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- Meetings of Interest: Sunday, August 27, 2023
Meetings of Interest: Sunday, August 27, 2023
Meetings of Interest: Iceberg, Right Ahead! 🚢
Sunday, August 27, 2023
Good evening, ,
Mayor Eric L. Johnson says the City of Dallas is like the Titanic heading straight for an iceberg. But he and his colleagues still have time to steer the ship away from disaster.
The mayor made the dramatic point, toy ship in hand, during Wednesday's City Council meeting. The only way to avoid sinking our figurative ship is to deliver real property tax relief to Dallas residents, he said.
"I say it's an iceberg because we can't continue to tax people the way we've been taxing them and think they're going to stay, think they're going to continue to choose Dallas to live and have their businesses here," he said.
The Dallas City Council has for years been lowering the city's property tax rate during the annual budget process. But because of explosive growth in property values, most homeowners still pay more on their tax bill year over year.
The City Council was required on Wednesday to set a ceiling on the property tax rate for the budget that takes effect on October 1. They will not finalize the fiscal 2024 tax rate until September 20.
Three options were on the table last week and Johnson was arguing in favor of the only one that he said would deliver real tax relief to Dallas residents (about $83.62 on a home valued at the median $334,710). That rate was proposed by Council member Cara Mendelsohn, who earlier this month
outlining her concerns about increased taxing and spending.
Prompted by the Mendelsohn memo, Johnson requested City Manager T.C. Broadnax
based on a "no-new-revenue" tax rate. That would mean cutting about $121 million from what the city manager originally proposed, according to Mendelsohn. That version of the draft budget is due September 1.
The Titanic imagery did not sway the mayor's City Council colleagues, who ultimately voted 10-4 (vote breakdown below) in favor of sticking with the rate Broadnax proposed, 73.93 cents per $100 valuation, for now. That rate would mean if you own the median-valued home, you would pay $64.99 more in city property taxes next year as compared to this year, Chief Financial Officer Jack Ireland said.
The debate will continue in the weeks ahead.
, a conservative political action committee, texted voters last week to call their council member and urge them to pass the "no-new-revenue" tax rate. More on that group
.
📝 Memos of Interest:
-- City Council members are asked to submit budget amendments by September 1, though they can also make amendments on the floor before approving the budget. A complete budget timeline is above, with
.
-- Want to see how the City is spending $456 million on Information Technology projects? I've got
.
--
on why city staff wants $30 million in the 2024 bond program for a data center to replace one that opened in 1978 at City Hall.
-- Staff responses to unanswered City Council member budget questions can be
,
, and
. An interesting table on Dallas police hiring and attrition over the past five years is included below.
-- Check out all the latest City Hall memos
and
.
One of the many budget questions answered via recent memo.
Meetings of Interest
A planned City Council budget workshop for this Wednesday has been canceled and the recently appointed standing committees are not yet holding regularly scheduled meetings. So, this week will be a relatively light one for meetings at City Hall.
Tuesday, August 29
💹 City of Dallas Economic Development Corporation, 9 a.m., 7621 Inwood Road, Dallas
-- The
led by former AT&T executive John Stephens will receive an update on the search for the entity's first CEO, as well as progress on goals, the 2024 bond program, board governance, marketing and communications, and other topics.
Wednesday, August 30
⚖ Dallas City Council Ad Hoc Committee on Legislative Affairs, 9 a.m., Briefing Room, 6ES, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- Briefings include a federal legislative update and potential changes to the City's adopted federal legislative program.
🤝🏽 Special Called Joint Meeting of Government Performance and Financial Management and Ad Hoc Legislative Affairs committees, 10 a.m., Briefing Room, 6ES, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- The committees will discuss the impact of State House Bill 14, which passed earlier this year and requires amendments to the Dallas Development Code and the Administrative Procedures for the Construction Codes. More on that new legislation can be found in
.
Thursday, August 31
The original Cabana Hotel opened in 1962 and over the years hosted The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Richard Nixon, and Norman Mailer, according to Preservation Dallas. (Photo from flashbackdallas.com).
💵 Design District TIF District Board of Directors, 2 p.m., 6DN Conference Room, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- This tax increment financing district board will consider a funding agreement up to $41 million to support a mixed-income redevelopment project at the former Cabana Hotel on Stemmons Freeway near Downtown. Steve Brown of
The Dallas Morning News
.
Quote of the Week
Dallas City Council member Kathy Stewart on the work of the organizations running the city's Public Improvement Districts (PIDs), including Downtown Dallas, Inc. The City Council unanimously approved the proposed service plans for Downtown and the other PIDs.
"There is so much great work going on in this city with our Public Improvement Districts and I want to say thank you to all of you for that. They enhance public safety, beautification, community engagement. In so many ways, they dig into a neighborhood and really make it come to life and I think we just need to tell them thank you when you have a chance."
Did we miss anything? Do you have any questions? Just want to talk about meetings?
.
Were you forwarded this newsletter?
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Enjoy your week.
Best,
Scott GoldsteinChief of External Affairs& Government RelationsDowntown Dallas, Inc.
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