Meetings of Interest: Game Time ⚽️

DART gets a comprehensive FIFA operations briefing and vote on a GoPass app upgrade built for international visitors.

The City Council will finalize a new “Event Venue” land use category in time for a likely summer surge in private gatherings.

A Finance Committee discussion touches on the fact that Dallas’s short-term rental enforcement ordinance remains under court injunction just as the city expects its biggest tourism wave in recent history.

One year after its launch, the Safe in the City coalition marked the anniversary last week (pictured), noting continued progress driving down crime and homelessness in Downtown. The event included the announcement of a privately funded Dallas Police Downtown Command Center opening soon at Radiance Plaza, directly across from City Hall. The location is funded for at least three years with nearly $1 million from the Dallas Citizens Council and the Dallas Regional Chamber. The Communities Foundation of Texas and the Hoblitzelle Foundation are also major contributors to the Safe in the City effort. The 10th-floor facility will serve as a joint operations hub for DPD to collaborate with Downtown Dallas, Inc., DART, and private security partners. It is the first dedicated physical presence for Downtown’s newly created patrol division. Read more.

Downtown has also launched FIFA-related activations after completing more than 70 infrastructure improvements across the core. Learn more.

Following last week’s City Council discussion on potentially restoring Dallas City Hall, The Dallas Morning News editorial board writes that one key element is missing from the debate over the I.M. Pei-designed structure's future: the Dallas Mavericks’ vision for what might come next.

The latest budget report shows the City’s General Fund tracking $14.2 million over budget on expenditures — driven largely by Dallas fire ($7.5 million over) and police ($5.4 million over) uniform overtime — while revenues come in $3.3 million short as sales tax collections soften. Employee Benefits is forecast $15.1 million over budget thanks to rising pharmacy claims and GLP-1 utilization, an overage the city plans to close with a department surcharge. Read the full report.

As part of ongoing “nighttime entertainment enforcement” work (sounds like a good time), the City is clarifying how establishments are classified and ensuring that restaurant certificates of occupancy are not misused for bar or entertainment operations. New guidelines define restaurants based on operational characteristics, not just permits, and proposed code amendments will allow the city to deny or revoke certificates of occupancy if required operational licenses are inactive. City officials say these changes aim to improve consistency, public safety, and clarity for businesses and enforcement staff. Read more.

City officials have reviewed 60 public-facing facilities for Americans with Disabilities Act compliance since authorizing a transition plan in 2019, with completed projects at libraries, recreation centers, fire stations, and City Hall itself. Council members are asked to weigh in on project priorities by May 29. Read the memo.

Here’s the complete city manager memo packet for Friday, May 22, 2026.

The City’s short-term rental ordinance remains under a temporary court injunction and is currently unenforceable. That means Dallas will have to use noise, zoning, and special events permitting to address problem short-term rental properties as it heads into the World Cup and an influx of international visitors. Read more.

Heading into next year’s 90th Texas Legislature, the City of Dallas may formally oppose casino gaming expansion, while supporting voter-approved flexibility to exceed the 3.5% property tax revenue cap. City officials are also considering pushing for expanded use of Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) dollars. Read more.

Committee members are also set for a briefing on a proposed Atmos rate hike settlement, ahead of a full City Council vote on Wednesday.

Board members are also expected to formalize service changes resulting from Highland Park’s voter-approved withdrawal from the system. The town’s exit means $3.6 million in lost revenue this fiscal year (May 14 through September 30), growing to $9.5 million beginning next fiscal year, according to agenda documents. The decision to drop DART (a GoldHam Group client) has consequences for riders who relied on 15 bus stops within the town’s boundaries, as documented recently by The Dallas Morning News.

A vote is also required to remove Highland Park from the cities that Board Member Gary A. Slagel represents. Slagel, a former board chair, will represent Richardson, Addison, and University Park going forward.

Items 15 - 18 are consultant contracts tied to the $2.5 billion Dallas Love Field Expansion Airport Program (LEAP), the biggest redevelopment in the airport’s long history. The contracts are for executive advisory services (Boston Consulting Group), program management (HNTB Corporation), utilities planning (Freese and Nichols), and digital/BIM services (Parsons Transportation Group).

Item 19 authorizes up to $1.3 million in aviation funding to upgrade the current Federal Aviation Administration Emergency Communication Notification System, as the current system for Dallas Love Field and Dallas Executive Airport is more than 60 years old.

Item 20 will give more than 7 acres of City land to Veterans Community Project, a national nonprofit that builds tiny-home communities for homeless veterans. The southern Dallas site is roughly 100 feet from the Dallas VA Medical Center and 50 feet from DART's VA Medical Center Station. VCP plans to design, fund, and build approximately 50 stand-alone cottage-style homes, a 6,000-square-foot community center, and on-site support services. There is no cost to the City, with VCP required to raise at least $4 million in private funding before the land transfers. Total project cost is estimated at $15 million.

Item 32 will deny Atmos Energy's requested $38.1 million annual rate increase and instead adopt a negotiated settlement of $34.1 million. The reduction comes after the city’s rate consultant determined the full ask wasn’t justified. For the average Dallas residential customer, that still means a $9.46 per month increase effective June 1, the eighth rate adjustment since 2011. Read more in this Tuesday Committee on Finance briefing.

Public Hearing 2 is a hearing and vote to create a new "Event Venue" land use in the Dallas Development Code, filling a gap that has forced private event spaces (wedding venues, banquet halls, fundraiser spaces) to operate under the ill-fitting "Commercial Amusement" classification, city officials say. The timing is driven in part by FIFA, with the City expecting a surge in private gathering spaces this summer.

Public Hearing 3 is to gather resident input on the budget for fiscal 2026-27, which the City Council will vote on in September.

Public Hearing 5 will gather input ahead of a vote to create the Halperin Park Public Improvement District, a new 10-year PID (2027–2036) in Council Districts 1 and 4 managed by the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation. That’s the same nonprofit behind the grand new deck park over Interstate 35E just outside the Dallas Zoo. The district would levy assessments starting at $0.15 per $100 of appraised value to fund enhanced safety, security, and public area improvements around Halperin Park, generating roughly $2.9 million over its decade-long term.