Commissioners hear annual report on Rockwall County budget

(ROCKWALL COUNTY, TX – May 15, 2018) The Rockwall County Commissioners Court received some good news regarding the County’s finances during its regular meeting on Tuesday, May 8.

The court unanimously accepted (County Judge David Sweet and Commissioner Lee Gilbert were away on County business) Rockwall County’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the Fiscal Year 2017, presented by Pattillo, Brown & Hill L.L.P. CPAs.

Per the report, the County increased its total net position (the difference between its total assets and total liabilities) to $18.6 million at the close of FY 2017, an increase of $4.7 million from FY 2016. According to the financial report, the increase is due to the County completing work on state and federal highway projects running through the county, resulting in an expenditure decrease from those projects of over $10 million from FY 2016. Rockwall County also had a positive net change amount in its fund balance of $2.5 million at the end of FY 2017.

“Historically we’ve been blessed with elected and appointed officials who have good budgeting skills. We don’t see one department get outside of the rest, and it shows year after year when we have some kind of fund balance returned to us,” Commissioner David Magness said.

Courtesy of the Government Finance Officers Association, Rockwall County received a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for FY 2016. In the opinion of John Manning with Pattillo, Brown & Hill, the County is on track to likely receive that award again for FY 2017.

“I like the way you present your budget,” Manning said. “It’s conservative, there’s room left in there for things you can’t foresee coming. You do a good job of conservatively doing revenues. I know some counties that aren’t in a good financial position that’ll start with their expenditures to try and make their revenues work, and those are typically the ones where their going to overestimate how much they’re going to get from those revenues, and their fund balance isn’t in good shape as a result.”

To view the full Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, visit rockwallcountytexas.com.

In other actions, the Rockwall County Commissioners Court:

-Heard a quarterly report on the North Texas Criminal Interdiction Unit from Rockwall County Sheriff Harold Eavenson

-Approved a request from Women in Need to use the steps of the Rockwall County Courthouse for a candlelight vigil on October 12, 2018 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

-Approved a contract with Southern Software for the Jail Management System Mobile Application software for the County Jail

The Rockwall County Commissioners Court will hold a workshop meeting to hear presentations from vendors in response to the RFQ for jail space use/needs assessment on Monday, May 21, 2018 at 9 a.m.

The court’s next regular meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 at 9 a.m. The Commissioners Court meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month on the third floor of the Historic Downtown Courthouse (101 E. Rusk St., Rockwall, TX 75087). Meetings are open to the public.

Submitted press release.

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