Housing Issues Are a Priority For Dallas City Council Ahead of The 2024 Bond Election

Project selection is underway for Dallas’ 2024 bond election and city leaders are setting their sights on how far they can make $1 billion go toward streets, parks, storm drainage, economic development, housing, and critical facilities. Individual departments have proposed about $150 million for housing, $100 million for economic development, and $35 million for homeless solutions. 

Oversight for Dallas’ 2024 bond election kicked off this month as a council-appointed task force met for the first time to review potential projects. The Community Bond Task Force, led by Dallas Park and Recreation board president Arun Agarwal, will eventually make recommendations to the City Council. 

Jennifer Nicewander, interim director of Bond and Construction Management, briefed the council Wednesday on technical criteria for the projects and how initiatives on the city’s needs inventory are scored.

The presentation is part of an intense timeline leading up to a May 2024 bond election. 

District 13 Councilwoman Gay Donnell Willis said discussions at this time are centering around the philosophy of the bond program and why the city is looking to use bond funds rather than other sources. 

“I think our covenant with our residents is around public safety, drivable roads, alleys, their quality of life, just how they go about their lives,” Willis said. “Those are not necessarily places that we have other funds flow in.” 

Housing Priorities in Dallas’ 2024 Bond Election

District 12 Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn said Dallas has recently reported population declines.

“The philosophy we keep talking about is building for people who might be moving here,” she said. “I have a different philosophy. We’re going to be taking tax dollars from people who do live here and they need a higher quality of life so they also stay here. They have a lot of other options of nearby suburbs that have a different way than Dallas. When we provide parks, roads that are well-maintained, and libraries that are open more frequently, we’re more likely to keep people as Dallas residents. There are a lot of reasons to choose Dallas, but we also need to invest in ourselves.” 

Mendelsohn also advocated for designating at least $15 million specifically for housing the homeless. 

District 5 Councilman Jaime Resendez pointed out the importance of improving streets in disrepair.

“Improving unimproved streets can help raise the tax base,” he said. “The districts that have double-digit percentages of unimproved streets are in southern Dallas. We keep talking about investing in southern Dallas. Would improving an unimproved street help spur development in terms of housing? I would assume it would [invite the opportunity to build in a neighborhood]. I’m just highlighting this because this is an opportunity to do the things that we talk about, big picture-wise … increasing the opportunity for housing development. I think it needs to be a priority.”

In addition to a discussion on housing and other needs, council members prioritized information technology investments, suggesting it be listed as a separate item on the 2024 bond election rather than being grouped with facilities. The discussion comes in the wake of a ransomware attack that compromised city websites and created difficulty for residents trying to secure permits, make online payments, and access information. 

Timeline For Dallas’ 2024 Bond Election

Important upcoming dates for the 2024 bond election include: 

• May/June 2023 — Council briefings on technical criteria, monthly outreach campaign
• May-September 2023 — Community Bond Task Force meetings (May, June, and August), town hall meetings (September) 
• September 2023 — Budget and Management Services finalizes themes and bonding capacity

• September/October 2023 — Finalize city needs inventory briefing and briefing for council to select size and goals for the bond program
• September/October 2023 — City Council briefing on updated financial capacity based on Tax Year 2023 certified property values
• October 2023-May 2024 — Community stakeholder engagement
• November 2023 — Task force finalizes list of recommended projects and presents proposed bond program themes and financial capacity to City Council. 
• December 2023 — City Council briefing by city manager and task force chair of draft proposed 2024 bond program, public hearing to receive comments regarding the 2024 bond program
• January 2024 — Public hearing to receive comments regarding the 2024 bond program (if needed), City Council briefing of recommended bond program
• January 2024 — City Council finalizes bond program and calls the election for May 2024
• May 2024 — Bond election