Dallas Moves To Unlock State Grants For Police Academy As Funding Gap Remains

Dallas, Texas, USA – March 20, 2022: Bronze metal City of Dallas seal on the concrete wall beside the steps to City hall Plaza. Dallas is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. | Image by JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock

The Dallas City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on two applications needed to unlock the remaining $15 million in state grant funding for the planned Dallas Police Department Law Enforcement Training Center at UNT Dallas. Because Dallas already included the money in its $25 million state-grant total, the applications would not reduce the city’s stated $82 million bond need for the academy.

The August 25 agenda lists the applications as consent items 28 and 29. Item 28, File 26-2408A, covers a $10 million application to the Texas Office of the Governor, Criminal Justice Division, for Grant No. 4922902. Item 29, File 26-2406A, covers a $5 million application for Grant No. 6003001.

Both support the center at 7300 University Hills Blvd. The agenda lists no cost consideration for the application actions.

Grants Already Counted

An August 10 city memo labels the full $25 million as awarded, says Dallas has encumbered $10 million of that amount in contracts and says staff was completing the process to receive the remaining $15 million.

Staff expected award notices on September 1 and planned to seek council acceptance on October 14. $10.5 million had been expended or invoiced through June; the memo does not identify the state-funded portion.

Available city and state records indicate Grant 4922902 is the second $10 million installment tied to the 88th Texas Legislature’s $20 million appropriation. A March 5, 2024, city memo identified Grant No. 4922901 as the first tranche, and the council accepted it on March 27, 2024. The available records likewise indicate Grant No. 6003001 corresponds to the $5 million appropriated by the 89th Legislature in 2025.

The proposed resolutions say Dallas would provide any applicable matching funds the state requires, but the posted records do not identify a match amount. The packets also do not include the applications or award letters needed to establish exact grant-specific periods, expiration dates or drawdown terms.

Planned Bond Need Depends On Private Fundraising

Officials place the latest total project cost at about $227 million and list $106.5 million as committed: $50 million from the voter-approved 2024 bond program, $25 million in state grants and $31.5 million in private commitments.

That leaves $120.5 million uncovered against currently committed sources. March and April 2026 memos used a $185 million project budget, but the reviewed city materials do not reconcile that figure with the latest total. Staff also cautioned that market disruptions could affect the construction budget.

The city’s stated $82 million bond need assumes fundraisers secure another $38.5 million to reach their $70 million private goal. The August memo documents $7.5 million from the W.W. Caruth Jr. Fund and $10 million from QuikTrip as received by Communities Foundation of Texas.

It labels the other $11.5 million as commitments and says the Caruth transfer to the city project office remained pending.

On August 12, the council called a November 3 election on a $443 million general obligation bond proposition for public safety facilities. The city’s financing plan assigns $82 million to the academy, but the ballot language authorizes borrowing broadly and specifies no academy amount. Voter approval would authorize debt, not issue or spend it.

If voters approve and Dallas follows its plan, the academy would draw on $132 million in voter-authorized bond capacity, including $50 million approved in 2024.

The council also approved the $29,032,022 site-construction package previously reported by The Dallas Express. The final authorization matched the posted amount and raised Swinerton Builders’ total contract authorization to $29,182,022, using 2024 bond funds.

Dallas plans to break ground September 3 on the center, which officials say will replace the police department’s aging training space and expand capacity for recruits and in-service training.