deputies Association is calling in on the Texas Department of Public Safety to provide support. Gleason said he has not looked at seeking state assistance because he was hoping the Court would add more funding.
“I’ve got eight shifts, four puts one on half of them,” Gleason said. “That doesn’t do anything for me. That’s just them posturing so they can say (they) support public safety.”
District Attorney Shawn Dick criticized the county’s leadership through the budget process.
He said there was just one opportunity for public officials to be heard for five minutes in a workshop with 75 people.
“Just because you have the bully pulpit, doesn’t mean you have to be a bully,” Dick said.
Dick added that the Commissioners Court eliminated public hearings where officials could make presentations about their requests and needs.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Cynthia Long said each department was looked at thoroughly. She said while not every department received the amount of support they would have liked, each area was addressed.
“At the end of the day, if we approved every single request, our tax rate would potentially double,” Long said. “That’s not sustainable either, so it’s a balancing act.”
The fiscal year lasts from October 2023 to September 2024.
