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Salary Survey  |  Taxes  |  Other States

Cost of County Services Template.  Enter costs associated with different services provided by the county in the MS Excel spreadsheet. A chart will be created showing the growth in this expenses over time. If you have any questions about this template, contact County Information Project staff.

Revenue Cap Levy Loss Calculator.  Calculate the property tax revenues that would be lost under various proposed changes to the property tax revenue cap.

Texas County Fiscal Years. Information on county fiscal years and a table listing each county's fiscal year in .pdf format (Adobe Reader) updated March 2006.

Federal Grants Available to Texas Counties.  Selected information on federally funded grants available from 26 federal agencies that offers well-over 1,000 grant programs in various categories. Updated weekly.

TABOR: Reading Between the Lines.  "An examination of existing TABOR literature will provide decision-makers with a brief overview of the effectiveness of this policy." A report by A. Jay Jezari in PDF format.

The Texas County Financial Data Advisory Committee was (FDAC) created by the 77th Legislature. The FDAC's initial Chart of Accounts for Counties is described in the State Comptroller's October 2002 Report Uniform Chart of Accounts for Texas Counties.

2003 County Road Expenditures County road expenditure data compiled by the Comptroller of Public Accounts from the reports submitted by individual counties as required by law. The report contains total expenditures, right of way costs, utility relocation, as well as separate categories for road and bridge construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation. This file is a text file.

2004 County Road Expenditures County road expenditure data compiled by the Comptroller of Public Accounts from the reports submitted by individual counties as required by law. The report contains total expenditures, right of way costs, utility relocation, as well as separate categories for road and bridge construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation. This file is a text file.

County Budget Overview (National Association of Counties)  Access information on county budget preparation, federal legislation, etc. You can also access publications and electronic newsletters of interest to counties from the NAC.

County Debt Information  This will take you to the Texas Bond Review Board's site where the Local Government page gives you access to data on outstanding debt for Independent School Districts, Counties, etc.

Debt Management for Counties (National Association of Counties)  Discusses debt management for counties with emphasis on the issuance of bonds. Links to financial sites provided.

Government Accounting Standards Board  The mission of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board is to establish and improve standards of state and local governmental accounting and financial reporting that will result in useful information for users of financial reports and guide and educate the public, including issuers, auditors, and users of those financial reports.

• Exposure Drafts  Proposed Statements, Interpretations and Technical Bulletins.

Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA)  The GFOA is the professional association of state/provincial and local finance officers in the United States and Canada.

International City-County Management Association (ICMA)  Professional and educational organization representing appointed managers and administrators in local governments throughout the world.

NASPO  National Association of State Procurement Officers homepage. Links to conferences and publications. Look here to purchase copies of "State and Local Government Purchasing Principals and Practices" and " Survey of State and Local Government Purchasing Practices."

National Association of State Budget Officers  The professional membership organization for state finance officers. The major functions of the organization consist of research, policy development, education, training, and technical assistance.

Office of Management and Budget  OMB submissions to the Federal Register of proposed and final rule submissions.

Office of Management and Budget Circulars -- State and Local Government  OMB Circulars of interest to State and Local Governments.

Performance Measurement for Governments  From GASB, a place to find information about the measurements of results for government services.

Report on Interim Charge Number 1 to the House Committee on County Affairs, 77th Legislature  The Committee requested assistance from the County Information Project in response to Interim Charge 1. A Preliminary Report to the Committee was delivered in August, this is the CIP's final report.

Revenue Sources for Counties (National Association of Counties)  Discussion of the variety of revenue sources available to county governments. Also discusses alternate means of reducing expenditures.

Texas Association of County Auditors  Includes links to Pending Legislation and AG Opinions of interest to county auditors.

Texas Bond Review Board  Their stated mission is to ensure that debt financing is used prudently to meet Texas' infrastructure needs and other public purposes; to support and enhance the debt issuance and debt management functions of state and local entities; and to administer the state's private activity bond allocation.

Texas State Expenditures by County  Includes a summary of net expenditures by county for major spending categories; a summary of net expenditures by county, ranked by total; and a table that details state agency expenditures by county. This link is to the State Comptroller's web page for Texas State Expenditures By County. Look for the report for the year you need.

United States Government General Ledger  This site offers the Standard General Ledger (SGL), Chart of Accounts, SGL Accounts and Definitions and Report Crosswalks previously issued in Treasury Financial Manual Supplement II, and more.

Salary Survey

2008 Salary Survey  TAC's survey of county officials' salaries is now available on-line. This is the entire 3.0 MB PDF document showing salaries for all elected county officials and the county Auditors. This document has been altered since publication due to the following corrections:

• Page 1 through 9 - The Census Bureau's 2007 population estimates are shown and used to determine brackets, not the 2000 Census numbers mentioned on these pages.
• Page 3 - Budget for Bexar County corrected to $367,500,000.
• Page 6 - Budget for Lavaca County corrected to $11,476,402.
• Page 6 and 52 - Salary of Jeff Davis County Sheriff corrected to $29,454.
• Page 7 - Budget for McLennan County corrected to $86,904,850.
• Page 16 - Supplemental salary of Burnet County Judge corrected to $15,000.
• Page 27 - Supplemental salary of Menard County Treasurer corrected to $1,260.
• Randall County provided the following updated information:
• Page 8 – Budget for Randall County corrected to $31,683,182. County Judge’s salary corrected to $75,361.
• Page 17 – Randall County Judge’s salary corrected to $75,361, travel allowance corrected to $1,800, and car allowance corrected to $0.
• Page 26 – Randall County Commissioners’ travel allowance deleted.
• Page 31 / 40 / 44 / 51 / 56 / 61 / 71 / 79 – Travel allowance for the Randall County Treasurer / County Clerk / District Clerk / Auditor / Sheriff’s / Tax A/C / JP / Constable deleted.
• Page 56 – The Orange County Sheriff is furnished a vehicle.

