Rockwall City Council adopts budget and tax rate reduction

ROCKWALL, TX (September 23, 2014) The City Council adopted a budget and tax rate for the 2014-2015 on September 15^th with a tax rate of 49.55 cents per $100 valuation, a slight decrease from the current rate of 50.25. 

Key elements of this year’s budget are the funding of three new full-time Firefighter / Driver positions in the Fire Department, a new traffic signal at the intersection of Ralph Hall Parkway and Mims Road and a maintenance worker dedicated to downtown beautification once the downtown revitalization project is complete.  The Rockwall Police Department has applied for a grant to provide a new detective in the Criminal Investigation Division to specifically focus on domestic violence related cases.  The budget funds the city’s matching funds if the grant is awarded to the Police Department by the Department of Justice.  

The budget funds water and wastewater system maintenance and operations for the upcoming year.  The costs associated with city utilities continue to be impacted by rising expenses. The city must pay for treated water, which is related to capital improvements by the North Texas Municipal Water District in response to regulatory compliance requirements, the zebra mussel issue and the drought. The NTMWD also operates the city’s wastewater treatment plants, and those costs continue to increase as well. 

“This is the 4^th consecutive year that the City Council has addressed public safety needs and either maintained or lowered the tax rate,” said Mayor David Sweet.  “The City Council has conservatively forecast sales tax revenue combined with steady growth in property values that puts the city is a position to maintain service levels, insure public safety and the maintenance and operation of critical infrastructure without passing additional burden onto the taxpayers of Rockwall.”   

The budget also addresses roadway maintenance, police and fire equipment, parks and recreation programs, and it pays this year’s debt payment for roadway improvements and the downtown improvements approved in the 2012 bond election. 

The new operating budget of $28.8 million goes into effect on October 1. 

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  budget, City Council, Rockwall, tax rate