Civic Insights with David Billings
In the next legislative session, we will see greater efforts to provide more property tax accountability therefore as we race toward mandated property tax relief, it’s worth asking a simple question: What are “levels of service cities need to provide,” and how do we know we’re getting value for the taxes we pay?
What Are Levels of Service?
Levels of service refer to the essential functions local governments provide to keep our community safe, healthy, and thriving. These include:
- Police, fire, and EMS
- Safe and well‑maintained roads
- Clean drinking water and sewer service
- Robust Emergency management
- Community amenities such as parks, festivals, and public events
These services form the backbone of daily life in Rockwall County.
Let’s start with a simple question, but important one: How do we measure, or better yet, how do we find out whether people believe they are experiencing great service?
Statistically Valid Community Surveys
The City of Fate conducts The National Community Survey to better understand the mood of our citizens and identify critical areas for improvement, such as utility billing and city communication. Fate has been conducting the survey since 2019. It would be useful if Rockwall County and other cities adopted this practice.
Social Media
Another way is to watch and analyze social media, but we can all imagine how that looks. And of course, we have private social media groups… and you know how that goes.
Third Party Surveys
One popular measure of public safety is the SafeWise safety awards. SafeWise uses statistical analysis, but it does not necessarily reflect whether people feel safe. So what does that mean for public safety, and for the way we measure outcomes?
Awards and rankings can be helpful, but they’re only one input. What matters is whether our service levels are strong, measurable, and improving.
Rockwall County Strategic Plan
So, let’s look at another, more structured source: the Rockwall County Strategic Plan 2050, which captures countywide priorities and community expectations.
The County’s Strategic Plan also offers clear policy direction in addressing our future challenges for county.
Let’s narrow it down. In our county, one of the biggest questions is: Are we safe? I want to be clear, I have the utmost respect for our first responders.
Public Safety: A Major Investment
Since we have an underlying theme of property taxes, let’s look at one of the biggest budget line items: public safety. The next question is whether local municipalities are fully funding public safety, and whether we are funding our heroes today to stay ahead of tomorrow’s crime.
By now, you know I love data, because it grounds us in fact. Of course, how we interpret the facts is a whole different ball game.
In 2026, the cities and county adopted budgets fund $52.8M for public safety out of $147.5M in General Fund revenue, about 36%. Public safety spending is slowly increasing year after year. So far, so good.
But here’s the most important question: Are we preparing for the future of crime, or just funding the past?
Figure 1 compares Rockwall County’s total General Fund revenue with public safety spending, showing that public safety has remained a major share of the budget over time.
But funding alone isn’t the full story. The key question is: Are we preparing for the future of crime, not just the past?
Emerging Public Safety Challenges
As one of the victims of gang crime from the DFW metroplex, I have a unique perspective on how Rockwall County may experience crime in the future.
- AI generated deepfakes used for exploitation or harassment
- Gang Activity: Gangs from the DFW metroplex will continue to look for opportunities to exploit gaps in Rockwall County to commit crimes. Why us? Because we are a relatively affluent, small county next to Dallas County in the greater DFW metroplex.
- Cybercrime will continue to grow as AI is used to automate attacks on local government systems, stealing personal data or committing similar crimes. The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center reports that national losses exceeding $16.6 billion.The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reports cybercrime losses of more than $16.6B, a 32.8% increase.
- Rising reports of child abuse and family violence. We know our county only sees 1 in 10 child abuse cases. Cases at the Children’s Advocacy Center are increasing as education programs continue to expand. We also see more domestic violence cases as family pressures increase for many reasons.
- Drug seizures are an important and often overlooked part of the public-safety conversation. Illegal drugs don’t respect city limits, and Rockwall County’s proximity to the DFW metroplex means trafficking and distribution pressures will always be present, especially along major transportation corridors. While we routinely see headlines about individual arrests and busts, a single, consolidated “2024 total drugs seized in Rockwall County” figure isn’t always easy to find in one public report across every agency (county, cities, and DPS). We see the hard work of our law-enforcement partners, but we don’t always see clear year-over-year reporting that helps taxpayers understand trends and resource needs.
These trends highlight the need for modern tools, training, funding, and coordinated reporting across agencies.
A Roadmap to combat Future Crime
Rockwall County Strategic provides a citizen-based roadmap to fight future crime. Strategic Goal 6 is to expand support for the judicial system, law enforcement, fire, emergency services and public health services.
In plain terms, there is countywide support for specific things that should be considered to potentially improve public safety:
- Conduct a detailed study of the Rockwall County Justice System
- Create a plan to address increasing mental health needs
- Regularly assess the state of law enforcement and the judicial system
- Review the Emergency Services Corporation charter
- Enhance the County Disaster Response Plan
- Improve county health and welfare outcomes
The question I’m posing is whether we have taken the steps to reimagine or rethink how we approach future crime in Rockwall County as technology is evolving rapidly.
Our 2050 Strategic Plan outlines actions we need to take as a community. The next step is ensuring those actions are matched with measurable outcomes, funding, and the resources needed to deliver them.
Next month, we’ll move from big-picture questions to measurable outcomes such as response times, staffing, training, technology readiness, and what “fully funded” really means.
About the Author
David Billings, retired Mayor of Fate, has served the community for over a decade. A longtime business leader in the telecommunication industry, Navy veteran, and resident of Rockwall County, he brings both professional and civic experience to his writing on government, budgeting, and local economics. He is a graduate of Leadership Rockwall, North Texas Commission Leadership Program, active in several Rockwall County non-profits boards, and the American Legion.
He is passionate about civic involvement in local government, maintaining transparent governance and thoughtful strategic planning to preserve a bright future for the regions.
