Rockwall County commissioners approve transfers to roads, raise fund-balance transfer; DA staffing and IT costs remain under discussion

Rockwall County Commissioners Court on Sept. 19 approved a $175,000 transfer from general funds to the Road and Bridge materials line and voted to increase a planned fund-balance transfer to $1,500,000 as the court continued finalizing the county's FY2026 budget.

The court approved the $175,000 transfer for road materials on a 5-0 vote after County Engineer Erica Bridal told the court the money would be used to complete work on four roads — South Munson, North Munson, McDonald and a dirt segment of Jones Road — and that material costs have risen 4%–13% compared with last year. Commissioner John Stacy made the motion to transfer $175,000 into Road and Bridge for materials, and Commissioner Lichty seconded. The motion was recorded as passing 5-0.

Why it matters: The additional materials funding is intended to let crews or contractors complete at least McDonald Road before the fiscal year ends and to make progress on the other segments. Bridal told the court the planned treatments are a 2-inch overlay or a 2-inch chip seal on the asphalt sections; Jones Road’s unpaved portion is still under consideration for gravel, beefed-up gravel or a chip-seal approach. Bridal estimated pavement life after chip sealing at “5 to 10 years,” depending on traffic and heavy-vehicle use.

The court also approved increasing the fund-balance transfer into the FY2026 budget from the previously planned $1,100,000 to $1,500,000 (an increase of $400,000). Commissioner John Stacy moved to increase the fund-balance transfer to $1,500,000 and Commissioner Galana seconded; the motion passed 4-1. Commissioners discussed the county’s fund-balance policy, which the auditor described as a 4-to-6-month guideline for operating reserves; the auditor said the county is currently right around five months. The auditor estimated a conservative carryforward from FY2025 to FY2026 of about $500,000 in unspent funds.

District Attorney Kendra Culpepper spoke to the court about budget timing and staffing for the new district court that is scheduled to begin in December. Culpepper warned the court that if a sitting judge is appointed early and moves to the new district bench, the county could incur immediate costs for a visiting judge or other transitional expenses. She asked that the court place funding for the DA expansion in a line item “not just that we’re gonna fund it out of fund balance,” noting an original estimate for the expansion of roughly $300,000 and urging that planning and schematics begin as soon as possible.

Auditor Lisa (last name not stated) explained rules about drawing on fund balance midyear: ‘‘It can only be done if it’s an emergency, and it has to be a declared emergency.’’ She advised the court to limit use of fund balance to one-time purchases rather than ongoing operating expenses. The court discussed using a mix of fund-balance transfers and reassigning one-time capital items (for example, $161,200 in IT capital purchases that include network switches and a penetration test) to reach a target property-tax rate the court prefers.

The court approved a $7,575 pay adjustment to raise Pete Murray, assistant chief deputy in the tax assessor’s office, to $60,000; that adjustment passed in a 3-0 recorded vote with two commissioners absent at the moment of the vote. The court also approved a $1,500 allocation so the newly authorized IT hire can have a county laptop.

Commissioners discussed legal fees for outside counsel (the transcript refers to invoices from the Ray firm) and agreed to defer more detailed discussion about legal billing to an executive session scheduled for Tuesday. The court paused rather than holding an un-noticed executive session when a question arose about legal invoices.

Votes at a glance - Approve $175,000 general-fund transfer to Road & Bridge (materials): motion by Commissioner John Stacy; second by Commissioner Lichty; outcome: approved, recorded as 5-0. - Increase fund-balance transfer to $1,500,000 (from $1,100,000): motion by Commissioner John Stacy; second by Commissioner Galana; outcome: approved, recorded as 4-1. - Adjust pay for Pete Murray, assistant chief deputy, Tax Assessor’s Office to $60,000 (net additional $7,575): motion by Commissioner John Stacy; second by Commissioner Galana; outcome: approved, recorded as 3-0 with 2 absent.

What’s next: The court continued several public hearings — including hearings on the FY2026 budget, the 2025 tax rate and the County Clerk’s FY2026 archives plan — until the regular commissioners court meeting on Tuesday, when the court plans to take formal roll-call votes on the tax rate and budget adoption. Commissioners asked the auditor to identify one-time budget items that could be used to offset the planned fund-balance transfer and to provide final fund-balance projections before that vote.

Ending note: Commissioners emphasized they want one-time purchases funded from fund balance rather than ongoing operating costs. County staff and the DA urged the court to create budget line items for expansions that will require immediate planning and hiring, and the court agreed to revisit legal-fee and executive-session questions at the Tuesday meeting.