Announcements

The Williamson County Brown Santa Program helps local families by donating toys, clothes, books and adopting families for the holiday season.

If you would like to donate, volunteer or adopt a family this holiday season please consider the    Williamson County Brown Santa Program sponsored by our Wilco Sheriff's Office.

For information, please visit Williamson County Brown Santa (wcbrownsanta.com)

Brown Santa toy collection barrels will be available at several county buildings for people to drop off new, unwrapped toys, including in the Jester Annex, 1801 E. Old Settlers Blvd. in Round Rock at the main entrance and by the Tax Office.  

On the website you can click on the Amazon Wishlist icon and buy toys and items selected by kids and their families, or you can donate directly on the website via VENMO & PayPal.

Column by Commissioner Cook

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/round-rock/2022/11/10/williamson-commissioner-cook-the-overlooked-truths-of-county-government/69639075007/

In Texas, county government is “an arm of the state.” We have 254 counties, and each is charged with carrying out state-decreed administrative and judicial responsibilities, some of which include actual funding.  

Go back 200 years. What did every county have? A sheriff, a traveling judge and someone to record legal documents such as marriages, divorces, land sales and lawsuits. Well, it’s bigger, better and much more expensive now. 

Let’s look at state-mandated responsibilities of counties. Nearly all are poorly funded by the state: 

•  Process and maintain voter registration and conduct elections. All entities on a ballot contribute to the cost of running that election, such as cities, school districts, water control and improvement districts and community colleges. These entities contract with county elections departments to conduct their elections but don’t have to; they can run their own elections. It’s cheaper for each entity to join others, with the county conducting the elections. 

In this edition of WILCOunty Line, kick off the holiday season with the Lighting of the Square ceremony, bring cheer to families by donating to Brown Santa and much more!

On Tuesday, Nov. 15, the Williamson County’s Commissioners Court recognized Nov. 14 through Nov. 18 as Geography Awareness Week. Additionally, the Commissioners Court proclaimed Wednesday, Nov. 16, as Geographic Information System (GIS) Day in Williamson County.

The Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter is excited to host its annual Home For The Holidays fostering program again this year. How does the Home For The Holidays fostering program work? It’s simple! First, you sign up to become a foster for the shelter – go to http://pets.wilco.org/How-to-Help and fill out the linked Foster Registration. Then you can make an appointment to pick out the medium-to-large adult dog to take home as your Home For The Holidays foster pet!