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Strategic Plan
In Fiscal Year 2023, Williamson County set out to create a Strategic Plan to guide county offices and departments in planning for the future. The Strategic Plan framework shows the importance of the vision and mission to guide the County. Each of the six strategic priorities tells the story of what is most important, and outcomes define the success in each priority. The seven key goals will accomplish the outcomes and consistently move the County to realizing the vision.
Vision
We are a friendly, safe and healthy county; with endless opportunities, strong community investment, thriving families and prospering businesses.
Mission
Our Mission is to provide excellent customer service while executing strategic, financially sustainable core services that promote a healthy, safe and prosperous County.
Integrate policies to ensure financial stability and sustainability across all services
The focus of this goal is to ensure that all County policies and procedures are reviewed and updated, and in some cases created, with financial sustainability as the core approach. This would include a long range financial plan, the County tax rate, and debt service. The goal goes beyond just policies as it also integrates partnering with other stakeholders to share financial responsibilities and duties in the delivery of services to the community, planning ahead for major capital expenditures to ensure the best possible financial outcome, and the consideration of revenue sources matched to the expenditures.
SMART Objectives
- Create a financial cost/benefit matrix for growth and development that esures the ability to meet the county's mission by July, 2024
- Require fiscal notes for all grants and new programs/renewals by January, 2024
- Review all operations for possible partnerships and cost sharing by January, 2024
Enhance services and systems to support a safe community
Law enforcement, courts, mental health, emergency medical services, dispatch services, the district attorney, justice of the peace, magistrates, and the county attorney all fit within the category of safe community, as do many other services. This goal is a core service for Williamson County and to address the current and future needs consideration of facilities, sustainable funding, enhanced services, improvements in technology, and locations for services must all be considered. Collaboration and integration with partners, the community as a whole and those specifically served will be a key part of this goal.
SMART Objectives
- Adopt a comprehensive justice system master plan and implementation plan by December, 2025
- Identify metrics to determine performance, utilization, and needs by September, 2024
- Build adequate justice facilities by December, 2030
Commit to state-of-the-art technological solutions for customer service
Technology is an ever changing opportunity to create services and systems that are more focused on customer service, which also means that they are more effective, more efficient and easier to use for both the staff and the customer. This goal includes online solutions for scheduling, payment, and information; cybersecurity; County facility connectivity; emergency, law enforcement and justice services; and ongoing innovation and solutions with strategic focus.
SMART Objectives
- Replacement of Oracle financial system before end of life - final date 2029
- Implement connectivity (broadband) project between county and cities to share data by 2026
- Address long term digital evidence storage needs and continuous performance improvements by September, 2025
Lead a collaborative partnership to plan for and fund growth and development
By partnering with state and federal organizations, local municipalities, local educational institutions, stakeholders and other interested community members, the County can facilitate regional solutions to the most pressing problems of the future. Collaboration and shared funding resources will leverage existing budgets to achieve stronger results for the community By broadening the scope of partnerships and shared resources, the most important priorities can be addressed more efficiently and in a shorter time frame.
SMART Objectives
- Partner with developers and municipalities to fund growth and services by January, 2023
- Partner with developers to fund growth and services associated with information technology by January, 2025
- Identify funding sources for growth and development needs by March, 2024
Adopt and implement long range master plans to address growth and sustainability
In order to plan for the future needs of the community, and to be strong financial stewards, the County must continue to study, research and adopt master plans across all areas of service. Capital facilities, financial and budgeting, land purchases, transportation, parks and trails, and growth plans will all be a part of this goal. The plans will be integrated into the budget process and implemented in alignment with the strategic plan.
SMART Objectives
- Develop or update a master plan for each department/office for ultimate build out by December, 2024
- Identify large properties for potential industrial/commercial development in county by June, 2024
- Identify legislative fixes and opportunities for partnering with other entities by June, 2024
Enhance communication strategy to build stronger relationships internally and externally
Clear, strong and regular communication is an integral part of the success of Williamson County. Establishing collaborative methods of communication with partners, stakeholders and the community will result in deeper relationships, improved efficiencies, and better outcomes for the County. Integrated meetings around the Strategic Priorities will solidify internal and external alignment and strategic thinking to address critical issues. An improved messaging strategy for businesses and customers will enhance services and build understanding.
SMART Objectives
- Develop a framework for communication between the Commissioners Court, department heads and elected officials by July, 2024
- Implement improvements to involve and inform the public by January, 2024
- Leverage SharePoint for internal transparency by January, 2024
Develop and implement a culture where Williamson County is the employer of choice
Facing competition for staffing and with current facilities that cannot meet future needs, Williamson County recognizes that an investment in our employees and elected officials is an important foundation to sustainable strategic success. Improving our facilities, offering a work life balance, addressing policies for flexibility in work locations, offering a competitive compensation package, and addressing the health and wellness needs of staff are all part of this goal. By creating a culture built around our values and goals we can ensure that our focus remains on effective, financially sustainable services and programs to our community.
SMART Objectives
- Create a culture package for new hire process and all current employees by June, 2025
- Review the philospohy and culture of the salary survey by December, 2024
- Define and develop a culture with four core values to achieve mission and vision by April, 2024
The Path Forward
Change remains the constant in Williamson County. Whether it is with the county’s population growth, the diverse community of residents or with regards to an ever-evolving landscape of buildings, organizations, businesses, and institutions, the County continues to change. Within our organization, we've intentionally focused on creating positive organizational and service change, with continuous improvement as a guiding principle.
The strong history of strategic planning within Williamson County is led by the Commissioner’s Court and implemented by the elected officials, department heads and staff. The Plan defines the changes that the County hopes to achieve and integrating the Strategic Plan as a road map to the future will help us to plan and adapt, whatever it brings. The County will continuously work on the Implementation Plan with regular updates to the Commissioner’s Court. An annual review will be undertaken at the beginning of the budget process each year to reaffirm the Strategic Priorities and Key Goals.
With this plan the County Commissioners, County leadership and staff have been intentional about developing a document that truly connects the work of our offices and departments overarching goals, objectives, and strategies. This Strategic Plan does not shy away from the complexities of the organization’s and the community’s challenges and opportunities. This plan, which connects the work of multiple departments in a series of overarching strategies, embraces collaboration.
This ten-year Strategic Plan is a dynamic guide for the organization. It will be updated each year through the County’s annual operating budget process. It will serve as a framework for future conversations and decisions about ways that the County can continue to improve service delivery to prepare for whatever the future brings. We look forward to continuing to serve you, the community, and to working with you as residents to help us address the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Strategic Plan Reports
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank our amazing elected officials, our department heads, our staff and our community partners for your feedback and input on our Strategic Plan. Our focus has always been to meet the needs of our community while providing exceptional, responsive, and sustainable services. We truly appreciate everyone who completed our surveys, attended a focus group meeting, and dedicated the time and effort into contributing strategy and vision.
We want to specifically recognize the members of the Core Team - your hard work and dedication has made this Strategic Plan possible. The countless hours you spent to ensure the process was smooth and successful were much appreciated and valued. Finally, we want to recognize our outstanding staff who are, as was pointed out in the feedback, dedicated to serving our community.