Dallas City Council gets first look at proposed $4.9 billion annual budget

The Dallas City Council is taking its first look at a nearly $5 billion budget proposed for the 2025 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

Dallas Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert's top priorities include the largest property tax cut rate since 1983 and adding more police and firefighters.

At first glance, the $4.9 billion proposed budget provides $78.6 million in additional funding to hire 250 police officers and 63 firefighters while reducing homeowners' property tax rates.

Tuesday marked the first opportunity for council members to ask questions of city staff about specific provisions. These include a promise of more efficient, streamlined city services in permitting, adding a $3 fee on all Dallas utility bills, and closing the Skillman Southwestern Library branch in Northeast Dallas.

Dallas City Councilmember Jaynie Schultz, who represents parts of North Dallas in District 11, said the proposed budget reflects Tolbert's leadership.

“I think this budget is a triumph,” Schultz said.

The proposed property tax cut rate would go from 73.57 cents to 70.47 cents per $100 of property valuation. City staff said the 3.1 cent reduction is the largest cut in modern history. Two of the pennies in the cut were required under state law that caps the amount cities can raise revenue from reappraisals at 3.5%.

District 12 Councilmember Cara Mendelsohn said while the rate cut is a positive, it doesn’t do enough to counterbalance another 8.5% jump in the value of reappraisals from the Dallas Central Appraisal District.

“The tax rate is going down a historic amount, but it’s not going enough to offset the massive increase that we’ve seen in property values,” Mendelsohn said.

According to the budget, the typical home value in Dallas increased from $334,710 to $381,545 for fiscal year 2025. Even with a rate cut of 3.1 cents per $100 of valuation, the increase in home value means a homeowner in that scenario would see a property tax bill increase by $181.

If the home value stayed flat, the rate reduction proposed in the budget would net a decrease in the property tax bill by $94.62.

While praising efficiencies in parts of the budget, Mendelsohn said she would not support a $3 “clean sweep” fee proposed for all residential and non-residential Dallas Utilities customers.

The revenue, estimated at $10.5 million annually, would go to environmental cleanup efforts such as disposing of household hazardous waste, illegal dumping on public right-of-way, and homeless encampment cleanup.

District 1 Councilmember Chad West said it’s the best budget draft he has seen in his five years on the City Council.

“This is the budget I think is the most responsive to a lot of our concerns,” West said.

Still, West said he will continue to push for more use of technology, including AI, to allow city services to become more efficient and responsive to customers' needs.

He added that budget-themed town halls, which begin Thursday around the city, are important for public input. While attending a town hall in your council district is encouraged, anyone can attend any of the budget town halls to learn more and ask questions.

The Dallas City Council is expected to make amendments over the next five weeks before the budget is adopted on Sept. 18.