{"id":392046,"date":"2026-07-30T14:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T14:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/392046\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T14:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T14:39:11","slug":"dallas-leaders-agree-on-cutting-costs-the-question-is-how-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/392046\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas leaders agree on cutting costs. The question is how much"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ducks<\/p>\n

Ducks enjoy the reflecting pool in front of Dallas City Hall. The World Monuments Fund has included the iconic I.M. Pei-designed building on its “Irreplaceable America” list.<\/p>\n

File photo\/Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n

Some Dallas City Council members expressed cautious support for Mayor Eric Johnson\u2019s budget ideas<\/a>, but questions remain about whether his recommendations can close Dallas\u2019 $51 million budget gap.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the first time Johnson has suggested cutting City Hall spending. Over the past seven years, the mayor has wanted to lower the tax rate and cut the city government\u2019s staff but has rarely swung council consensus in his direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But things may be different this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Johnson released a detailed roadmap last week, including suggestions to let coffee shops operate out of libraries and save money on maintenance, hiking fees at city facilities for outside visitors and insurance by pooling vehicles among departments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He reiterated he wanted to protect public safety funding while lowering the tax rate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His proposal now sets the stage for difficult choices awaiting the council. Budget discussions begin Aug. 11, and while few disagree with the mayor\u2019s emphasis on a leaner budget and lower taxes, some said the city\u2019s long-term financial health may require making cuts past councils have often backed away from.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m not against\u201d the mayor\u2019s budget, council member Paula Blackmon said. \u201cI don’t see how his suggestions equal $50 million worth of cuts because to me you\u2019re going to have to go at overtime, people\u2019s employment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Council member Kathy Stewart supports the mayor\u2019s focus on fiscal responsibility and said the city needs to be \u201cgood stewards of taxpayer dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cAs we face these hard budget decisions, we need to continue our commitment to core services like public safety, parks, libraries and infrastructure,\u201d Stewart said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Council member Gay Donnell Willis said the city can use this opportunity to improve its approach to public-private partnerships and growing philanthropic efforts across departments such as arts and culture, parks and other public services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCuts aren\u2019t the only way,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For instance, the city set up a relatively new data analytics department in 2020. Willis said the department has proven to be important, adding that when the department began working with the Dallas Police Department to combat trafficking, the department increased enforcement and finding missing youth.<\/p>\n

Leaner government debate<\/p>\n

Johnson has often found himself at odds with his coworkers. He had a tumultuous relationship with T.C. Broadnax, suggesting the former city manager and top city executives take a pay cut during the pandemic<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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But Johnson didn\u2019t find many takers on the council. Instead, the City Council cut $7 million from police overtime. They restored the funding the next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2023, he banded with council member Cara Mendelsohn to lower the property tax rate and warned that the city’s budget was bloated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the council stuck with Broadnax\u2019s recommended rate,saying deeper cuts could affect the city\u2019s finances. The city relies mainly on property and sales tax collections to pay for services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rethinking services<\/p>\n

Blackmon said the mayor\u2019s new budget recommendations hold merit but ideas like opening coffee shops in libraries could not be addressed by the general fund. The council may just have to adopt more aggressive cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou\u2019re going\u00a0to have to go at the big dollars, not the little ones,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Willis said she agreed that programs such as the WIC program and lactation centers could belong with county health services, but the program has 18 months left on it and she wondered if it was strategic to let the program sunset before cutting it completely.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The question that now remains is where the council will land as a group.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last year, Johnson issued a challenge to council members: cut nonessential spending and reduce the tax rate. But the council instead reversed cuts to organizations such as the zoo and the arboretum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Johnson voted against the $5.2 billion budget, but he did get some wins. Council accepted his recommendation of eliminating city funding for state lobbyists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ducks enjoy the reflecting pool in front of Dallas City Hall. The World Monuments Fund has included the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":["post-392046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392046","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=392046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}