Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
Show All Answers
If you live on more than 2 acres of land, there is no limitation on the number of dogs as long as the animals are properly confined to your property and provided with sufficient food, water, and shelter.
Impoundment fee is $25. There is a fee of $7 for each day the animal is boarded at our facility. An animal will be held for at least seventy-two (72) hours, in an effort to find its owner before being placed for adoption. If there is reason to expect an owner to come forward, due to registration and/or other tags/collar, the waiting period will be extended before placing the animal as available for adoption. All animals in the custody of Animal Control can be viewed on the Sunnyvale Animal Shelter's Facebook page.
The Town of Sunnyvale operates under the 2021 International Building codes and the 2020 National Electrical code with amendments.
The Board of Adjustment meets the first Monday of each month at 6 p.m.
Dates and times are subject to change. Check townofsunnyvale.org/agendas for meeting information.
The Planning and Zoning Commission usually meets the third Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m.Dates and times are subject to change. Check townofsunnyvale.org/agendas for meeting information.
Town Council meetings are held on the second and fourth Monday of each month at 7 p.m.
Cash, Money Order, and Credit Cards (Visa and MasterCard only).
No personal or business checks will be accepted.
Please make arrangements with a Court Clerk to get placed on the docket.
Pre-Trial hearings are held on the first Wednesday of every month at 9 a.m.*
*Pre-Trial hearings may be conducted throughout the remainder of the month at the Judge's discretion.
Show Cause hearings are held on the second Wednesday of every month at 9 a.m.
Attorney dockets are held on the second Wednesday of every month at 9 a.m.
Indigency hearings are held on the third Wednesday of every month at 9 a.m.
Juvenile hearings are held on the third Wednesday of every month at 9 a.m.
Trials by Jury or by Judge are held on the fourth Wednesday of every month at 9 a.m.*
*The Court must have enough cases on the trial docket to conduct a trial.
Sunnyvale Municipal Court is located at 127 N. Collins Rd, Sunnyvale, Texas 75182. For directions, please see map to court house on court webpage.
Sunnyvale Fire Rescue is a career fire department and is staffed by professional Firefighters and EMTs and/or Paramedics 24/7.
Our fleet currently consist of:
Sunnyvale Fire Rescue currently has two stations. Station 1 is located at 404 Tower Pl. and is our only station that is staffed 24/7. Station 2 is located at 537 Long Creek Rd. and currently houses Brush 2 and Utility 1.
The Fire Station that is under construction at 305 E. Tripp Rd. will become the new Station 1. It is expected to open December 2022.
Draft design for the new Fire Station that is currently under construction at 305 E. Tripp Rd.
Open burning can only be achieved with an authorized Burn Permit. Learn how you can obtain one.
CivicReady is a mass notification system capable of alerting you to events in your community. Learn more about CivicReady including how to sign up by visiting our Emergency Notifications page.
View our online municipal code.
Due to the age and condition of the sanitary sewer lines in the area, many residents within the Harris Addition suffer from sewer backups during rainfall events, and the conditions of the alleys within the neighborhood are such that they need to be replaced. As a majority of the sewer lines in this area are under the center of the alleys, it is efficient to replace both.
The Town plans only to replace the existing alleyways. Curbs may be added in some places as needed for drainage. We plan to keep all existing curbs..
Currently, all survey and line location work within the boundaries of this project is complete. If any stakes have been newly placed in your yard, they are not related to this project. There are franchise utility lines in this area and any stakes in your yard could mean that maintenance on those lines is scheduled. Please do not disturb any unexplained stakes in your yard. If you are concerned, please contact the Town and we can investigate further. This information is as of July 2020 and will be updated as construction gets closer.
At this time, the project is separated by Manor Way. The lines serving all homes east of Manor Way will be designed throughout the 2020 calendar year, and construction is estimated to begin in late 2020 or early 2021.
While the east portion of the sewer system is under construction, our engineers will be working to design the sewer lines serving those on the west side of Manor Way (est. 2021), and construction is expected to begin in 2022.
