Williamson County Cuts Tax Rate By 1/2-Cent, But Homeowners Still Will See $7.40 Monthly Hike

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX -- The new county tax rate offers a veritable good news, bad news package for homeowners: While it's technically a reduction by a half-penny, the average homeowner will still see an increase of more than $7 per month to their property tax rates.

So how does this work? The Williamson County Commissioners Court explained in a news advisory issued on Wednesday. Williamson County Commissioners Court members adopted a total tax rate of $0.476529 per $100 of valuation -- a half-penny decrease from last year’s county tax rate, officials noted.

But for the average homestead valued at $253,380, there will be an increase of approximately $7.40 per month "...due to an increase in the average home value of 9.07 percent," officials said. "The tax rate will effectively be raised by 5.87 percent for maintenance and operations."

County officials broke it down further, explaining how the total county tax rate comprises the customary three distinct tax rates that go into its figuring: The general fund tax rate of $0.269029; the Road & Bridge tax rate adopted at $0.0400 cents; and the debt service tax rate at $0.167500 cents per $100 of valuation.

"Both the Road & Bridge and debt service tax rates are the same as last year," officials said. "This is the second consecutive year that the general fund tax rate has decreased a half cent."

But County Judge Dan A. Gattis explained the increase to homeowners tax bill represents the cost of living in a fast-growing region amid growth-fueled property values.

“Once again, we are focusing on paying down our debt for capital improvements and have been successful at doing that and being able to reduce the general fund tax rate by a half cent," Gattis said. "Our budget includes $10.1 million for debt defeasance and reflects the challenges we face in being one of the fastest growing counties in not only Texas, but the United States.”

The Commissioners Court adopted the county budget on August 30, 2016.

Officials said the general fund budget for FY 2016-2017 is $179.87 million while the Road & Bridge budget is $29.50 million, which included an additional $1 million for rehabilitation of neighborhood streets and another $1 million toward the long-range transportation plan for engineering and right-of-way purchases.

The Debt Service budget, which is repaying the debt associated with road, park and other capital improvements, is $93.16 million, and includes $10.1 million for paying down existing debt, county officials said.

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