The additions are focused on new staff and compensation for county employees, including cost-of-living adjustments, as well as road improvements and future planning for water.
What’s new
Commissioners unanimously supported an item from County Judge Steven Snell to hire a preparedness and mitigation specialist in the Office of Emergency Management to help “the strain on [the] OEM department” from growing disasters and recovery efforts.
“Williamson County does it right, and Williamson County does it right because we have a team with great leadership, great experience, well prepared to handle emergencies,” Snell said.
Commissioners voted to add other county positions, including an additional Precinct 1 constable and deputy constable, a part-time community development block grant assistant community development administrator, an information technology analyst and an elections/ballot by mail coordinator.
In addition to new positions, commissioners also approved another 2% cost-of-living adjustment for civilian employees, amounting to $2.2 million in the general fund budget and $300,000 in the road and bridge fund.
This is in addition to the 2% merit increase already included in the proposed budget.
“I don’t think 2% is going to change anybody’s life, but I feel it’s necessary to keep them and their households going in the right direction as they give everything they can in their work life to the county,” Snell said.
The cost-of-living adjustment was originally tabled at the Aug. 12 meeting, with Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey proposing a lump sum pay for employees in order to avoid the increase favoring higher-paid employees.
Commissioners voted 3-2 for the percent increase, with Covey and Precinct 2 Commissioner Cynthia Long opposed.
What else?
Snell also proposed funding a county water supply study for a "moon shot 50-year solution" for regional water, with the county taking a leadership role in planning. He said the limited availability of water for new development has put a strain on cities in the county.
“We have a water problem, obviously, and the governor and the state legislature have poured money into a Texas-wide solution, but Williamson County needs a solution as well,” Snell said.
Long expressed reservations about the county's scope in water services and using taxpayer dollars for development.
“It's not our job to pay for development, and it's not our job to pay for what should be a developer's responsibility to figure out their water,” Long said.
The court decided to move $500,000 to a county contingency fund to continue discussing the study and potential agreements before spending directly.
One more thing
Covey proposed an additional $5 million for the Long-Range Transportation Plan for projects not on bond lists, and Precinct 4 Commissioner Russ Boles requested $4 million of that be used for Hwy. 95 corridor planning in eastern Williamson County.
Director of Infrastructure Bob Daigh clarified that the $4 million would cover two specific road sections. The motion carried 5-0.
In case you missed it
Williamson County Budget Officer Ashlie Holladay presented the preliminary budget proposal during an Aug. 5 county commissioners meeting. The budget is divided into three funds—general, road and bridge, and debt service—originally proposed at $375.66 million, $72.73 million and $222.7 million, respectively.
The proposed FY 2025-26 budget comes out to $35.97 million more than the $635.13 million FY 2024-25 budget.
Commissioners also set the maximum FY 2025-26 tax rate to $0.413776 per $100 valuation Aug. 5. This rate is 3.44% higher than the previous year's rate of $0.399999 per $100 valuation.
As the voter-approved rate, this is the highest tax rate commissioners can adopt without a tax election. It does not represent the actual FY 2025-26 tax rate, and commissioners could adopt a lower tax rate at a later date.
What’s next
Commissioners approved rescheduling the tax rate and budget public hearings to 1 p.m. Sept. 3.
Originally set for Aug. 26, the hearings were cancelled and moved because of an error in the published public notice, according to a county news release.