As a part of the project, contractors will be required to replace sod and other items that have to be removed for the construction. Fence removal may be necessary in limited circumstances, and the contractors will be responsible for temporary fencing and replacement of the fence once the project is complete. Any such removal and replacement will be done at no cost to the homeowner.
There will be times that the alleys will be closed during construction. It is estimated that these closures will last approximately 30 days. During that time, residents will need to park on the street, and will need to have their trash picked up in the front of the property. Homeowners will be contacted individually with more detailed information regarding scheduling and duration of closures as we move towards construction and this information is worked out in detail.
Driveway approaches (only the small portion connecting to the alley concrete) will be replaced as part of the project.
Please contact Town Engineer Lyle Jenkins for more detailed information about this project. He can be reached at (972) 203-4115, or via e-mail at lyle.jenkins@townofsunnyvale.org. If you wish, we can schedule an individual appointment for you to come in to Town Hall to view the plans and ask any detailed questions you may have. Please bear in mind that face masks are required for all persons entering Town Hall until further notice and we ask that you observe social distancing guidelines.
Home Rule is the privilege of citizens at the grass roots level to manage their own affairs with minimal interference from the State. Home Rule assumes that government issues should be solved at the level closest to the people. “Local self-government is the cornerstone of democratic government.”[1]
The Citizens of Sunnyvale voted to become Home Rule in May, 2013.
Home Rule - cities with a population over 5,000 in which the citizens have adopted a home rule charter to define the structure, power, duties, and authority of their local government. The legal position of Home Rule cities is the reverse of General Law cities. Rather than looking to state statutes to determine what they may do, as General Law cities must do, Home Rule cities look to their local Charters to determine what they may do. A Home Rule city may generally take any action that is not prohibited by the Texas Constitution or statutes as long as the authority is granted in the Charter of the city. Home Rule cities have the full power of self-government and may take any action in the interest of the citizens' health, safety and welfare that is not contrary to the Texas and U.S. Constitutions or federal or state laws.
[1] Frank Sturzl, Executive Director, Texas Municipal League
Home Rule cities must write and adopt a Charter. The Charter is akin to a municipal constitution that is written and adopted by an election of the citizens. The Charter defines and limits the powers, duties and responsibility of local government based on local preferences and desires. It defines the form of local government and establishes organizational provisions. The citizens determine the necessary controls over their city government such as elections, referendums, initiatives and recall, and define the procedures to amend the Charter. Essentially, the Charter describes and defines local government based on local preferences and controls as opposed to general laws written by the Texas legislature.
First adopted in May, 2013, it is required that the Town Council appoint a citizen's committee to review and recommend any changes to the Charter every 5 years.
You may apply for homestead exemptions on your principal residence. Homestead exemptions remove part of your home's value from taxation, so they lower your taxes.
For example, your home is appraised at $300,000, and you qualify for a $40,000 exemption (this is the amount mandated for school districts), you will pay school taxes on the home as if it was worth only $260,000. Taxing units have the option to offer an additional exemption of up to 20 percent of the total value.
No, only a homeowner's principal residence qualifies. To qualify, a home must meet the definition of a residence homestead: The home's owner must be an individual (for example: not a corporation or other business entity) and use the home as his or her principal residence on Jan. 1 of the tax year. An age 65 or older or disabled exemption is effective as of Jan. 1 of the tax year the applicant qualifies for the homestead and applies to the entire tax year.
There are several types of exemptions you may receive.
For the 20% general residence homestead exemption, you may submit an Application for Residential Homestead Exemption (PDF) and supporting documentation, with the appraisal district where the property is located. Once you receive the exemption, you do not need to reapply unless the chief appraiser sends you a new application. In that case, you must file the new application. If you should move or your qualification ends, you must inform the appraisal district in writing before the next May 1st. A list of appraisal district addresses and phone numbers is available online. If you do not already have the school or county exemption. If you have already filed for an exemption the new 20% exemption will automatically be applied.
The completed application and required documentation are due no later than April 30 of the tax year for which you are applying. A late residence homestead exemption application, however, may be filed up to two years after the delinquency date, which is usually Feb. 1.
