Where Williamson County's money comes from (DRAFT – not published)

In short

• Total income, year ending Sept. 30, 2025: about $831 million across the county’s government funds.¹
• Taxes: about $603 million, or 73 cents of each dollar (our math).¹
• Money from other governments: about $100 million, or 12 cents (our math).¹
• Investment earnings: about $57 million, or 7 cents (our math).¹

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

How it works

• Taxes come first. Most county taxes are property taxes. In the county-wide statement, property taxes were $515.1 million and other taxes were $88.1 million.²
• Other governments send money. This is mostly grants from the state and federal governments, often for a set purpose like roads or health programs.¹
• Fees pay for some services. Clerks, courts and other offices charge fees. These brought in about $54 million together (our math).¹
• Cash earns interest. The county holds money until it is spent. That money earns interest.¹

The numbers (year ending Sept. 30, 2025)

Type of income	Amount	Share (our math)
Taxes	$603.5M	72.6%
Money from other governments	$100.3M	12.1%
Investment earnings	$56.5M	6.8%
Charges for services	$27.4M	3.3%
Fees of office	$26.7M	3.2%
Other	$6.9M	0.8%
Vehicle registration	$6.5M	0.8%
Fines	$3.4M	0.4%
Total	$831.2M	100%

Source: the county’s audit, governmental funds statement, “Total Governmental Funds” column.¹

Deep dive

• The main operating fund leans even more on taxes. The general fund took in $344.8 million. Taxes were $273.7 million of that, or 79% (our math).¹
• Other taxes jumped. County-wide, “other taxes” rose from $26.3 million in 2024 to $88.1 million in 2025, more than three times as much.² Almost all of the 2025 amount, $85.0 million, was payments that local hospitals must make into a special county health fund. The county sets the payment rate each year. The money pays for certain health-care transfers and care for people who cannot pay.³ The other $3.0 million was in the main fund.³ This is money that passes through, not a new tax on homes. The report does not split the 2024 amount the same way, so we cannot say how much of the jump came from this fund.
• Investment earnings include paper gains. The audit counts “unrealized” gains. These are changes in the value of investments the county still holds. They can turn into losses later.¹

The other side

• Grants are not free money to spend. Most come with rules about what they pay for.
• One year is a snapshot. Grant money and investment earnings go up and down a lot from year to year.²
• These are not all of the county’s funds. This table covers government funds. It leaves out business-type and trust funds.¹

Questions to ask

• How much of the county’s other-taxes line was hospital payments?
• Where does the county post its revenue by source each year?

What you can do

• Look at the county’s budget for next year to see what it expects to collect.
• Ask your commissioner how the hospital payment rate is set each year, and where the money goes.

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.

What we still don’t know

• How much of the 2024 “other taxes” line was hospital payments.

Footnotes

1. Williamson County, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, year ended Sept. 30, 2025, Statement of Revenues, Expenditures, and Changes in Fund Balances – Governmental Funds, revenue lines. Our math: each line ÷ $831,170,281; general fund taxes $273,669,972 ÷ $344,763,581 = 79.4%; fees $26,712,954 + $27,365,490 = $54.1 million. Public copy: https://emma.msrb.org/P11938140.pdf ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

2. Same report, government-wide Statement of Activities and summary of changes in net position: property taxes $515,120,231; other taxes $88,055,497 (2025) and $26,304,520 (2024). ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Same report, combining statement for smaller special funds, Local Provider Participation fund: taxes $85,039,566; main fund budget-to-actual: other taxes $3,015,931; $85,039,566 + $3,015,931 = $88,055,497. The report’s fund notes describe the payments from local hospitals under Texas Health & Safety Code chapter 292B. The report’s summary says community services spending rose mainly from “an addition of $56.8 million in the Local Provider Participation program.” Our math for the sum. ↩ ↩²