Meetings of Interest: Crunch & Protect 👮🏻‍♂️

Good evening:

The $5.2 billion proposed City of Dallas budget for next fiscal year will be different things to different people.

For Dallas police officers and firefighters, it is a promise to pay our city’s finest what they deserve, retain the veterans, and hire more cops to bolster what has been a depleted force over the past decade.

For those who have fallen into homelessness, it is a hopeful sign that this year could deliver a pathway to a permanent home.

For the 100 or so city employees whose jobs are being eliminated, it may be a devastating professional and personal setback.

It is now up to City Council members to decide how much they want to change that narrative. On Tuesday, the mayor and City Council members begin a five-week process of gathering public input and submitting proposed amendments to Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert’s proposed fiscal 2025-26 budget.

As submitted, Tolbert’s budget infuses millions more dollars into public safety funding, in part to adhere to a voter-approved City Charter amendment that requires Dallas to employ at least 4,000 cops and pay them better than most departments in the region. It also allocates more money for streets and sidewalks, and continues the ongoing push to rehouse those experiencing homelessness.

She is also continuing her consolidation of an organizational chart that never missed a meal under her predecessor. She proposes combining four departments—the Office of Community Care & Empowerment, the Office of Equity & Inclusion, the Office of Homeless Solutions, and the Department of Housing & Community Development—into a single Office of Housing & Community Empowerment. That move alone will save an estimated $6.2 million, according to budget documents.

If approved, the proposed City property tax rate would also drop for the 10th consecutive year—but don’t get too excited because increased City service fees may offset any tax savings for many, The Dallas Morning News notes.

Tolbert’s budget appears to be aligned with residents’ top priorities, as seen in the most recent community survey and last year’s City Charter vote. Of course, it won’t make everyone happy. The coming weeks will likely bring some organized resistance to proposed moves like closing aging pools and an underutilized library. It will ultimately be up to City Council members to determine how best to respond to those pressures.

Final budget votes are scheduled for Wednesday, September 17. The new fiscal year begins on October 1.

📖 Table of Contents

• 📰 Highlights From Last Week's Meetings

• 📝 Memos of Interest

• 🤝 Meetings of Interest: August 11 - 15

  • Monday, August 11

    • North Central Texas Council of Governments Public Meeting

  • Tuesday, August 12

    • City Council Budget Briefing and Workshop

    • DART Committee-of-the-Whole

    • Special DART Board Meeting

  • Wednesday, August 13

    • City Council Meeting

  • Friday, August 15

    • Trinity River Corridor Local Government Corporation Board

📰 Highlights From Last Week’s Meetings of Interest

• The cities of Dallas and Fort Worth have ended diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in response to Trump administration threats to withhold potentially hundreds of millions in federal grant dollars, The Texas Tribune reports. The Dallas city manager “also ordered every city department to stop using policies and programs that consider race, gender, ethnicity, religion or national origin in decisions regarding the allocation of funds or benefits,” The Dallas Morning News reports.

• Dallas Park & Recreation Board members (including yours truly) signaled support for a plan to close two community pools and “right-size” hours at city recreation centers as part of next fiscal year’s budget, WFAA reports.

📝 Memos of Interest

• Dallas sales tax collections through the ninth month of the fiscal year are $6.7 million below the year-to-date budget, according to this memo.

• More “clarification” here from the city manager on how Dallas police officers work with federal authorities on immigration matters. The memo comes after 10 residents spoke at last week’s City Council meeting demanding to know the City’s stance on immigration enforcement. Read more on that from KERA News.

• Zoning reform will be on the August 20 City Council briefing agenda, including a presentation on a “Development Code Diagnostic Report” published by a City-hired consultant earlier this year. The reform process aims to make the code more user-friendly, predictable, and consistent, among other objectives, according to the report.

• Here’s the complete City Manager memo packet for Friday, August 8, 2025.

🤝 Meetings of Interest: August 11 - 15

Monday, August 11

North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) Transportation Public Meeting, 12 p.m., 616 Six Flags Dr., Arlington, TX 76011; Watch live

• This meeting agenda includes discussion of an Arlington pilot program that used autonomous vehicles and “aerial robots” to deliver groceries to Tarrant Area Food Bank clients. Learn more.

Tuesday, August 12

Dallas City Council Budget Briefing and Workshop, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

• This is the first opportunity for City Council members to publicly discuss City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert’s proposed $5.2 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins on October 1. Check out the briefing here.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Committee-of-the-Whole, 1 p.m., DART Conference Room C - 1st Floor, 1401 Pacific Ave., Dallas

• The proposed fiscal 2026 agency budget and 20-year financial plan is up for discussion ahead of a vote Tuesday evening on whether to send it to DART’s service area cities for review. Read the briefing.

• A briefing on proposed service and fare changes is also on the agenda. If approved, the changes would be implemented in early 2026. Read more.

• Board members will discuss proposed agreements with seven service area cities in the planned General Mobility Program (GMP). The initiative—approved in response to concerns from some cities about perceived service inequities—will reallocate 5% of annual sales tax collections back to those cities. Read more.

Special Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Board of Directors’ Meeting, 6 p.m. Board Room, 1401 Pacific Ave., Dallas

• Board members will vote whether to distribute the proposed fiscal 2026 DART budget and 20-year financial plan to service area cities for review. Read all about it here.

Wednesday, August 13

Dallas City Council Meeting, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

• Items 9 - 23 set the annual required public hearings at the August 27 City Council meeting regarding the 2026 service plans for all Dallas Public Improvement Districts (PIDs), including the Downtown PID managed by Downtown Dallas, Inc. (DDI) for more than 30 years. Property owners within PID areas agree by petition to pay an assessment rate on their properties for enhanced services, including security, cleanliness, and homeless outreach in the case of Downtown’s PID.

• Item 44 would allow a 90-day delay for implementation of a proposed Oncor rate hike that would increase the average residential bill using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity by $84 per year. City officials said via Friday memo to City Council members that they need the additional time “to thoroughly investigate the request and make recommendations to the City Council on appropriate action,” including challenging the hike.

• Item 58 is a contract up to $105,000 for security consultant services for the Park & Recreation Department. Guidepost Solutions, LLC, “will evaluate current safety programs and security measures, will conduct threat and vulnerability assessments, and will provide extensive recommendations for improvements to both the safety and security of the Dallas Park System.” This contract was previously approved by the Dallas Park & Recreation Board, on which I serve.

• Item 75 is a host of edits to and repeals of a long list of ordinances that City staffers say are outdated, unenforceable, or redundant (“Omnibusted”). However, this item is expected to be delayed so City Council members can discuss it further at a briefing meeting on August 20.

• Item 77 is a $4 million budget transfer of funds to support the Park Department’s management takeover of Fair Park from nonprofit Fair Park First. The City notified Fair Park First earlier this year that its management contract was being terminated.

• Public Hearing 2 is to receive public comments before a vote on whether to eliminate a nearly 40-year-old section of City Code that neighborhood advocates occasionally use to slow down controversial planning and zoning cases (“Zoned Out”). Read more about the proposal, which was endorsed by City Plan Commissioners earlier this year.

Friday, August 15

Trinity River Corridor Local Government Corporation Board, 10 a.m., City Council Briefing Room, 6ES, City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

• This agenda includes an update on the transformational Harold Simmons Park, to be located between Ronald Kirk Bridge and the Margaret McDermott Bridge.

🗣️ Quote of Interest

Did I miss anything? Do you have any questions? Just want to talk about meetings and memos and other fun stuff? Hit me up.