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DALLAS - Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert released the proposed balanced biennial budget for FY 2025-26 and FY 2026-27 to the Mayor and City Council today, Friday, August 8. This year’s budget is focused on Investing in Priority Programs and People.
The Fiscal Year 2025-26 total operating and capital budget totals $5.2 billion compared to the total budget for the current year which totals $4.97 billion. Of that total, the General Fund is $1.97 billion, which represents an additional $61.6M or 3.2% more than last year – almost all of which has gone into the Dallas Police Department and Dallas Fire-Rescue budgets. According to a Dallas community survey, police service is one of the top priorities for the Dallas residents along with street and infrastructure improvements, traffic management, housing, and social services.
City officials faced a number of challenges preparing the proposed budget including the rising cost of doing business, the limitations that have been imposed by the State’s 3.5% property tax revenue cap, the City’s lower than projected sales tax revenue, and the fact that property value growth has slowed.
Despite those challenges, Dallas officials balanced the proposed budget while simultaneously reducing the property tax rate by 0.5¢ from 70.47¢ to 69.97¢ per $100 valuation. It is the 10th consecutive year the City has reduced the property tax rate. Since the FY 2015-16 budget year, Dallas’ tax rate has decreased 9.73 cents or 12.21%. For the seventh year since 2017, Dallas has also increased the property tax exemption for residents aged 65 and over or living with a disability, raising it from $153,400 to $175,000. Daycare facilities are eligible for a 100% tax break.
“This year we began implementing Phase I of our new budgeting process known as Priority Based Budgeting, which aligns resource allocation with resident priorities,” said Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert. “This foundational phase of Priority Based Budgeting included an initial review of City programs – and like many cities across the country, we had to make some tough decisions without sacrificing core services,” Tolbert said.
"We looked at the top priorities identified by residents in the annual Community Survey. We incorporated their feedback, as well as the City Council’s. This budget reflects a reimagining of service delivery, the elimination of duplications, the optimization of operational efficiencies and other measures that maintain responsiveness to the needs of the city," Toldbert added.
Budget Highlights:
- Keep Dallas safe by hiring 350 police recruits and retaining seasoned officers with a goal of ending FY 2025-26 with 3,424 officers, the highest number since 2016.
- By the end of FY 2026-27, the goal is to have 3,634 sworn officers.
- We are also working to provide market-based pay and step pay increases in accordance with the Meet and Confer Agreement for uniform employees – which expires in September – negotiations are underway for the new agreement.
- The FY 2025-26 budget recommends increasing starting compensation for police officers to $81,232 to be one of the highest within the region while maintaining parity for our firefighters.
- Contribute to the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System (DPFPS) in compliance with the funding plan approved by the City Council on September 11, 2024.
- Moving forward with plans to build a new Dallas Police academy at the University of North Texas-Dallas.
- The FY 2024-25 budget for the total street maintenance program was approximately $125 million to improve 710 street lane miles. The FY 2025-26 budget increases this investment to $162 million to improve 750 street lane miles.
- Advancing the Vision Zero Action Plan by leveraging local and federal funds to implement improvements identified in completed corridor studies.
- Continue with proven strategies to end street homelessness incrementally across the city, including accelerated diversion and rehousing from shelters, to prevent street sleeping with a $10 million investment to move more people inside and prevent overflow into our streets.
Click here for a message from Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert:
To learn more about the budget visit Dallas.gov/budget.
Budget Town Hall Meetings
The city is asking for feedback from residents about theproposed budget. Dallas City Council Members will hold Budget Town Hall Meetings in the month of August, in both virtual and in-person. Additionally, a citywide Tele-Town Hall meeting will be held on Saturday, August 16, 2025 at 10:00AM. Registration can be accessed at https://tthm.wufoo.com/forms/city-of-dallas-teletownhall-registration/. The full schedule of meetings and more information about how to participate are available at dal.city/dallasbudgettownhall.
If you plan to attend one of the in-person meetings, please check the event calendar the day of and follow your Council Member’s social media channels for changes or updates.
Budget 101 Animated Videos
As crucial as a city budget is when it comes to providing basic services to residents, it can be a bit intimidating. The terminology, big numbers, and all the charts and graphs can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. The City produced three short animated videos in English and Spanish that explain the budget in its simplest form. The videos will be accessible here, including language access and closed caption options: bit.ly/cityofdallastv and YouTube.com/CityOfDallasCityHall. The topics are:
- Budget 101 – Budgeting Basics
- Budget 101 – Where Does The Money Come From
- Budget 101 – Where Does The Money Go?
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