Williamson County, Texas

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.

 

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.

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.

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.

Georgetown held an open house for the public in 2018 and a presentation to the Commissioners Court on Dec 11.  Many meetings happened with and amongst engineers, Commissioners (not as a group), Naturalists, Native Plant Society members, and the public to flush out all concerns and study of alternative routes.

Finally, on December 18, following a public hearing, all five members of the Commissioners Court voted to reject the request to construct a wastewater line thru Berry Springs Park and Preserve as the risk to that fragile environment was far too great.

Georgetown will probably be pursuing a route in the vicinity of Dry Berry Creek.