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Commissioner Cook Encourages Wilco Residents to Apply Now for 2020 Census Jobs

  • 28 March 2019
  • Author: Doris Sanchez
  • Number of views: 4203
  • 0 Comments

See the source image                Log onto https://2020census.gov/jobs for information.

The U.S. Census Bureau is recruiting thousands of people--including here in Williamson County--across the country to assist with the 2020 Census count.

Why Apply?

Earn Extra Money

Could you use a little extra income? Jobs for the 2020 Census offer competitive wages that are paid weekly. Authorized expenses, such as mileage, are reimbursed for employees doing fieldwork.

Support Your Community

Decennial census data are used to determine your representation in Congress, as well as how funds are spent for roads, schools, hospitals, and more. Help ensure that everyone in your community is counted in the next decennial census.

Fit Your Schedule

Temporary positions for the 2020 Census feature flexible hours—a perfect fit if you are looking to earn a little extra money, even if you already have other commitments.

Be a Part of History

Every 10 years since 1790, the United States has undertaken the momentous task of counting all of its residents. This is your chance to play a role.

The Williamson Central Appraisal District’s Responsibilities and Accomplishments

Oped by Commissioner Cook

  • 18 March 2019
  • Author: Doris Sanchez
  • Number of views: 5166
  • 0 Comments

Commissioner Cook and Alvin Lankford, Williamson County’s chief appraiser, flank the Certificate of Excellence in Assessment Administration plaque the Williamson Central Appraisal District received in 2013.

The Williamson Central Appraisal District must annually appraise all taxable land, buildings, business inventories — and even billboards — for the county.

Although the WCAD is our county’s appraisal district, it is not a county government entity.

Often erroneously blamed for property tax increases, the appraisal district is responsible for certifying values for taxing units like cities, counties, school districts and others that formulate and set a tax rate based on their budgetary needs.

The Texas Property Tax Code requires the WCAD to assign a value to every property at 100 percent of what it deems the property would sell for as of Jan. 1 each year.

The Texas Comptroller audits the values assigned to property the WCAD appraises and the procedures used to determine these values.

The appraisal district utilizes sales prices obtained for homes in the neighborhood or area where the property is located that are of comparable size, quality and age.Read more

Vehicle registration, property taxes and the tax assessor-collector

Oped by Commissioner Cook

  • 21 February 2019
  • Author: Doris Sanchez
  • Number of views: 5252
  • 0 Comments

Tax Assessor-Collector Larry Gaddes holds up one of the license plates stored at the tax office in Georgetown.Contrary to common belief, our county tax assessor-collector doesn’t determine the value of our homes or the tax rates applied to those values.

The county tax office is responsible for accurately calculating bills for our properties and mailing them. They also collect tax payments.

In addition, this office handles registration, renewals and title transfers of vehicles, and issues handicap placards and new or personalized plates.

In the past, tax assessors performed property appraisals. However, since 1982, state law requires that counties create single appraisal districts.

The Williamson Central Appraisal District is one of 254 appraisal districts responsible for valuing every parcel in our county.

Our tax assessor-collector, Larry Gaddes, first elected in 2016, was chief deputy for seven years leading to his election. He oversees a staff of 65. The main office is located just south of the Square in Georgetown, and the other three offices are in Round Rock, Cedar Park and Taylor.

Although most of us complain about property taxes, they are the primary source of revenue for our school districts, the county, city and other special districts. We use these funds to pay for services, such as new roads and road maintenance, emergency services, parks and flood control.

Gaddes said while property taxes account for the largest portion of funds the county collects, his offices conduct far more motor vehicle-related transactions throughout the year. Most people visiting their lobbies are there to handle transactions relating to the 450,000 registered vehicles in Texas.

 

Community Supervision VS. Incarceration Oped by Commissioner Cook

  • 18 January 2019
  • Author: Doris Sanchez
  • Number of views: 4555
  • 0 Comments

Laurie Born, executive director of LifeSteps Council on Alcohol and Drugs, is at the front of the room introducing instructors Jenna Sheldon Neasbitt and Meredith Stacy Jones to Wilco community supervision and corrections department officers and counselors.

A push to reduce incarceration rates in Texas has increased the emphasis for jail alternatives and community supervision.

As of November 2017, over 145,000 inmates have been incarcerated in Texas jails or prisons, many of whom for substance abuse-related offenses.

Otherwise known as probation, community supervision is a necessary piece of the criminal justice system. It serves as an alternative to incarceration while providing accountability, monitoring of court orders and rehabilitative services.

The Williamson County Community Supervision and Corrections Department supervises and monitors both misdemeanor and felony offenders for the county and district courts.

The department currently monitors 4,027 offenders ordered to community supervision in lieu of incarceration. For the taxpayer, this is the better bet. It costs an average of $80 to $120 daily per person in a county jail or prison, while probation costs less than $3 daily per person.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice now requires the county corrections department to utilize nationally recognized best practices to qualify for diversion program grants. The department receives diversionary grants from the state department’s Community Justice Assistance Division.

The emphasis on prison diversion is working. Over the past few years, seven Texas prisons were no longer needed and closed.

Williamson County must conserve and manage its groundwater

Oped by Commissioner Cook

  • 20 December 2018
  • Author: Doris Sanchez
  • Number of views: 7887
  • 0 Comments

As consumers and customers of water, it behooves us all to not only conserve water, but to become involved in its management.

I recently attended a presentation on the role of groundwater conservation districts at the Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District 8 Conference in Waco for County Judges and Commissioners.Spring-fed groundwater from the Edwards Aquifer bubbles at Berry Springs Park Lake near Georgetown.

Groundwater conservation districts are political subdivisions that manage groundwater production in Texas and are tasked with balancing the conservation of the resource with a landowner’s right to produce it.

As a commissioner, I learned that local communities play an important role in how groundwater is managed locally, regionally and statewide.

What is groundwater?

As Texas Living Waters Projects states, “Simply put, groundwater is water that is found beneath the surface of the earth.”

According to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, 97 percent of groundwater in Texas is held in aquifers (underground rock layers which are saturated with groundwater). The aquifers, which provide fresh water to cities and irrigation to farmland, are close to the ground and recharged by rivers and water that seeps in.

Although Texas treats surface water and groundwater management differently, all surface water interacts with groundwater and vice versa. Surface water is considered Texas property, while according to the state’s Rule of Capture, groundwater is the landowner’s private property.

The withdrawal of water from streams can deplete groundwater, and pumping groundwater can deplete streams, lakes or wetlands. Pollution of surface water can degrade groundwater quality and pollution of groundwater can degrade surface water.

About 80 percent of groundwater is used for agricultural irrigation, but more efficient methods of farming are changing this. Metropolitan areas are gradually surpassing agricultural groundwater use.

Groundwater provides about 60 percent of our state’s water, with rivers and reservoirs providing the rest. Texans use nearly 17 million acre-feet of water annually. One acre-foot of water would cover a high school football field to a depth of one foot.

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