Elections

Parks Bond Funds Increase as Council Members Pledge Millions in ‘Discretionary Funds’ 

By April Towery / February 5, 2024 /
(Photo: Mimi Perez for CandyDirt.com)

The 2024 bond propositions that will appear on a May 4 ballot didn’t shake out favorably for every advocacy group, but a $75 million pot of “discretionary funds” — $5 million for the mayor and each council member to allocate as they wish — means the numbers informally approved at Wednesday’s council meeting can still…

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Dallas Council Moves Forward With $310.5M For Parks, $61M For Housing in May 4 Bond Election

By April Towery / February 1, 2024 /
(Photo: Mimi Perez for CandyDirt.com)

A May 4 Dallas bond election is imminent, and Dallas City Council members unofficially agreed Wednesday to designate about $310.5 million for parks and $61 million for housing.  The Dallas City Council was operating as a “Committee of the Whole” during Wednesday’s meeting and took straw votes on the bond allocations, therefore no binding decisions…

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Council Informally Agrees to Increase Bond Capacity to $1.25 Billion, May Election Date

By April Towery / January 19, 2024 /

Following almost three hours of discussion Friday, the Dallas City Council took an informal, nonbinding straw vote to call a May bond election with an increased capacity of $1.25 billion.  Dozens of parks and housing advocates attended the special-called meeting and offered hours of testimony after the council vote.   Because of the increased bond capacity…

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Texans Approve Proposition 4, Allowing State to Spend $18 B on Property Tax Cuts

By April Towery / November 8, 2023 /

Ballots are in, and it’s no surprise that Texans overwhelmingly approved Proposition 4. The Texas constitutional amendment allows the state to spend $18 billion on property tax cuts for homeowners and businesses and cut school districts’ tax rates. About 2.26 million Texans showed up at the polls Tuesday, and Proposition 4 garnered 83.82 percent of…

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Property Tax Relief Among 14 Propositions on Nov. 7 Texas Ballot

By April Towery / October 5, 2023 /

When Texas lawmakers announced in August that the House and Senate finally reached an agreement on the largest property tax cut in Texas history — to the tune of $18 billion — residents of the Lone Star State weren’t quite ready to do a victory dance.  Perhaps that’s because they knew they’d still have to…

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