1824 S. Fiske
Rockledge, FL
(800)245-7443
(321)631-1590
fax  631-2611

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Government

    The Rockledge Municipal government was established by a charter.  The charter says, among other things, that the city shall be managed by a mayor and six city council persons acting more or less as a board of directors to set policy (as opposed to becoming involved in the actual day-to-day management of the city) to be administered by a city manager.

    Councilmen and the Mayor serve staggered three-year terms. They are elected at large, which means all serve the entire city and not particular precincts. The City Manager serves at the will of the council.

Historically the financial management of the city has been very conservative and could generally be described as a "pay as you go" operation. With the exception of its wastewater treatment plant, the bonded indebtedness or other long-term obligations are almost nil.

    Rockledge receives its water from the city of Cocoa, which boasts an almost indiminishable supply of water for its future. While the tax mileage rate is among the county's highest, a close examination will reflect it is, the only municipality in the area which does not charge for garbage collection and therein lies a big tax advantage for Rockledge, residents. By adding the cost of garbage collection to each bill for its residents, they are able to enjoy an otherwise prohibited deduction for their trash collection service and do not carry the burden of a larger staff and billing service necessary to collect such taxes.

    If you notice that there seems to be a police officer almost everywhere you look in Rockledge, it is due to the image projected by the   "Indianapolis Plan" adopted by the city years ago whereby each and every police officer is assigned his own personal squad car and thereby the omnipresent image of our fine police force is created.   Patrolmen are responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of their individual patrol cars and since no one will be driving the cars but the assigned patrolmen, they tend to keep "their own cars" in better shape than has been observed of other officers driving "shared" cars in other communities.  This also results in tax savings to our residents when we can get more mileage out of our patrol cars at less expense than otherwise might be possible or practical. As you can see, the intended beauty of the plan is for everyone to benefit from it. Rockledge also has a crime prevention officer who is very active in our schools and community with not only safety but also crime watch programs to benefit our residents. Additionally, Rockledge has adopted the "91 1 " emergency fire, police or ambulance service system to simplify the task of our residents requiring help in emergency situations. Because Rockledge is divided by a Florida East Coast Rail- way Line, which could possibly result in the delaying of emergency vehicles crossing the tracks in an emergency situation, Rockledge established two fire stations, one on each side of town. In addition to enjoying the security of what most Rockledge residents feel is a very fine, competent and respected fire department, the city also offers emergency medical service from its rescue truck and maintains an ongoing program of training Emergency Medical Technicians ready to assist Rockledge residents in addition to the local ambulance service if and when the need should arise.

    You may also notice driving around Rockledge that there seem to be many identical green plastic containers mounted on two wheels sitting at the curb or to the rear of our homes. They are recognized as the famous Rockledge "Hobos" which serve a number of favorable purposes for the city. First of all, they look much nicer than garbage cans strung out, knocked down or rolled over, all around the city.  Additionally, they help keep the cost of garbage collection down due to their uniformity, which allows for them to be picked up and emptied mechanically with a mini- mum of manual labor or exposure to injury thereby also reducing the cost of workman's compensation for the city. Furthermore, if you are around here long enough, you will hear more than a few nice comments about our collection crews, who obviously do not have to face each new day's work with the same exposure to hardships and hazards that are commonplace in most other communities nearby. The city's wastewater treatment facility has, on occasion, been recognized as the best of its size in the entire state.

    Rockledge is still controlled by its own residents. Florida will be the country's fastest growing state and by the year 2000 will be 74% larger than in 1975. With all the tremendous growth potential you can imagine why that in 1974 Rockledge produced it's first long range "Comprehensive Land Use Plan", to ultimately insure that no land for single family residential development in the city would ever reach 5 units per acre and that even commercial and multi-family property would never exceed 14, units per acre.

    Not only does the Comprehensive Land Use Plan restrict density and prevent runaway development within the city, but tells how future zoning should be changed; where future roads should be built; and also deals with a variety of other important subjects such as traffic circulation, sanitary sewer services, drainage, conservation, recreation, open space, housing, coastal zone protection, intergovernmental coordination, etc. in every area of the city. The future is not secret, but rather is open to public scrutiny to the extent that any person may review a copy of the land use plan at City Hall at any time during nor- mal business hours. Many of us think it should be required reading for every resident.

    You may also notice driving around Rockledge that there seem to be many identical green plastic containers mounted on two wheels sitting at the curb or to the rear of our homes. They are recognized as the famous Rockledge "Hobos" which serve a number of favorable purposes for the city. First of all, they look much nicer than garbage cans strung out, knocked down or rolled over, all around the city.  Additionally, they help keep the cost of garbage collection down due to their uniformity, which allows for them to be picked up and emptied mechanically with a mini- mum of manual labor or exposure to injury thereby also reducing the cost of workman's compensation for the city. Furthermore, if you are around here long enough, you will hear more than a few nice comments about our collection crews, who obviously do not have to face each new day's work with the same exposure to hardships and hazards that are commonplace in most other communities nearby. The city's wastewater treatment facility has, on occasion, been recognized as the best of its size in the entire state.

    Rockledge is still controlled by its own residents. Florida will be the country's fastest growing state and by the year 2000 will be 74% larger than in 1975. With all the tremendous growth potential you can imagine why that in 1974 Rockledge produced it's first long range "Comprehensive Land Use Plan", to ultimately insure that no land for single family residential development in the city would ever reach 5 units per acre and that even commercial and multi-family property would never exceed 14, units per acre.

    Not only does the Comprehensive Land Use Plan restrict density and prevent runaway development within the city, but tells how future zoning should be changed; where future roads should be built; and also deals with a variety of other important subjects such as traffic circulation, sanitary sewer services, drainage, conservation, recreation, open space, housing, coastal zone protection, intergovernmental coordination, etc. in every area of the city. The future is not secret, but rather is open to public scrutiny to the extent that any person may review a copy of the land use plan at City Hall at any time during nor- mal business hours. Many of us think it should be required reading for every resident.