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Take Care of Texas
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Take Care of Texas

Toll Tags available at City
Residents no longer have to wait for a toll tag to come in the mail. They can sign up now for a toll tag account at Rockwall City Hall, 385 South Goliad Street on the 1st floor. The information is entered into the toll authority system, and the tag is given to the applicant that day.

Toll Tag accounts are prepay, which means sufficient funds must be maintained with the North Texas Tollway Authority to cover tolls and charges for the use of the tag. A minimum of $40 is needed to open the account.

For more information, please call ( 972) 771-7736.

City Tax Rate
A tough economy and the desire to not raise taxes put the City of Rockwall in a position to not offer new programs in the next year and add just one employee to the roster in the $21.9 million budget for 2009-2010.

But despite the economy, the city’s financial status remains good.

Council members and city officials recently were told by Standard & Poor’s that the City continued to have a strong financial position, supported by strong financial management policies in spite of the current business climate.

Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s review of the city’s bond rating affirmed its ratings of A1 and AA- respectively.

In the new spending plan, the city’s tax rate will remain at 50.31cents per $100 valuation.

“There will be one new School Resource Officer for the reopened Utley Middle School,” said Mary Smith, the city’s Finance Director, “but there are no other new employees and no employee raises. We were extremely cautious in our projection of revenues from sales tax and construction activities.

We managed to present a balanced budget in spite of very little new revenue dollars and increasing fixed costs such as utilities.”

City Manager Julie Couch told council that sales tax revenues are estimated to remain flat in the upcoming fiscal year, and that she anticipates a reduction in overall construction in what she termed “our slowest period of residential growth in the past decade.”

A public hearing on the new budget is scheduled for September 8 and it will be formally adopted at the September 21 council meeting.

In August, the City sold bonds to finance several projects that included the final phases of John King Boulevard and the design work for FM549. Also, equipment will be purchased for Fire Stations 3 and 4 that are being readied for opening - a new ladder truck and a third radio tower for the public safety radio system. Dock work at The Harbor was also funded.

The bonds were sold on a negotiated basis with an interest rate of 3.50 percent for one package and 3.63 percent for the remaining package. Also, the City was able to refinance bonds from 1999 with an interest savings of more than $387,000.

Geographic Information Systems
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is an integrated computer system that links topography, demographic, utility network, imagery, and other data geographically. This system allows for storage, spatial analysis, and querying of data for accurate and efficient City decision making.

The City of Rockwall’s GIS is a decision-making tool that enables access to data, maps, and images. This promotes innovative solutions, and improves customer service to citizens. Rockwall GIS Page

GIS

 

 

 



Local Newspapers
Dallas Morning News
Rockwall County News
Rockwall Herald Banner

Water Restrictions
The City of Rockwall has now implemented voluntary water conservation measures and requests its water customers conserve water by not irrigating landscapes between the hours of 10:00 a.m.and 6:00 p.m.

Citizens Fire Academy
Citizens Fire Academy
Stan Jeffus, Bryan Fields, Adam Clements, Tim Liford, Chris Minckler and Aaron Browness take a much needed break during the recent 2009 Citizens Fire Academy, which offers a great opportunity for people that want to learn more about the City of Rockwall’s fire department.

Some of the many topics the class covered included: Emergency Apparatus and Equipment, Emergency Medical Operations, Special Rescue Operations (demonstration), Protective Clothing (hands-on) and Portable Fire Extinguishers (hands-on). They also got to know and to ride with firefighters. For more information about future classes, which are free, please call Tony Santoro at (972) 771-7770.

False Alarm Update
Historically, the City of Rockwall has experienced an increasing number of false alarms requiring a response from the City’s public safety departments.  To reduce false alarms, the City has amended its False Alarm ordinance.  Reducing the number of false alarms Police and Fire Departments respond to each year will allow public safety personnel to devote more resources to keeping the community safe.

The amended ordinance requires a non-refundable annual registration fee of $30.00 for residential alarm systems and $50.00 for commercial alarm systems as of January 1, 2009. If a residence or business currently has an alarm permit on file, payment of the registration fee is due on the anniversary date in 2009.

An alarm system may consist of one or multiple types of alarms including burglary, robbery, security or fire.  A separate permit will be required for each street address and security/fire alarm system.  Each false alarm occurring after the third false alarm, within a 12 month period, is a violation of the ordinance.  Failure to register an alarm system could result in a fine.  False alarms may indicate that the alarm system is not functioning properly, may not be reliable or there may be a need for training of family members or employees.

Home and business owners can register their security or fire alarm by visiting the following link:
Alarm Registration


Registration forms will also be available at City Hall, located at 385 S. Goliad, or the Rockwall Police Department, located at 205 W. Rusk.  

For questions concerning this change, contact Frank Dunlop, Public Safety Computer Manager, at 972-772-6474 or by e-mail at fdunlop@rockwall.com or Kirk Riggs, Assistant Police Chief, at 972-772-6454 or by e-mail at kriggs@rockwall.com

Municipal Utility Usage for
Calendar Year 2009

To comply with HB 3693, the City of Rockwall is providing the following information to the general public with regard to its consumption and payments made for water, natural gas, and electrical utilities for Calendar Year 2009.

The City of Rockwall purchases natural gas from Atmos Energy.  In Calendar Year 2009, the City purchased a total of 703 thousand cubic feet (MCF) of natural gas.

The City purchases electricity from Direct Energy and FEC Electric Coop.  In calendar year 2009, the City purchased a total of 7,939,800 kilowatt hours.

The City purchases water from the City of Rockwall.  In calendar year 2009, the City purchased a total of 54,923,642 gallons of water.

The total cost of utilities (natural gas, electricity, and water) purchased by the City of Rockwall in the calendar year 2009 is $1,258,287.00.



 

 

 
         
 
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© City of Rockwall, 2010 ♦ 385 South Goliad Street ♦ Rockwall, TX 75087 ♦ (972) 771-7700