Dallas County bumped its tax rate by about one cent this year — the first hike since 2010 — to cover its budget.
On top of that, the county is placing a proposition on the ballot that would increase the tax rate by another 2.4 cents. The revenue from that increase would fund $100 million annually in services to address homelessness countywide during the next five years.
It’s a big ask of voters, but we urge them to examine the details and support this plan. We don’t say this lightly, and we say it with a history of not supporting requests for tax rate increases. In 2024, we were deeply skeptical of a push to dedicate $200 million in bond dollars for affordable housing in Dallas, a city that struggles to manage the housing funds it already has. This year, we raised questions about a campaign to ask Dallas County taxpayers to subsidize childcare. That request was left off the ballot.
But the proposal from Housing Forward, the county’s lead agency on homelessness, is different. Homelessness and encampments that are both dangerous and unsanitary are the biggest social concern in Dallas County right now. The problem affects every area, and we need resources to deal with it. We wish the federal and state government would step forward more than they have. We can’t wait for that to happen.
Housing Forward has built credibility by reducing street homelessness in downtown Dallas by as much as 90% over two years, according to officials who track those numbers. Those of us who live and work here can see the difference. Downtown is cleaner, and tents are no longer sidewalk fixtures. Housing Forward achieved this by working with the city and other partners to connect people with treatment and wraparound services. It has used federal pandemic funds sourced from the city of Dallas and Dallas County.
Housing Forward now has an ambitious plan to scale its strategies downtown to the entire county. We recommend that voters approve Proposition A to fund that plan.
Housing Forward CEO Sarah Kahn said its plan would help an additional 4,500 households escape homelessness every year. A key ingredient of the plan is a central intake and diversion hub with auxiliary locations throughout the county. The hub would triage cases and direct homeless people to immediate assistance, including behavioral health support and other medical care. The plan provides for the addition of 100 deflection beds to divert low-level offenders from jail to a service that can stabilize them.
“In year one, to get visible results, we have to do two things: We have to resolve everybody who’s on the street today while establishing the infrastructure so every household is immediately supported off the street so they don’t become entrenched,” Kahn told us.
The proposal includes $4 million for light-touch assistance, $67.6 million for more intensive assistance with rent and employment, $7.9 million for supportive housing for the chronically disabled and $20.1 million for intake, deflection beds and mental health treatment.
Supporters of the plan point to Miami-Dade County, where police are trained to take low-level offenders to a deflection center. But unlike Texas, Florida has a state law that allows a person in crisis to be involuntarily held for 72 hours for psychiatric care. Texas needs a similar policy to lend momentum to Housing Forward’s work, and we urge legislators to make it easier for authorities to hold people in crisis without creating a potential criminal record.
Officials said this tax proposal will cost a homeowner with the county’s median taxable value about $64 extra a year. It’s no small ask given inflation and other pressures, but homelessness is a problem that affects all of us who share public spaces. Citizens should vote for this proposition because it’s the best plan we have to attack the root of the problem.
If Prop A passes, Housing Forward must take the public’s vote of confidence with utmost seriousness. This editorial page will hold the group accountable for results, and so will taxpayers.