Rotarian Brigid Lester spoke to us about “What is a County Commissioner?” County commissioners are elected officials who help administer the government of a county along the County Judge, who is the head of the commissioners' court for a county. Each county in Texas has four precincts and a county judge. Brigid showed us a list of the current commissioners and county judges for Travis and Williamson counties. The Commissioner’s Court manages the County budget, and Brigid showed budget numbers for Williamson County in 2022 and 2023. The property appraisals x the tax rate create the total budget for a county. Brigid showed a list of the major duties of commissioners from the Texas Association of Counties including registering votes, holding elections, setting the county tax rate, collecting property taxes, and providing emergency management, public safety, and court services. She also listed things that the County commissioners do not handle, such as establishing and maintaining the power grid, providing clean water, and anything to do with schools. Brigid’s talk was very informative and led to a lot of interesting questions by the members at the end of the presentation.