With 2017 Projects Still Incomplete, Early Voting Begins Monday For Dallas Bond Election
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It’s been a long road to procure more than 800 projects for a $1.25 billion bond election, and a final judgment will be made at the polls on May 4. Early voting on the Dallas bond election begins Monday and runs through April 30.
CandysDirt.com has covered the 2024 bond election extensively, particularly how the Economic Development and Housing propositions will potentially impact the real estate community.
Of course, all the propositions have the potential to create a better Dallas that’s more attractive to home buyers and businesses. It comes down to whether votes think debt should be issued for each of 10 individual propositions.
Developer Alan Hoffmann said it’s important to funnel a good chunk of bond funds toward infrastructure, because, as the 1989 Kevin Costner film Field of Dreams advises, “If you build it, [they] will come.”
“What we’ve got to do with this bond money is fix our infrastructure in these blighted neighborhoods that don’t have adequate sewer or water and the streets are terrible,” Hoffmann told CandysDirt.com. “We don’t need the city to partner with a developer to build 1,100 apartment units to solve the housing crisis in Dallas. That’s ridiculous. We need to build the underlying infrastructure. It’s not pretty. It’s boring. It’s not sexy, but it will attract developers if they put the right infrastructure in. The reality is that if they gave that land to a developer right now for free it still would not pencil out because the cost of the infrastructure is too great.”
Dallas Bond Election: 10 Propositions
A bond brochure distributed by the City’s Bond and Construction Management Office outlines each of the 10 propositions.
Here’s what’s on the Dallas bond election ballot:
Proposition A — Streets and Transportation: $521.2 million. If passed, Proposition A would fund the construction of, repair to, and land purchase for roads, bridges, sidewalks, traffic signals, safety projects, and railroad crossing noise reduction.
Proposition B — Parks and Recreation: $345.27 million. If passed, Proposition B would fund the construction of, repair to, and land purchase for parks, recreation centers, trails, specialty parks (ex: dog parks, skate parks), athletic fields, a golf center, pedestrian bridges, and playgrounds.
Proposition C — Flood Protection and Storm Drainage: $52.1 million. If passed, Proposition C would fund the construction of, repair to, and land purchase for flood protection, storm drainage, erosion control, and utilities relocation.
Proposition D — Library Facilities: $43.53 million. If passed, Proposition D would fund the construction of, repair to, and land purchase for libraries. The projects may include but are not limited to the Preston Royal Library and the replacement of the North Oak Cliff Branch and the Park Forest Branch libraries.
Proposition E — Cultural and Performing Arts Facilities: $75.2 million. If passed, Proposition E would fund the construction of, repair to, and land purchase for cultural arts facilities. The projects may include but are not limited to the Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Annette Strauss Square, AT&T Performing Arts Center, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Dallas Museum of Art, Kalita Humphreys Theater, Latino Cultural Center, Majestic Theatre, Meyerson Symphony Center, Moody Performance Hall, Sammons Center for the Arts, Winspear Opera House, Wyly Theatre, South Dallas Cultural Center, and the Bath House Cultural Center.
Proposition F — Public Safety Facilities: $90 million. If passed, Proposition F would fund the construction of, repair to, and land purchase for public safety projects. The projects may include but are not limited to the repair of police substations, fire stations, police and fire administrative facilities, and police and fire training facilities. Proposed projects may include but are not limited to the construction of a Police Training Academy, the renovation of Fire Station No. 11, and the replacement of Fire Station No. 43.
Proposition G — Economic Development: $72.3 million. If passed, Proposition G would fund economic development programs pursuant to the City of Dallas Economic Development Incentive Policy, including grants and incentives for commercial, industrial, retail, residential, or mixed-use development, infrastructure development, and land purchase.
Proposition H — Housing: $26.4 million. If passed, Proposition H would fund affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization initiatives, including constructing affordable housing, infrastructure construction, and land purchase.
Proposition I — Homelessness: $19 million. If passed, Proposition I would fund the construction, repair, and land purchase for permanent, supportive, and short-term housing for the homeless.
Proposition J — Information Technology: $5 million. If passed, Proposition J would fund the construction of, repair to, and land purchase for the City’s information technology facilities. The projects may include but are not limited to constructing a City Data Center and improving access control systems, power supply, and fire alarm/life safety systems.
Council Members Address Individual Bond Propositions
District 12 Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn took a deeper dive into what’s on the Dallas bond election ballot, suggesting that she’s voting against Proposition C (Flooding and Erosion) and Proposition H (Housing).
Those propositions are important but can be funded in other ways that don’t require city debt, Mendelsohn wrote in an April 15 guest column for CandysDirt.com.
“For instance, flooding and erosion projects can be funded by a revenue bond and added to your water bill (less expensive) and housing projects have more than a dozen different ways of receiving tax exemptions and financing through the federal, state, and county governments, as well as programs unique to Dallas,” Mendelsohn wrote.
District 1 Councilman Chad West created a series of videos showing his support for each of the bond propositions.
“We have a unique opportunity to support $1.25 billion in funding for our streets, our roads, our sidewalks and alleys, our parks, our fire stations, and our North Oak Cliff Library,” West said in the introduction video. “There are 10 bond propositions I’m going to talk to you about … and hopefully convince you to support them.”
Status of 2017 Bond Projects
Some of the criticism around the May 4 bond election stems from the fact that projects approved in a 2017 bond remain incomplete. About 1,400 projects were approved in a $1.05 billion bond, to be “substantially complete” over five years.
About $20 million was committed to homelessness for five projects but zero have started. Of 1,039 streets and transportation projects approved in the previous bond, 844 are complete with another 172 started.
Track the status of 2017 bond projects here and follow CandysDirt.com for Election Day coverage and reactions.
