ROCKWALL — The Rockwall County Commissioners Court passed a tax rate and budget for the upcoming fiscal year and established salaries for the two incoming justices of the peace in a marathon session this past Tuesday morning.

Salaries for incoming JPs was the most contentious issue on the agenda. The state of Texas recently mandated that all counties at a certain population level employ four JPs, as opposed to the two that Rockwall County had previously. County Judge Jerry Hogan proposed lowering the salaries of the two incoming JPs compared to the current JPs. Precinct 3 Commissioner Dennis Bailey and Precinct 4 Commissioner David Magness were both in strong opposition to lowering the salaries.

“The salaries were set after a significant salary survey and through a long, thought-out process,” Magness said.

Precinct 1 Commissioner Jerry Wimpee and Precinct 2 Commissioner Lorie Grinnan were in support of reducing the salaries, although their proposed reduction was less than Hogan’s.

“The salaries were revised when there were just two JPs, considering their workload,” Grinnan said. “I think the attempt now is to bring at least some of the salaries in line with the current workload.”

A resolution setting the base pay for the two incoming JPs at $56,000 was passed by a 3-2 vote, with Hogan, Wimpee and Grinnan voting for it and Magness and Bailey voting against it.

“I am adamantly opposed to lowering salaries of incoming JPs,” Bailey said.

The court passed the current draft budget for fiscal year 2013, despite comments from Bailey and Grinnan against longevity pay for elected officials.

The county tax rate will remain the same as the past two years, $0.3864, after the court voted unanimously to pass to proposed rate.

The court discussed a letter they plan to send to the Texas Association of Counties (TAC) regarding legislative issues that impact Rockwall County. The letter includes the two recent special utility districts that were established in unincorporated areas of the county, despite the fact that the commissioners had no chance to comment on. The court attempted several times to appear before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, but their requests were denied. According to County Judge Jerry Hogan, Rockwall received a letter detailing the establishment of the two development districts recently. The districts will be taxing entities in the county.

“We’ve been cut out of the picture,” Hogan said.

The districts will build 2,300 new homes on approximately 600 acres of land near McLendon-Chisum, although a lack of sewer lines will push the project back for several years, according to Bailey.

“We’re not hostile toward the people involved in the project, but we’re for local control,” Precinct 1 Commissioner Jerry Wimpee said.

A copy of the letter will be signed by all five members of the court and sent to TAC, as well as other relevant organizations and individuals.

A state hearing regarding Regional Healthcare Partnerships (RHPs) and a workshop for RHP 18, which Rockwall County is a member of along with Collin and Grayson counties, are both scheduled for this Friday. The court received a letter from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Rockwall, asking the commissioners to reconsider their participation in RHP 18 and move to RHP 9, which contains Dallas County. Presbyterian currently receives about $900,000 from the Dallas County Hospital District, which could potentially be in jeopardy as Rockwall continues to move forward as a part of RHP 18. The situation is further complicated by recent reports that Dallas County may remove itself from RHP 9 and create its own RHP.

According to Bailey, moving from RHPs becomes more difficult, but not impossible, after Oct. 31, although Rockwall has not been asked to join any other RHPs.

As part of RHP 18, Rockwall, Collin and Grayson counties must submit plans to the state of Texas by Oct. 31 for projects related to infrastructure development or program innovation. As of yet, no projects have been requested by Rockwall County healthcare providers, so Rockwall has not been asked to contribute any funds for projects in other counties. However, the county will incur a relatively insubstantial cost as a member of RHP 18, according to Hogan, since they have to help pay administrative fees for Collin County, who serves as the anchor for the RHP.

According to Hogan, the county is “winning the war on the pigeons,” as efforts by a contractor are cutting back on the amount of the birds congregating around the county courthouse. The commissioners discussed a bronze statue of Rep. Ralph Hall that a group of anonymous donors has asked permission to build on the courthouse grounds. The court, while in favor of the project, wants a list of the names of the donors and expressed concerns over whether the life-size reproduction of Hall will be overwhelmed by the large courthouse and library on either side of the proposed site.

The court also approved an agreement for data conversion from PACS tax software from the tax office to the Rockwall Central Appraisal District; approved the district clerk’s archive plan, county clerk’s archive plan, and sheriff and constable fees for fiscal year 2013; renewed a one year database subscription for the Rockwall County library with EBSCO Publishing; renewed a one year interlocal agreement for fire protection services to non-incorporated areas within in the county with the cities of Rockwall, Royse City, Heath, Fate and McLendon-Chisolm; renewed an interlocal agreement with Star transit; approved two Texas State Library and Archives Commission Impact Grants for the Rockwall County Library, totalling $10,362; approved a one year renewal of the professional services agreement with Jake Williams Simmons to perform Fire Marshal duties for the county at a monthly fee of $1,000.