If you temporarily move away from your home, you may continue to receive the exemption if you do not establish a principal residence elsewhere, you intend to return to the home, and you are away less than two years. You may continue to receive the exemption if you do not occupy the residence for more than two years only if you are in military service serving inside or outside of the United States or live in a facility providing services related to health, infirmity or aging.
If you are not the sole owner of the property to which the residence homestead exemption applies, one of these ownership situations may apply.
For example, if you own a 50 percent interest in a residence homestead, you will receive only one-half, or $20,000, of a $40,000 residence homestead offered by a school district.
Contact your local appraisal district for more information regarding your eligibility.
How much you save with the homestead exemption depends on the exemption amounts and tax levels adopted by your city, county, and other local governments. A homestead valued at $200,000 with a 20% exemption ($40,000) means you pay property taxes as if your home were valued at $160,000. Once you obtain an over-65 or disabled exemption, your school taxes are frozen (meaning they do not increase) until your home is no longer your primary residence.
No. A married couple can claim only one homestead.
If you rent out part of your home or use part of it for a business, the exemption still applies to the entire home, including the rented portion, as long as the home is still your principal residence.
If your homestead is damaged or destroyed by disaster and you cannot live in it, the homestead exemption will still apply for up to two years from the date that the physical preparation for rebuilding begins. You must rebuild on the same property and live there afterward.
Beginning January 1, 2019, the average residential customer will experience a monthly billing increase of about of about $5.63 for water and $5.33 for wastewater.
The average residential bill will be $140.42, which includes $57.18 for water (based on average consumption of 13,000 gallons; 1 inch meter), $67.49 for wastewater (based on average consumption of 13,000 gallons; 1 inch meter), and $15.75 for trash services. Your actual bill will vary depending on the number of days of service (typically 29-31 days), and actual consumption.
The new rates, approved by the Town Council, will fund the ongoing maintenance and improvement of the Town’s infrastructure, transition away from the take or pay structure required by the North Texas Municipal Water District and fund identified Capital Improvement Projects.
Just like other utilities, the Town charges you for reliable service to receive and use unlimited high-quality and great tasting water that comes out of your tap, is flushed down your toilets and drains and applied to your yard and landscape. (There are restrictions on the days and times allowed for outdoor irrigation). Water, which provides you safe, reliable drinking water and fire protection; Wastewater, which safely handles and treats the waste you produce, curbside trash/brush disposal and recycling.
By nature, wastewater is more expensive to turn to water than water is to turn to drinking water. The Town contracts with the Cities of Mesquite and Garland to treat the Town’s wastewater and they pass any increases on to us.
A Water and Wastewater Rate Study and Long-Term Financial Plan is conducted by an outside consultant every five years to ensure that the fees charged are directly related to the cost of providing service to our customers. An annual audit by an independent audit firm includes the Utility Funds.
No. There is no difference in residential rates based on your location. While the rates are the same, bills can differ between customers due to the amount of water used, the size of the water meter and the presence of a separate irrigation meter. While the fee structure charged to the Town by Mesquite and Garland is different, residents are charged the same rate regardless of which sewer system they are contacted to.
Yes, currently the Town is working on a plan for the improvements/replacement of the 12” waterline along East Fork Road and the 8” water line along Barnes Bridge Road. Additionally, improvements/replacement of the Harris Addition sewer line Phase 1 and 2 are being planned. The total cost of the four projects is approximately $6,700,000. The Town is also planning for the possible transition to Dallas Water Utilities to negate the take or pay structure at North Texas Municipal Water District. This transition will require additional infrastructure which is funded by a voter approved bond in the amount of $6,115,000.
The work is part of our ongoing Capital Improvement Plan. A generation of infrastructure investments in the mid-20th century is now reaching the end of its useful life. The Town is preparing a strategy for reinvesting in our system to enhance system reliability, and capital improvement projects are a major part of that strategy to better serve our customers.
We are able to make these investments thanks to customers like you and the rates you pay, and to voters who have approved the issuance of revenue bonds.
The Town’s utility billing department is available to assist you from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Simply call 972-226-7177. You can also visit in person at Town Hall located at 127 N. Collins Road.