Groups that rely on annual City funding are bracing for potential budget cuts this week, but uncertainty remains over how deep the reductions may go.
City staff set a deadline of noon this past Friday for council members to submit proposed amendments, and promised to share the submissions later Friday. All amendments must include a specific “source of funds” and a corresponding “use of funds” that balances.
No amendments were publicly posted until today, with two included in Wednesday’s briefing materials. Dallas City Council members are expected to take non-binding “straw votes” on these and any other amendments during Wednesday’s meeting.
Council members are not obligated to submit amendments in advance. They can generally propose them in real time during budget deliberations. But historically — and in the interest of transparency — many budget amendments are shared with the public before deliberations so that impacted groups can prepare and advocate for their interests.
Council Member Chad West wants to eliminate funding for AI cameras mounted on sanitation trucks to catch code violations. He proposes that the $852,000 would be better spent reducing the average sanitation fee for residents by 20 cents per month. City staff says the AI cameras resulted in 1,800 “courtesy notices” in August and that the technology “allows the city to maximize efficiency and minimize cost.”
Council Member Zarin Gracey is proposing a $1 million cut to the City Secretary’s budget for holding 2027 elections. He wants to reallocate the dollars to eviction defense, adult literacy education at public libraries, the Cedar Ridge Preserve, and the Trinity River Audubon Center. City staff points out that the City must fund at least one critical election next year: the November 2027 Mayor and City Council races.
Proposed budget amendments to be discussed at Wednesday’s City Council meeting. Council members will likely propose at least a few more amendments.
Separately, Council Member Adam Bazaldua wrote on Facebook and Instagram this afternoon that he will propose cutting $1.5 million in funding for Flock cameras, which have become a source of bipartisan ire. Bazaldua wants to reallocate $1 million to sidewalks, street lighting, and traffic calming, and the remaining $500,000 for eviction legal assistance.
Wednesday’s meeting will also include discussion of seven other budget revisions staff made in response to council feedback.
For example, City staff is no longer recommending an additional $500,000 cut to the City-owned Dallas Zoo in order to fund animal cruelty investigations. Numerous council members pushed back against that plan. Staff is now also proposing one-time funding to keep numerous aging community pools open for another year, despite a longstanding plan to close them.
As is usually the case, the amendments in discussion thus far represent a tiny fraction of a proposed $2.04 billion general fund budget.
After this week, the last chance for council members to amend the budget is the same day they vote to approve it, on Wednesday, September 16.
For more on the budget and other hot topics, join me over on the new Meetings of Interest Community Page. I’ll be posting updates, videos, GIFs, and more throughout the week. It’s like a Facebook page, but (hopefully) without all the personal attacks and misinformation.
📖 Table of Contents
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🗞️ ICYMI: Highlights From Last Week
Dallas City Council members may be getting proposals for a new Downtown City Hall location as soon as this week, North Dallas City Council Member Gay Donnell Willis tells WFAA’s Jason Whitely in the above-linked interview. Willis said she believes a move from the current City Hall location will likely save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. A vote could follow “not too long after” council members receive the proposals and detailed financials, she said.
The Dallas Municipal Court system costs taxpayers $28.4 million a year, but collects only $13.3 million in fines and fees, a Dallas attorney writes for The Dallas Morning News. According to David Payma, the City’s court system also requires attorneys to use a discontinued Microsoft Internet Explorer browser to handle warrant resolution. Council members are taking notice of the apparent inefficiencies in a court system that budgeted for 175,000 cases last year but docketed only 93,000.
Former Ellis County Judge Todd Little is out as head of a powerful regional government group. The “mutually agreed separation” from his post as executive director of the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) comes months after Little’s failed attempt to oust the agency’s longtime Transportation Director Michael Morris. As Omar Little (definitely no relation to Todd) famously said, “You come at the king, you best not miss.”
If Morris is the king of regional transportation, JPMorgan Chase’s Elaine Agather is the queen of Y’all Street, writes the Dallas Business Journal, which selected her for a much-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Downtown convention center redevelopment plan includes a makeover of Pioneer Park, one of Dallas's most visited spots. It does not include “plans to disturb any burial sites or remains at Pioneer Cemetery,” City officials tell Dallas Morning News columnist Robert Wilonsky.
The popular Lake Highlands Car Wash is one step closer to demolition and redevelopment as a mixed-use commercial project. Members of the Skillman Corridor Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District Board unanimously approved a plan to grant a $1.19 million subsidy toward the $4.75 million project. The proposal heads to City Council on September 23. Read more in City documents and in this report in the Lake Highlands Advocate.
Dallas City Council members on Tuesday, August 25th, voted to:
Approve Item 4, an ordinance sunsetting the City’s College Advisory Commission, created just three years ago, because it has struggled to “recruit members, maintain quorum, and sustain Commission operations over time.”
Approve Item 11, a $13.68 million funding agreement that includes federal, state, and city dollars for Phase V of the Trinity Forest Spine Trail, which features a route along the relatively hidden Parkdale Lake in southern Dallas. Learn more.
Approve Item 28 authorizing an application for a $10 million state grant for the long-planned Dallas Police Department Law Enforcement Training Center at the University of North Texas at Dallas. The academy faces at least an $82 million funding gap that officials hope to close with a bond election this November.
Approve Item 29 authorizing a separate application for another $5 million state grant for the DPD academy at UNT Dallas.
Approve Item 30, a $2.34 million construction services contract that includes repairs and renovations to all four elevators at the Wyly Theatre in the Dallas Arts District. Voters approved the funding as part of the 2024 bond program.
Approve Item 33, adoption of a maximum proposed property tax rate of $0.6978 per $100 valuation for the fiscal year that begins on October 1. City Council members can still set a lower tax rate when they vote on the final budget on September 16.
