Since the 2019-20 Proposed Budget of Austin County was released, we have been working diligently to break it down graphically to help the populace of Austin County have a better view/understanding of the overwhelming list of numerical data. However, we faced some hurdles in an effort to do this: the time constraint of getting it done in order for it to be utilized before the budget hearings and, the lack of information/understanding on our part about government budgetary workings.
In order to graphically represent the budget data, it had to be placed into categories in order to show where your money outflow is happening. Some of the line items in the budget were easy to categorize, others were not. Where do you put line items titled “CCA”, “other” or “RMF/VSCC”? We did a lot of calling and asking but, time just got us. So, when viewing our graphics, line items we weren’t able to ascertain are entitled “uncategorized”.
The proposed budget has been broken down by department and category, shows a comparison to the previous year’s budget, and the percent increase or decrease.
We hope you find this tool helpful in deciphering the proposed budget and an understanding of how your tax dollars are being utilized. You can click any of the graphics below for a larger view. You can also download a copy of the budget from the county website by following this LINK.
