County budget basics

Where does the county’s day-to-day money go? (DRAFT – not published)

In short

The county’s main budget, the General Fund, spent $299.8 million in 2024-25. That is about $412 per person.¹² Most of it came from property tax.³ The biggest cost was public safety, like the sheriff and jail. The county spent $32.6 million less than planned, mostly because jobs stayed empty.⁴

The 30-second version

• Money in (2024-25): $344.8 million. Property tax was about 79% of it.¹³
• Money out: $299.8 million. Plan was $332.5 million.¹
• Biggest costs: public safety ($134.4 million) and courts ($42.9 million).¹
• Savings account: $187.2 million not set aside for anything. That is 62.5% of a year’s spending. County policy says keep at least 35%.⁴⁵
• Tax rate: 40.0 cents per $100 of value for 2024-25, down from 45.9 cents in 2020-21. The county set 41.4 cents for tax year 2025.⁶³

What you pay

On a $350,000 home with no exemptions, 40.0 cents per $100 is about $1,400 a year in county tax. At 41.4 cents, it is about $1,448. (Our math. Your exemptions lower this.)⁶³⁷

The 41.4-cent rate is the “voter-approval rate.” That is the highest rate the county can set without an election.³⁸ See how your property tax bill works.

Plan vs. actual, 2024-25

	Final plan	Actual	Difference
Money in	$333.8 million	$344.8 million	$11.0 million more
Money out	$332.5 million	$299.8 million	$32.6 million less

Source: county audit, General Fund budget vs. actual.¹

Why less was spent: about $20.6 million in unfilled jobs, mostly in the jail, sheriff and ambulance service. Some vehicles and ambulances did not arrive in time. The county says that vehicle and ambulance money will be budgeted again in 2026.⁴

How the county sets its rate

Each summer the tax office works out two rates from the certified values.⁸ The no-new-revenue rate brings in about the same money from the same homes as last year. The voter-approval rate allows about 3.5% more operating money plus debt payments; going above it triggers an election.⁸ For tax year 2026 the county adopted 0.381218, between its no-new-revenue rate (0.376230) and its voter-approval rate (0.405896).⁹ The court holds a hearing and votes by late September.⁸ See property tax calendar, property tax rate limits sb2 history and notice of estimated taxes.

The other side

• The county links its savings to its credit grade. It says its policies helped keep AAA grades, which let it borrow at lower interest rates.¹⁰
• The savings are well above the county’s own floor. The policy says at least 35%; the county had 62.5%.⁴⁵ Money above the floor could be spent, used to lower the rate or used to pay off debt. The county plans to pay off $20 million of debt early in 2025-26.³
• Growth adds costs. The county added 64 full-time jobs for 2025-26 as it grows.³
• The report does not say how empty jobs affected service. It says most of the unspent pay was in the jail, sheriff and ambulance service.⁴

Questions to ask

• Where does the commissioners court post the department pages of the adopted budget?
• How does the county compare its spending with other large counties?

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.
• Nov. 2, 2026: Added a note that shows how we worked out the figures.
• Nov. 2, 2026: We checked every figure against its source. We reworded the other-side points so they stick to what the sources show.

What you can do or watch next

• Watch for the proposed budget each summer and the hearings in August and September.
• You can speak at Commissioners Court during public comment.
• See where your tax bill goes for how your bill is split.

What we still don’t know

• Spending per person compared with other big Texas counties: see spending per resident and county spending compared.
• The 2025-26 budget by department. The adopted budget’s totals are on county at a glance; we have not read its department pages yet.

Numbers marked “our math” are our estimates, not official figures. The notes show the inputs and the steps.

Footnotes

1. Williamson County FY2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, General Fund budget vs. actual schedule (saved copy). Public copy: https://emma.msrb.org/P11938140.pdf (MSRB EMMA; same report). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. Population 727,480 (same report). $299,813,105 ÷ 727,480 = $412. Our math. ↩

3. Same report, letter of transmittal and economic factors: property tax is 79% of General Fund revenue; tax year 2025 rate $0.413776, “the voter approved tax rate”; 64 new jobs; $20.0 million defeasance planned. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

4. Same report, General Fund notes and budget highlights. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

5. Same report, fund balance policy. ↩ ↩²

6. Same report, Direct and Overlapping Property Tax Rates table: county total $0.458719 (FY2021) and $0.399999 (FY2025). ↩ ↩²

7. Our math. $350,000 ÷ $100 = 3,500. 3,500 × $0.399999 = $1,400. 3,500 × $0.413776 = $1,448. ↩

8. Texas Comptroller, “Truth-in-Taxation.” https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/truth-in-taxation/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

9. Williamson County Truth-in-Taxation site, https://williamsonpropertytaxes.org, tax year 2026 rows, checked 2026-11-01: adopted 0.381218, no-new-revenue 0.376230, voter-approval 0.405896. ↩

10. Same report: AAA from S&P and Fitch throughout 2025. ↩