by Commissioner Valerie Covey
As your county commissioner for precinct three, I have been privileged to work on many projects and duties of the job entrusted to me by the voters.
One of the most important duties is working to budget properly for the needs of all the county’s approximately 500,000 citizens. As a CPA, I have used my training and experience to evaluate and prioritize the budget requests from elected officials and department heads, while eliminating waste and redundancy in a $328 million total budget.
The commissioners’ court begins the budget process in January each year, and works consistently on this important task until the budget is ultimately adopted in late August. In the past year, by working with all parties, we lowered the tax rate by one cent to $.466529 per $100 valuation. However, if your property appraisal increased, your tax bill may have also increased.
Another aspect of keeping the tax rate low is by reducing expenditures.
One of the county’s largest expenditures is to repay the debt on voter approved bonds. I have advocated successfully for several years for the county to pay off debt in advance of its due date in order to save taxpayer dollars. This has saved approximately $12.7 million over the last three years and will save an additional $12.8 million this budget year.
Additionally, one of the county’s biggest responsibilities is to adequately fund the Williamson County justice system, including the four justice of the peace courts, the four county courts at law and most of the five district courts. Through the county attorney’s and district attorney’s offices, Williamson County covers most of the cost of prosecution of crimes.
Additionally, one of the major expenditures in the budget is to fund the sheriff’s office law enforcement efforts such as patrol services in the unincorporated areas and correction services at the county jail.
All of these law and order expenses account for approximately 48% of the general budget. I know the citizens of our great county value our low crime rate and the dedicated law enforcement officers, as do I, so I have made these expenditures a priority over the last 11 years.
As a part of this effort to fairly and successfully prosecute serious crimes against our residents, at the request of our new District Attorney, Shawn Dick, the budget for his office was increased 23% since he took office a little over a year ago.
This amount includes the addition of an office support employee, three new attorneys as well as an increase in compensation for prosecutors who supervise others in his office. In addition to supporting our law enforcement with the budget, the court approved a $7.9 million contract for the Sheriff’s Office Training Facility and gun range improvements.
Lastly, one of the county’s responsibilities is to assist in the care of the mentally ill. I have been an active member of the Williamson County Mental Health Task Force since I took office. This year, in a move to further improve the mental health care for Williamson County citizens, the commissioners’ court restructured the Mobile Outreach Team (MOT).
This team of mental health professionals who respond to those in need of immediate mental health services throughout the county are now part of the Emergency Medical Services team and will work closely with paramedics when patients also need medical care.
These are just a few highlights of the county budget. As your representative on county issues, please let me know your thoughts. You can reach me at comm3@wilco.org or 512-943-3370.