Defer Item 35 for a full City Council briefing this week. The item would amend the City’s Living Wage Policy to save taxpayer money. More on that below.
Approve Item 43 authorizing another $600,000 to pay outside attorneys for legal services in the City’s three-year-old lawsuit against the federal government alleging that the Navy breached the terms of a 2002 settlement agreement on environmental cleanup. The added fee brings the total for legal services to $1.45 million. Need more information? There’s a Robert Wilonsky column for that.
Approve Public Hearings 4 - 19, the annual required hearings and votes for the City’s Public Improvement Districts’ (PID) assessments and service plans. PIDs are created at the request of property owners to fund supplemental services and/or improvements in defined areas of the city, such as security, cleaning, and homeless outreach.
🔢 Number of Interest
$10.3 million
Total property tax revenue generated by 23 known data centers operating in the City of Dallas last year, per this briefing to be delivered to a City Council committee on Tuesday.
🤝 Meetings of Interest: August 31 - September 4, 2026
Monday, August 31
🕵🏼♂️ Dallas City Council Ad Hoc Committee on Administrative Affairs, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Three of the five positions that, under the City Charter, report directly to the Dallas mayor and City Council members are filled by interim appointees. Members of this committee are expected to privately interview finalists for inspector general and publicly vote on candidates to advance to the full City Council for consideration.
Six firms are in the running to assist with the search for another City Council direct report, a new City Attorney. Read about them here.
Council members will discuss changing a rule requiring members of the City’s Youth Commission to live in the district they are appointed to represent. Most Council-appointed boards and commissions require City residency, but not necessarily district residency. Read the briefing.
Tuesday, September 1
🏞️ Dallas City Council Parks, Trails, and the Environment Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Dallas is extremely hot. The City’s new Extreme Heat Intervention Guidebook provides a menu of mitigation and adaptation strategies. The guide includes near-, mid-, and long-term investments to consider. Read more.
Here’s a look at the state and federal legislative items related to parks and environmental issues the City is considering tracking.
🗣️ Dallas County Commissioners Court, 9 a.m., Commissioners Courtroom, 500 Elm Street, Dallas, TX 75202; Watch Live Here
Item 43 authorizes County Judge Clay Jenkins to execute a memorandum of understanding with “federal, state, and/or local agency partners, to allow for the use of County facilities for the purposes of security measures related to the” Republican National Committee Midterm Convention to be held at the City-owned American Airlines Center on September 9th and 10th. County costs cannot exceed $15,000 under the proposed agreement.
🤑 Dallas City Council Economic Development Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Briefing: Data Centers in Dallas
The property value of 23 known data centers in Dallas is about $1.5 billion, generating $10.3 million in City property tax revenues last year, according to this briefing. The presentation maps the known facilities and provides an overview of local and state regulations. Dallas is considering zoning code changes tied to data centers as part of a broader ongoing zoning reform effort.
2.72 MB • PDF File
The previously mentioned Lake Highlands Car Wash redevelopment project may also be discussed at this committee meeting.
State and federal legislative priorities are up for discussion in committee. Check them out here.
Wednesday, September 2
🤺 Dallas City Council Briefing and Budget Workshop, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Briefing: Living Wage Policy Review & Proposed Amendments
Council members will discuss a proposal to amend the City's Living Wage Policy by raising the applicability threshold from $100,000 to $300,000, narrowing coverage to labor-intensive service contracts, and setting the wage floor at the lesser of the MIT Living Wage Calculator for Dallas County or the 50th-percentile BLS market wage for that occupation in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area. Staff estimates the change could avoid as much as $22 million in contract costs over five years.
2.58 MB • PDF File
The previously mentioned budget workshop will include discussion of proposed amendments. Read more.
Council members will also take the first of two required votes on a budget appropriation ordinance for fiscal year 2027.
Thursday, September 3
✈️ Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Board, 8:30 a.m., Board Room - DFW Airport HQ, 2400 Aviation Drive, DFW Airport, TX 75261
Board members will consider a five-year $2.48 million contract with Alba-Robots Srl of Italy for autonomous wheelchairs to transport passengers from Terminal D arrival gates to the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) processing area.
🛹 Dallas Park and Recreation Board, 10 a.m., 6FN Conference Room, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Planned briefings include an update on Fair Park’s progress under Park Department management over the past year, as well as a fiscal 2026-27 budget update. Briefing materials are not posted online.
📄 Dallas City Plan Commission, 10:30 a.m. Briefing, 12:30 p.m. Public Hearing, Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Item 6: Texas Capital Bank is seeking permission to erect a new digital “changeable message sign” on the awning of its Uptown tower along North Harwood Street and McKinney Avenue. City staff recommends approval.
Item 11: Downtown’s Club Vivo at North Harwood Street and Pacific Avenue is seeking a 10-year permit to continue operating. City staff recommends approval.
🗣️ Quote of Interest
A stipend is like a mileage reimbursement or a lunch allowance. That word cheapens what we do and cheapens what the arts bring to the city… Arts funding is not a stipend. It’s an investment that pays off over and over for Dallas.
A note to readers: Meetings of Interest is an independent newsletter curated and authored by The GoldHam Group Managing Partner Scott Goldstein and edited by GoldHam Managing Partners Sam Goldstein and Vana Hammond. The content, perspectives, or commentary presented herein reflect the views of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the views, policies, or positions of any other organization, institution, or individual, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Any affiliations are for identification purposes only and do not imply endorsement.
Thanks for reading.
Have a great week.
Best,
Scott Goldstein
Managing Partner
The GoldHam Group
Sam Goldstein, Scott Goldstein, and Vana Hammond are co-founders of The GoldHam Group, a southern Dallas-based boutique communications, events, and public affairs firm.
