Dallas, UP to Negotiate Potential Boundary Adjustment

Members of a Dallas City Council committee were skeptical of University Park’s application to annex Boone Elementary and Northway Christian Church at a June meeting, but still voted to move forward with negotiations.

Parents in favor of annexation have said the move would be mutually beneficial to Dallas, Northway Christian, and Boone Elementary by improving student safety and Boone’s ability to fundraise, and by relieving the city of Dallas of the responsibility for addressing street and other infrastructure needs.

But members of the Dallas City Council’s Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture Committee questioned whether the move would be advantageous to their city. They expressed concern about losing the property’s future revenue if it should return to a taxable use, and asked whether Dallas and University Park could come to an agreement without the need for a boundary adjustment.

“I think it’s a bad precedent to give up land of the city. This is something that I think could have long term consequences for the city in terms of potential future tax revenue,” Councilman Paul Ridley said, “and I just don’t like the idea that we’re abandoning some of our property to an adjacent city that thinks they can service it better than we can.”

Councilmember Gay Donnell Willis, who represents the church, school, and surrounding homes in Dallas zoned to HPISD, told the committee that the boundary adjustment would relieve Dallas taxpayers of infrastructure expenses, and that the cities could reach an agreement to share any future tax revenue.

“UP is highly motivated,” she said, “and so I think that any revenue sharing would be really beneficial.”

The committee’s decision allows Dallas’ city manager to start negotiations for a boundary adjustment or other agreement with University Park. The issue would then either move to the Dallas City Council, or return to committee.

University Park made its initial request for a boundary adjustment to absorb Boone Elementary in the summer of 2022. In June 2023, it resubmitted an application that included Northway Christian Church. The potential boundary adjustment would also encompass the streets surrounding the church and school, and Airline Road south to the current Dallas city limit.