WILLIAMSON COUNTY PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE

 

NEWS RELEASE

 

WILLIAMSON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS SET BUDGET WORKSHOPS

 

            July 16, 2004 (Georgetown, TX) – Williamson County Commissioners have set dates for two budget workshops to discuss the requested budgets from department heads and elected officials for the 2005 fiscal year.  Workshops will be held Wednesday, July 28, beginning at 2 p.m. and on Thursday, July 29, beginning at 9 a.m. in the Commissioners’ courtroom on the second floor of the Williamson County Courthouse on the square in Georgetown.  The workshops are a time for heads of departments to discuss their budget requests with the entire Commissioners’ Courts and are open to the public. 

One major item to be discussed is the reclassification of positions and raises for the approximately 1,111 county employees.  Williamson County’s Human Resources Department has been working for the past 18 months in conjunction with department heads and elected officials to research the issue of employees’ salaries.  Part of this process was comparing employee job descriptions and compensation with other counties similar in size.  The result is a proposal for approximately $2.8 million in the 2005 budget for employee raises and reclassifications. 

Recently, the Commissioners’ Court voted to approve salary increases for elected officials based on recommendations from a citizen’s committee.  That increase was discussed prior to the workshops because of legislative requirements.  Elected officials have five days after the posting of the salaries to file a grievance.  In this case, the date is Tuesday, July 20, by noon.  If a grievance is filed, then a meeting is set within the next ten days with a Citizen’s Grievance Committee comprised of nine members.  This must be done prior to approving the county budget.

The requested expenditures for the 2005 general fund budget total approximately $84 million.  In the current fiscal year 2004, the county general fund has revenues of $74 million while $76 million in expenditures was requested, however only approximately $72.5 to $73 million is projected to be spent. 

The final budget will be adopted by the Commissioners’ Court at their regular meeting on August 24 that starts at 9:30 a.m.

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