Cara Mendelsohn
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…
Renovations are substantially complete at Lake Highlands’ Vantage Point housing development for the formerly homeless and about one-third of the units are leased. Dallas City Council members questioned the occupancy rate last week, pointing out that there are still a lot of unhoused residents sleeping on public roadways. Vantage Point, a former extended-stay motel —…
Editor’s Note: This story was updated Aug. 29 to include a statement from Child Poverty Action Lab Chief of Housing Ashley Flores. If District 1 Dallas City Councilman Chad West was hoping for full support of Public Facility Corporation projects as a mechanism for providing much-needed multifamily workforce housing, he is probably disappointed. Several months…
