Cara Mendelsohn
From a once-pristine building that was overtaken by squatters to a multimillion-dollar structure intended to house code inspectors but wasn’t up to code, the City of Dallas has failed in its efforts to manage 5,800 real estate assets, council members agreed at a recent committee meeting. Director of Facilities and Real Estate John Johnson reviewed…
The ForwardDallas 2.0 comprehensive land use plan has been adopted — but the implementation phase has only just begun. In an 11-4 vote Wednesday evening, the Dallas City Council approved ForwardDallas, a plan that has been through numerous iterations, committees, and amendments over a three-year period. It was a long road and not everybody was…
Texas cities are hamstrung by state budget caps that impact the amount of property tax revenue municipalities can collect, but there are opportunities to bring in revenue without raising taxes, Councilman Chad West suggested last week as the council adopted the lowest property tax rate in modern Dallas history. During the City Council’s final public…
Dallas property owners got a little relief Wednesday as the City Council approved the largest tax reduction in recent history along with a $4.97 billion city budget. But Far North Dallas Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn wasn’t giving hugs or high-fives at the horseshoe. Shortly before the budget and tax rate were adopted, Mendelsohn introduced an amendment…
How does the Mark Twain quote go? “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” The City of Dallas loves a good survey and sky-is-falling data, but when the numbers don’t support the narrative of a particular individual or advocacy group, they’re quickly dismissed. And to be fair, there’s also probably another survey…