2007 Salary Survey  TAC's survey of county officials' salaries is now available on-line. This is the entire 1.2 MB document showing salaries for all elected county officials and the county Auditors. (PDF)

2007 Salary Survey - Section One  This section of the document has the base salaries for all elected county officials and the county Auditors plus the 2007 population and budgets. (PDF)

2007 Salary Survey - Section Two  This section of the document has the salaries for all elected county officials and the county Auditors, except for Justices of the Peace and Constables. Information is arranged by office and then sub-divided by population range. (PDF)

2007 Salary Survey - Section Three  This section of the document has the salaries for all Justices of the Peace and Constables. Information is arranged by office and then sub-divided by population range. (PDF)

Taxes

County General Fund Tax Rates 1991 - 2005  The General Fund county property tax rates for every year from 1991 to 2005 as reported to the Texas Comptroller Public Accounts.

County Tax Rates 1991 - 2005  Total county property tax rates for every year from 1991 to 2005 as reported to the Texas Comptroller Public Accounts.

Green City's List of Appraisal District  Address, phone and fax information for Texas' Appraisal Districts.

Green City's List of Appraisal Districts Links  Links to Texas Appraisal Districts' web sites from the Green City Network.

Internet Taxation: What Counties Need to Know  A report from the National Association of Counties.  You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is free, to download, read and print this file. You need to be a NACo member and logged in to access this report.

Introduction to Tax Assessment  This free course is available online from ESRI. It covers "the process of local government tax assessing, the role of a Geographic Information System (GIS) in this process, the importance of property use classification codes, and how to analyze land use patterns from property class codes."

Municipalities Approving an Economic Development Sales Tax  This map from the BIDC shows the number of municipalities per county that have approved economic development sales taxes. It does not identify the cities.

Texas Association of Appraisal Districts  Access forms, look at legislative information, or find out what appraisal districts or agencies have positions available.

Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts 

2009 Appraisal District Addresses  Addresses and telephone numbers listed by county.

A Guide for Setting Tax Rates: Truth-in-Taxation  This link is to the State Comptroller's web page for Local Property Tax publications. Look in the Archives for the Guide for other years.

Information on Sales, Franchise, Other State Taxes, and Local Taxes

• Annual Property Tax Calendars  These calendars are usually contained in the previous year's December issue of Statement published by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. This link is to the main web page for Statement. Scroll down to the December issue you need.
• County Sales Tax Information  County sales and use tax rates for property tax relief.
• Local Sales Tax Rate Information  All Current Local Sales and Use Tax Rates for city, transit, county and special purpose districts. Updated quarterly.
• Other State Taxes  Information on amusement, boat and boat motor, cigarette and tobacco, hotel, inheritance, minerals, mixed beverages, and motor vehicle sales taxes.
• Property Tax  Local property tax publications.
• Tax publications

Quarterly Sales Tax Historical Data  Obtain a table of sales tax receipts by state, city, county or MSA going back to 1987 by quarters.

STAR System  State Tax Automated Research System. Search by topic, tax type, document type, status. Allows date filters and word/phrase queries.

Texas Property Tax Code Publications  The state Property Tax Code is also available in hard copy format. Look in the Forward for contact information. This link is to the web page for the State Comptroller's Local Property Tax publications. Look for the tax code for the year you need.

The Texas Tax Code  Texas Tax Code available in various formats.

Texas Counties Granting Tax Ceiling for Over 65/Disabled in 2004 for 2005  HJR16, 78th Legislature amended Section 1-b, Article VIII, Texas Constitution to allow counties to freeze the ad valorem taxes imposed on certain residential homesteads. This is a list of those counties known to have granted the freeze on 2005 taxes.

Texas Taxpayers and Research Organization  The Texas Taxpayers and Research Association (TTARA) and the TTARA Research Foundation are non-profit associations of businesses and individuals interested in state fiscal policy and other public policy issues. They are the successor organizations to the Texas Association of Taxpayers and the Texas Research League, respectively. They have several detailed data sets and analyses on taxes and tax policy. Very interesting!

OTHER STATES

Auditor of Public Accounts, Richmond, VA  The Auditor of Public Accounts is the independent auditor serving the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs  Serves as the state's lead agency in housing finance and development; promulgates building codes to be adopted by local governments; provides comprehensive planning, technical and research assistance to local governments; and serves as the lead agency for the state's solid waste reduction efforts.

Georgia's Uniform Chart of Accounts  Developed by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

Massachusetts Department of Revenue -- Local Services Division  The Division of Local Services is responsible for assisting Massachusetts' cities and towns in their efforts to achieve equitable property taxation and efficient fiscal management --- (We understand that they don't have counties anymore).

New York State Comptroller -- Local Government Audits  The Comptroller is designated by the NYS Constitution and general statutes to supervise the fiscal affairs of New York State's local governments.

North Carolina Institute of Government  Provides access to the resources of the Institute of Government, part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  From here, you can connect to many federal government information resources, as well as to North Carolina state and local government resources.

Utah Uniform Accounting Manual -- Counties  The Utah Accounting Manual for Utah counties. Prepared by the Utah State Auditor's Office, Local Government Division, for the assistance of those involved with local government financial management.

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