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- Meetings of Interest: Sunday, September 3, 2023
Meetings of Interest: Sunday, September 3, 2023
Meetings of Interest: 🍗 Defund... Lunch?
Sunday, September 3, 2023
Good evening:
Dallas City Council members this week will try to make their mark on the city manager's proposed $4.63 billion budget with dozens of amendments. The goal for most is to deliver property tax relief to Dallas residents.
The discussion comes as Mayor Eric L. Johnson and Council member Cara Mendelsohn are pushing for a "no-new-revenue" tax rate. That would mean cutting more than $100 million from City Manager T.C. Broadnax's proposed budget.
The City Council has for years been lowering the city's property tax rate during the annual budget process, with last year's reduction said to be the largest in recent history. Broadnax is proposing another reduction in the rate for next year. But because of explosive growth in property values, most homeowners continue to pay more year over year on the city portion of their tax bill.
Here's a sampling of what some City Council members are proposing for discussion at Wednesday's City Council briefing meeting (
):
Council member Paul Ridley wants to do away with the Dallas Police Mounted Unit (horses) in order to save $310,997. The officers in the unit would be reassigned to other positions.
Council member Adam Bazaldua proposes reducing the number of Dallas Police officers the city plans to hire next year from 290 to 250 officers as part of numerous amendments that would save a total of nearly $9 million.
Council member Gay Donnell Willis wants to eliminate Wednesday lunch service ($46,000) and the mileage stipend ($88,011) for her and her City Council colleagues.
Council member Mendelsohn wants to reduce proposed funding for libraries ($6.2 million), arts and culture ($843,590), and the Dallas Streetcar that connects Downtown to Oak Cliff ($1.3 million), among many other proposals.
Council members Ridley, Bazaldua, Willis, and Blackmon, want to reduce budgeted advertising for Bahama Beach Water Park in southern Dallas and Dallas Aquatics by amounts ranging from $100,000 to $275,153.
A final vote on the budget and tax rate is expected on September 20. Read on for more on this and other items of interest to Downtown Dallas, Inc.
📝 Memos of Interest:
-- City of Dallas Chief Financial Officer Jack Ireland responds to the mayor's request for a "no-new-revenue" tax rate scenario, which would translate to $104.2 million in cuts (FY 2023-24 NNR column above) from the proposed fiscal 2024 budget. The City Manager does not recommend making
.
-- Check out all the latest City Hall memos
and
.
Meetings of Interest
City Council committees are back in action this week and City Council members will likely spend much of Wednesday debating proposed budget cuts, as noted above. The Landmark Commission, City Plan Commission, and Park Board also meet this week.
Tuesday, September 5
🏞 Parks, Trails, and the Environment Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- Park & Recreation staff will brief this committee on the Park Board's
. Mayor Johnson and the Dallas Parks Coalition last week
.
-- An estimated 10,000 people are expected to attend the
from October 10-12. This is the premier meeting of park and recreation professionals. As part of the conference, Downtown Dallas, Inc., will host a session with Parks for Downtown Dallas and the City Park and Recreation Department on our Downtown parks renaissance.
💵 Economic Development Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- The City wants to start charging for parking in 300 spots in the Farmers Market Parking Garage in Harvest Lofts,
. Under the terms of the garage maintenance and management agreement, this committee must sign off on the paid parking plan.
-- The committee will also learn more about
(rendering above). The proposed $116 million project would deliver 160 multi-family residential units, of which 64 will be "income-restricted" for 45 years (see details below). A $41 million tax increment financing district subsidy proposal is pending before the Design District TIF District Board. City Council is expected to vote on the proposal on September 27.
🗿
Landmark Commission, Briefing at 9 a.m., Public Hearing at 1 p.m., 6ES Council Briefing Room, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- The commission will discuss proposed renovation plans for the Cotton Bowl (rendering above), including to "rehabilitate the front (west) facade by adding a horizontal addition – to the left and right of the central tower (main entrance)," according to background materials. The plan also "seeks to maximize the width of the primary concourses at the Main Level (serving the stadium entrances and the lower bowl seating) and the Upper Level (serving the upper deck) only on the Cotton Bowl Plaza side of the Stadium. It includes new stairs, elevators and escalators to further improve the speed and ease of movement through the Cotton Bowl. This maximization extends from just beyond the ends of the 1948-49 vertical stadium walls on both sides, along the Main (west) entrance fronting Cotton Bowl Plaza."
.
-- New owners of the historic 501 Elm Building in the West End are seeking a "Certificate of Eligibility" for a tax exemption on land and improvements for the next decade.
-- Owners of the historic Downtown Dallas High School building at 2218 Bryan St. are seeking approval to replace deteriorated fencing, and install new light poles and security cameras.
Wednesday, September 6
, 9 a.m. Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- The biggest item on the agenda is the aforementioned
. The City Council is also required by City Charter to
, with final approval scheduled for September 20. Amendments can still be made up to and including the day of the final vote.
-- An
says systems are now 99.9% restored. The Royal ransomware group conducted "reconnaissance and staging" for nearly a month leading up to the May 3 discovery of the attack. City officials say they identified and contained the breach much faster than most organizations that suffer similar attacks.
-- DFW International Airport anticipates a record number of passengers in fiscal 2024, according to
.
--
, and DDI is once again leading the charge. Besides DDI's Doug Prude, no one is more excited than Council member Chad West. He is one of five council members who requested a briefing on the annual worldwide event where participants turn parking spots into temporary public parks and other spaces for people to enjoy. The briefing also includes an update on amendments to the City's parking code. West writes in his own email newsletter, "the outdated Parking Code is holding us back as a city and hurting our ability to produce workforce housing."
.
Thursday, September 7
🗺 City Plan Commission, Briefing at 9 a.m. , Public Hearing at 12:30 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
🏞 Dallas Park and Recreation Board, 10 a.m., Room 6FN, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- The Park Board is being asked to approve a $262,840 contract with SWA Group that will include "surveying, platting for Park in the Cedars Park near the intersection of South St. Paul Street and Beaumont Street, and site assessment and site analysis of the Old City Park site located at 1515 South Harwood Street," according to the agenda item.
Quote of the Week
DDI President and CEO Jennifer Scripps in a recent Dallas Morning News editorial about Dallas Area Rapid Transit's (DART) decision to shelve Downtown subway plans, known as D2...
“Plans to connect the Oak Cliff streetcar with the McKinney Avenue Trolley have long been a priority for DDI and something we recently discussed with our Downtown council members."
Did we miss anything? Do you have any questions? Just want to talk about meetings?
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Enjoy your Labor Day.
Best,
Scott GoldsteinChief of External Affairs& Government RelationsDowntown Dallas, Inc.
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