{"id":389137,"date":"2026-07-28T14:15:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T14:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/389137\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T14:15:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T14:15:07","slug":"3-young-dallasites-give-their-thoughts-on-the-citys-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/389137\/","title":{"rendered":"3 young Dallasites give their thoughts on the city’s budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dallas officials are set to wrangle with a projected $51 million budget gap<\/a> over the next few months. Sound like something you could handle?<\/p>\n

The budgetary season ramps up each August as city leaders negotiate and weigh priorities before the next fiscal year begins in October. Cuts have affected community pools <\/a>and libraries in prior budgets, but this year, officials have warned of tough choices amid stagnant sales tax revenues and state revenue caps.<\/p>\n

In June, before city council members went on recess, staff reported projected revenues <\/a>for the upcoming fiscal year falling roughly $51 million short of planned Fiscal Year 2027 expenditures. The gap, staff reported, was largely tied to a $3.8 million shortfall in sales tax revenue, state revenue caps and rising costs, including $13.8 million in employee<\/a> medical costs. A fraction of those costs were reportedly tied to the purchase of GLP-1 weight loss drugs.<\/p>\n

Past budgetary cycles have resulted in the closure of the Skillman Southwestern Branch Library, among other community offerings, although officials have said impacted facilities were well past their useful lifespan. This year\u2019s cuts could be even more wide-reaching, as City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has reportedly asked general fund departments to preemptively identify cuts totaling 15% of their annual budget. For the parks department, those cuts could translate into the closure <\/a>of four recreation centers and a reduction in mowing frequency.<\/p>\n

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The city has projected a FY 2027 budget of roughly $5.39 billion, which would be the largest in the city\u2019s history, though that figure is likely to change in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Several council members have said budgetary decisions will have to be made in light of the enduring and controversial question of what to do with Dallas City Hall<\/a>. Officials will also have to grapple with the realities of Proposition U<\/a>, a voter-approved city charter amendment that requires them to budget at least 50% of additional annual revenue YOY toward police hiring and pension obligations.<\/p>\n

The city council is set to have its first post-recess briefing on August 5. Council members are also planning budget town hall meetings in each of their districts. <\/p>\n

On Thursday, a collection of activist groups hosted their own budget town hall at Wild Detectives in Bishop Arts. The town hall was organized by Dallas Neighbors for Housing, the Latino Leaders Coalition, Democratic Socialists of America, Explaind and the Texas Civil Rights Project. During the town hall, representatives from each organization explained the budgetary process and each department\u2019s role, and provided information on citizen engagement opportunities, including public comment at city council meetings.<\/p>\n

At the end of the budgetary segment of the meeting, attendees were asked to divide the city\u2019s budget into a pie chart on a piece of paper. It may not be the nitty-gritty officials will deal with in August and September, but here\u2019s what they had to say.<\/p>\n

Ankur B., 27 | Council District 1 <\/p>\n

Ankur, who works in the medical field, said while he understood the need for public safety, he did not understand why it takes up such a large portion of the city\u2019s budget. The city could spend up to two-thirds of the general fund budget, roughly totaling $1.35 billion, on the \u201cSafe\u201d pillar of its services, according to preliminary budget briefings delivered to the council. \u201cSafe\u201d includes the Dallas Police Department, Dallas Fire-Rescue, 911 and municipal court and detention services. <\/p>\n

\u201cI hadn\u2019t quite realized how much we\u2019re spending on the police, and for what looks like little gain on the ground,\u201d Ankur said. \u201cObviously safety is a big concern here in Dallas. But whenever we need the police, they\u2019re never around.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old slightly reduced both the fire and police budgets to allocate more funding to other areas, despite the Prop U mandate. In a June interview with Paula Blackmon, the four-term council member from Lakewood told the Observer the police budget and the department\u2019s 4,000-strong hiring goal may need to be reconsidered, adding that \u201ceverything should be on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of public safety, Ankur chose to increase funding for libraries, parks and infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur roads have sadly gone to pot, and I increased funding for parks,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we want our city to really match the global reputation it\u2019s developing with its large population and plethora of global companies. We need to have the infrastructure that matches that, and that includes third spaces and wide open areas for children and adults to spend time at.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that he plans to attend town hall meetings and voice his opinions on the budget in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do live in a democratic society, and that only works if the people of Dallas are civic-minded and go make their voices heard,\u201d Ankur said. \u201cFor example, the requirement to never take away money from the police department. But while I understand that it\u2019s a very difficult task, it doesn\u2019t mean that we can\u2019t do it better, and we shouldn\u2019t be imploring our elected officials to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veronica P., 31 | Council District 7<\/p>\n

The event coordinator said her largest priorities were housing instability, environmental stability and economic development, with housing coming first. In May, city council members said the city was facing a \u201ccrisis\u201d in housing <\/a>as staff reported that close to 28,000 eviction notices had been filed in Dallas in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are three factors that affect everybody,\u201d Veronica said. \u201cIt essentially affects one another. That\u2019s also why I chose them. If we focus on our environment, people would be coming in and also investing in our economy, right? And then also if we focus on our housing and stability, people would know that we have a community down here in Dallas that we take care of, that we are supplying for. It is systematic revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Budget town halls \u2014 or municipal politics, for that matter \u2014 are not exactly known for attracting participation from younger residents. To counter the issue, Veronica said the city should begin using City Hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cA good way that they would be able to activate young adults in the DFW area is by reaching out to schools,\u201d she said. \u201cWhy do they not have field trips going to City Hall that will encourage people to be like, \u2018Hey, you know what? This is how I can utilize City Hall.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

Tasha S., 33 | Council District 1<\/p>\n

Housing was also a concern for Tasha, a 33-year-old writer living in Oak Cliff. She said her rent has gone up considerably since 2020, which is why she prioritized it in her budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single year it\u2019s like another $100 plus on rent, and like I\u2019m in a position where I would feel like relatively lucky and able to handle it, but that\u2019s not something that a lot of people can maintain,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd just like the cost of living and like life happens, emergencies happen. Like it\u2019s hard as a city to maintain that kind of expectation.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked what she took away from the exercise, she related her answer to City Hall, of course.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of aspects you have to consider,\u201d she said. \u201cA lot of groups, a lot of interests. So I understand, like you\u2019re gonna have to make some tough calls, and you have to negotiate. But at the same time, you\u2019re there for the people. You shouldn\u2019t be representing other corporations, like the whole thing with saving Dallas City Hall.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas officials are set to wrangle with a projected $51 million budget gap over the next few months.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3084,102,104,103],"class_list":["post-389137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-city-hall","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}