GIS asks county to join regional aerial and LiDAR purchase; warns of rising software costs

Jim Knickerbocker, Rockwall County GIS administrator, told the commissioners court the GIS office has two near-term priorities for data and software: up-to-date aerial photography and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) for the county, and continuity of core GIS software licenses.

"GIS is the science of location," Knickerbocker said, describing the department's work on 9-1-1 addressing, roadway centerlines, FEMA floodplains and mapping used by internal and external customers. He said the county's addressing dataset has grown from roughly 38,720 address points in 2016 to more than 60,000 today.

Cooperative purchase proposal: Knickerbocker presented a cooperative (COG) quote for a regional aerial and LiDAR flight that would produce a one-time, countywide snapshot. The quote includes a 6-inch aerial-photography package for Rockwall County and a LiDAR package; the full regional program is substantially larger but buying as a cooperative reduces the county's per-county price.

Knickerbocker and County Engineer Erica Bridges explained the intended use: the aerial imagery provides current orthophotos (similar to Google Earth but up to date), while LiDAR produces elevation and terrain data that supports drainage analysis, floodplain mapping, engineering and building-footprint extraction. Bridges emphasized LiDAR's role in identifying contours, water flows and impervious cover needed for drainage decisions in development review.

Software licensing and maintenance: GIS reported rising costs for licenses from Esri and for a redistricting product (Maptitude). Knickerbocker said a server/workgroup license is being rebranded to an enterprise license with a significant price increase and that small per-license increases across products added to an aggregate $6,000 request increase in the FY2026 operating budget. He offered to remove the county-engineer seat's $4,100 software allocation if the engineer does not need a copy.

Redistricting and timing: Commissioners asked whether Rockwall needs redistricting before the 2030 census. Knickerbocker said the county's current precincts are based on 2020 census data and 2022 published updates, and that mid-decade demographic shifts could make an earlier redistricting necessary. He said Maptitude maintenance is $1,500 per year and that repurchasing the software later could trigger a larger $5,000 re-purchase fee; he recommended evaluating interim demographic data from regional planning partners before deciding whether to continue the ongoing maintenance expense.

Data alternatives and drone option: Knickerbocker, and Bridges, noted an in-house drone program could cover small, targeted updates but that county-grade LiDAR and the proposed countywide aerial update provide a comprehensive baseline. Bridges said high-grade drones and related licensing are costly and that a cooperative flight gives more comprehensive, uniform coverage.

Next steps requested: GIS asked the court to consider the cooperative purchase and to decide whether to allocate funds in FY2026, to split the cost across FY2026 and FY2027, or to acquire smaller, incremental tiles of imagery if the court prefers a phased approach. Commissioners asked staff to provide interim population/demographic extracts to assess redistricting timing before committing to the perpetual Maptitude maintenance fee.