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| 9/24/2007 11:45:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | County decreases tax rate
But taxes still to jump, due to rising land values
BRAD STUTZMAN
Editor
Last month, the Williamson County Commissioners Court adopted a $176 million budget. On Tuesday, commissioners are scheduled to adopt a tax rate of 48.8 cents per $100 assessed valuation, funding that budget for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.
Two public hearings on the tax rate - each held during regular Tuesday morning commissioners court meetings - generated little public comment.
Jim Dillion of Liberty Hill - who regularly attends commissioners court meetings and is a frequent court critic - has criticized officials for voting themselves raises while county residents face more in county taxes.
Aside from Dillon's comments, though, it's been pretty quiet.
The county's $176 million budget is about $11 million (6.7 percent) more than the budget county commissioners adopted one year ago.
Because of escalating property values countywide, even though the county's budget has increased, the tax rate will decrease - from 49.9 to 48.8 cents per $100 assessed valuation.
But here's the cutting side of that double-edged sword: With those property values increasing, a homeowner's county tax bill will likely go up, even though the tax rate is going down.
County Tax Assessor/Collector Deborah Hunt said that for the average Williamson County homeowner - with a home assessed at $180,705 - county taxes will increase by $65 in the coming year.
About $52 million of the county's budget is for debt, with a large part of that going toward paying off voter-approved road bonds, County Auditor David Flores said.
The biggest part of the budget - about $107 million - is for the general fund.
Of that $107 million figure, about $55 million goes toward payroll and another $16 million for benefits, Human Resource Director John Willingham said.
About one-third of the county's approximately 1,400 employees work in law enforcement, including at the county jail.
For the upcoming fiscal year county government will be hiring 44 new employees, county spokeswoman Connie Watson said.
The 1,400 existing employees - plus elected officials - will all be getting raises.
The county has budgeted salary increases of at least 3 percent for all employees, with sheriffs deputies getting 5.7 percent raises and jailers receiving raises of 3.3 percent.
County officials say the raises are needed so employees can keep up with the increasing cost of living and so county government can stay competitive and not lose workers to other government entities.
Growth also drives the budget.
Williamson County now has a population of about 330,000.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Lisa Birkman notes that's a 46-percent increase during the past six years.
Flores said he there is a dynamic, give-and-take relationship between growth's expenses and the revenue it generates.
For example, he said, it costs money to build roads, but on the other hand, the roads spur development and broaden the tax base, thereby putting less burden on each individual taxpayer.
He said growth spurs a need for more government services and causes tax bills to go up, but without broadening the tax base they would go up even more, especially when a growing community relies too much on revenue from residential rooftops.
"It's like this," Flores said: "Build it and they will come. Don't build it and they will come anyway."
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