It was a very late night (or early morning) for bleary-eyed poll watchers in Dallas on Saturday. By 10 p.m., fewer than 4 percent of vote centers in the city had reported their results.
But that hardly mattered. The main event, 10 bond proposals totaling $1.25 billion, held such a commanding lead after early voting that bond supporters were already declaring victory well before the 10 p.m. newscast began. was.
By midnight, every bond proposal received at least 70 percent of the vote among voters in cities within Dallas County. Some were over 80%. Dallas voters in Denton and Collin counties similarly approved all proposals, but were less bullish on proposals related to arts and cultural facilities, economic development, and housing.
The bond package had its critics. The Stop Cop City Dallas Coalition opposed Proposition F, specifically the $50 million allocation for a new police academy. (They named the effort after a broader campaign in Atlanta to block the construction of a police training facility in the forest.) But at least 78 percent of voters in Dallas County voted for the measure. Acknowledged.
“Our communities and neighborhoods don't need more police officers,” the group said in an open letter in March, “understanding that investing in community care, not cops, keeps us safe. “There is,” he said.
City Councilwoman Carla Mendelsohn broke with most of her colleagues and their full support for the entire bond package. She ran a vocal campaign against Proposals C and H, writing her op-eds in at least two publications and detailing her opposition on her own web page. . She argued that the debt incurred through the bonds was a risky proposition for the city.
“Overall, Dallas voters’ insatiable appetite for government services and debt has placed us on an unsustainable financial path.” she said saturday night. “To those wondering if I regret being the only voice against any of the bond proposals, the answer is a resounding no.”
Proposition C, which directs funds to flood control and drainage, received at least 81 percent of votes among voters in cities within Dallas County. Proposition H, which would potentially pay for new infrastructure near affordable housing developments, received 74%. Parts of the city that fall into Denton and Collin counties are in Mendelsohn's district, and their votes are somewhat aligned with her campaign.
The nearly 300 Dallas voters in Denton County passed Proposition H by only 53 percent. (Proposition G, or gap financing for affordable housing developers, received just over 50 percent of the votes.) But they supported Proposition C by more than 61 percent. In Collin County, the 51 voters who voted were more aligned with Mendelsohn's campaign, with Propositions C and H each receiving only 37 percent support.
But Mendelsohn's message still resonated. The bond campaign coincides with the time when most homeowners are receiving their property tax assessments and dealing with sticker shock, and not surprisingly, the city's insistence that the bond will not increase taxes I started to look at it with skepticism.
Probably not, thanks to the timing. The city's property tax rate is made up of two separate tax rates: the maintenance and operations (M&O) rate and the interest and deductions (I&S) rate. The latter is used to pay off debts arising from corporate bonds. The city's current I&S rate is 20.40 cents per $100 of valuation and has been stable for several years. In fact, it's lower than the last time a $1.1 billion bond election was passed in 2017. (At that time it was 22.24 cents.)
Based on projections, city officials believe property values will increase by 3% over the next 20 years.
“If the 2024 Capital Bond Program is approved, the City's bond program will increase as the City plans to issue bonds over several years, repay outstanding debt, or repay existing debt based on favorable market conditions,” he said. The tax rate is expected to remain unchanged.” Jennifer Brown, City Public Relations Officer.
In other words, even as property values increase, the I&S rate remains at 20.40 cents. Although the tax rate is fixed, your property tax bill can rise because the value of your property increases. If it increases, it's because of the market.
Could the city have reduced I&S to offset that increase in market value? Of course. But something has to give. Bonds would need to be issued in smaller amounts, in which case maintenance would either continue to be deferred or come from the general budget. If so, the city will likely need to increase its retention rate to generate enough revenue to meet those needs.
City officials estimate more than $17 billion in deferred maintenance across Dallas, so last night's $1.25 billion bond package is no big deal. As dizzying as Saturday night was, there are still some realities that Dallas must address immediately. The city will also soon begin formulating next year's budget, deciding how to address persistent needs, including the insolvency of the city's two pension systems, an aging (and declining) city hall, and stagnant population growth. I plan to explore it.
Celebrate the new parks and libraries and road improvements you may see on your commute to work at some point in the next five years. However, keep in mind that the biggest improvement Dallas can make will require a significant gut check. Below is a brief summary of all the proposals that passed.
- Proposition A targets roads and transportation, directing $521.2 million of the $1.25 billion bond package to more than 437 projects.
- Prop. B would send $345 million to parks, and the city would leverage that money to generate more than $400 million in matching private funding.
- Proposition C includes $52 million for flood protection and stormwater drainage projects. Centennial flood control projects are underway in southwest Dallas near Mountain Creek, the 9th District, and east Dallas near Little Forest Hills.
- Proposition D allocates $43.5 million to libraries. At a cost of approximately $32 million, two 18,000-square-foot libraries will be built to replace two aging branches, with the remainder used to renovate and improve several other libraries.
- Proposition E includes $75.2 million for aging cultural facilities.
- Proposition F allocates $90 million for public safety, with $50 million of that going to UNT Dallas' new police academy. It also includes $27 million to replace fire stations at Cedar Springs in Oak Lawn and Lombardi Lane in northwest Dallas.
- More than half of Proposition G's $72.3 million will be used to help developers find “gap” financing to include affordable units for low-income Dallasites alongside market-rate apartments. . The remaining $29.2 million will be used for other economic development, with an additional $6.5 million distributed to Districts 1, 3 and 11.4.
- Proposition H would provide $26.4 million to build the infrastructure needed to build homes, making it more attractive to developers. The developer would then agree to sell or rent some of those homes at more affordable prices.
- Proposition I provides $19 million to address homelessness, including gap financing for permanent supportive housing projects.
- The bulk of Proposition J's $5 million will allow the city's IT department to upgrade the former IBM data center facility on Bellevue Street, adjacent to the Dallas Police Department's Jack Evans headquarters.
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Bethany Erickson
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Bethany Erickson is D Magazine. Throughout her career, she has written about real estate, education policy, the stock market, and crime, sometimes simultaneously. She hates lima beans and 5 a.m. and takes her SAT practice tests for her fun.
