Money the county tax office collects and passes on (DRAFT – not published)

In short

• The tax office collected about $3.1 billion for other local governments in one year.¹
• It paid about $3.05 billion of that to those governments.¹
• Its fees brought the county about $12.2 million. Its own budget spent about $5.3 million.²³

What the office does

The county tax office is run by the Tax Assessor-Collector. It collects county property taxes. It also collects taxes for many cities and districts in the county. It titles and registers cars and collects state and county fees.⁴

Money it holds for others

This money is not the county’s. The county keeps it in a separate account until it is paid out.¹

Fiscal 2025 (year ended Sept. 30, 2025)	Amount
Taxes collected for other governments	$3,099,089,7371
Interest earned	$1,893,0601
Paid to other governments	$3,050,409,4531
Paid to people	$50,642,7331
Held at year end	$15,012,4551

The office’s own fees and costs

These two lines are in the county’s main fund.

Fiscal 2025	Budget	Actual
Fees the office brought in	$11,606,000	$12,229,7222
Office spending	$5,900,189	$5,310,2863

The fees came in about $624,000 over budget.² The office spent about $590,000 less than its budget.³

The other side

• The tax money is not the county’s. The county holds it in a separate account and pays it out to cities, schools and other districts.¹
• Fees and costs are not a profit figure. The audit compares fees with the office’s own budget line. It does not show whether that line holds all of the office’s costs, such as buildings or shared staff.²³

What we still don’t know

• How these amounts changed after fiscal 2025. The county’s audit for fiscal 2026 would show it. We have not seen it yet.

Questions to ask

• How long does the tax office hold tax money before it pays it out?
• Who keeps the interest earned on the money the tax office holds?
• Which tax office costs are paid from other county budget lines?

Changes to this page

• Nov. 4, 2026: Added what we still don’t know.
• Nov. 2, 2026: Rewrote the questions to ask so each is open, neutral and addressed to the public body.
• Nov. 2, 2026: Added an other-side section and questions to ask.
• Nov. 2, 2026: New page.

Footnotes

1. Same report, Combining Statement of Revenues, Expenses and Changes in Net Position, Fiduciary Funds, Tax Assessor-Collector column, p.151 (and statement of net position, p.149): tax collections from other governments $3,099,089,737; interest income $1,893,060; payments to other governments $3,050,409,453; payments to individuals $50,642,733; net position end of year $15,012,455. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

2. Same report, General Fund Schedule of Revenues – Budget and Actual, “Fees of office – Tax assessor/collector,” p.78: original and final budget $11,606,000; actual $12,229,722; variance $623,722. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. Same report, General Fund Schedule of Expenditures – Budget and Actual, “Tax assessor/collector,” p.79: original budget $5,905,206; final budget $5,900,189; actual $5,310,286; variance $589,903. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

4. Williamson County, Texas, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for fiscal 2025, section “J. Tax Assessor-Collector,” p.186: the office collects County property taxes, “collects the taxes for many independent cities and districts,” and handles “titling and registering of motor vehicles, collecting state and County license fees, occupation fees, and state motor vehicle sales taxes.” ↩