Dallas City Council finalizes $1.25 billion bond proposal Wednesday

Dallas City Council members Wednesday finalized the 2024 capital bond propositions that will be included in a $1.25 billion bond referendum for voters to decide in May.

Council members voted 14-1 to approve the propositions that the bond money would address.

The biggest ticket item on the May bond ballot would be more than $520 million to pay for street projects throughout the City of Dallas. That amount represents nearly half of the entire bond package.

The second-most money - $345 million allocated for parks projects in the city.

Here is a breakdown of the dollar amounts for the nine propositions:

• $521.2 million for streets and transportation
• $345.27 million for parks and recreation
• $90 million for public safety
• $75.2 million for cultural art facilities
• $72.3 million for economic development
• $52.1 million for flood protection and storm drainage
• $43.53 million for libraries
• $26.4 million for housing
• $19.0 million for homeless facilities
• $5 million for Information Technology

The City Council dropped City Hall and Stemmons Building updates from the package.

Wednesday’s meeting was the deadline to set the ballot for the May election.

There was a last-minute effort by Councilman Adam Bazaldua to shift funding for serious problems at 46-year-old Dallas City Hall.

City Building Services Director John Johnson said the building has $28 million in deferred maintenance inside and another $42 million in problems beneath the building and in the underground parking garage from seeping water.

"That’s a longer-term conversation about the future of this building because the more that in infiltrates and goes under, the foundation is eroded and that’s going to cause structural settlement and we’re going to have more costly repairs if we continue to occupy this building," Johnson said.

The city hall problems have been bypassed in the past several Dallas bond referendums.

"Where would the city government move to?" asked Council Member Paula Blackmon. "It opened in '78. It was a little over $49 million, an I.M. Pei building. It would be a $1 billion now."

Bazaldua said city workers suffer working in the building.

"Every single staff member that I know, we have breakers that trip because of people’s individual heaters so they can be comfortable at work," Bazaldua said.

The push to add Dallas City Hall to this year's bond referendum died in a 12 to 3 vote. City Manager T.C. Broadnax said he would seek other ways to fix the serious City Hall issues.

It is one of many examples of serious deferred maintenance in the City of Dallas.

The figure for estimated needs rose to $24 billion during this year's bond money discussions with a borrowing limit of $1.25 billion for address problems.

The final slate of bond categories was approved in a 14 to 1 vote with Bazaldua opposed.

"It is not easy to come up with a solution for $24 billion, $24 billion worth of deferred maintenance across our entire city," Councilman Omar Narvaez said. "A lot of hard choices have to be made. A lot of feelings get hurt. A lot of projects are super important and you have to choose."

Council Member Jaynie Schultz said the City Council needs to unite now to campaign for voter approval of the bond money.

"The message to the public must be one of unity and understanding," Schultz said.