Dallas’ New City Budget Prioritizes Public Safety and Historic Tax Relief

Dallas’ new $4.75 billion city budget was approved unanimously at the Sept. 28 City Council meeting.

The 2022-2023 fiscal year annual budget was the first unanimous budget vote since 2019, Mayor Eric Johnson’s first year in office.

Johnson expressed strong support for the budget, which was initially proposed by City Manager T.C. Broadnax and amended by the mayor and City Council members, noting that the finalized one addresses his top budget priorities.

“No budget is perfect, but this is the best one I have seen in my time as mayor,” Johnson said. “It is clear that our city government is moving in the right direction. This budget puts public safety first, prioritizes tax relief, invests in our families and neighborhoods, and strengthens our city staff’s ability to respond to homelessness, code issues, and corruption.”

The budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2023, includes the following:

• A 2.75 cent tax-rate reduction, the largest tax-rate reduction in modern Dallas history.
• An increase in the age 65 or older and disabled home exemption from $107,000 to $115,500.
• A plan to hire 250 police officers during the upcoming fiscal year.
• Market-based salary increases for police and firefighters and a retention bonus program.
• A new night-detail unit to work in the city’s entertainment districts during peak hours.
• Increases in instructors and hiring for Dallas Fire-Rescue.
• The purchases of an additional ambulance and a fire engine in addition to replacement vehicles.
• $1.75 million to address the highest-priority Dallas Fire-Rescue facility repairs, which was added in an amendment proposed by the mayor.
• A new $3 million master leasing program to rapidly rehouse people experiencing homelessness, which was added in an amendment proposed by the mayor.
• A new $1 million capacity grant program for homelessness continuum-of-care organizations.
• Additional Code Compliance officers to inspect multi-family properties and deal with illegal dumping.
• A $157 million plan to maintain street infrastructure.
• Full staffing support for the new Office of Inspector General, which will monitor, investigate, and prosecute ethics complaints and corruption cases.
• An increase in the minimum wage for city employees to $18 an hour.
• An expansion of hours of operation for libraries across the city.

Johnson also supported an effort to further cut tax rates, but the amendment did not obtain majority support from the City Council.

“Our city has an incredibly bright future, and together, we are addressing long-standing issues while building a city government that is as strong as the people of Dallas,” Johnson said.