Hello and welcome to the Dallas Express video podcast. I’m your host, Sarah Zubiate Bennett.
Joining me today is Mark Moses, a fiscal expert and the author of The Municipal Financial Crisis. Mark brings exceptionally sharp insights into the budgetary challenges that Dallas leaders continue to face.
Later on, we’ll shift gears to something a little more fun—our “Brunch on a Budget” segment. You’ll get to meet my amazing executive assistant, Ricki Casper, as we explore some delicious and affordable dining options in Lakewood. Thanks so much for being here!
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Mark Moses, I am so grateful to you for being here. You’re the author of this fantastic book, The Municipal Financial Crisis. One of the first parts of your book highlights the importance of a city’s mission. Cities that fail to express and define their mission with clarity and practicality often fall prey to systemic “scope creep,” a term of yours that I am a fan of, leading to widespread inefficiencies.
So, of course, when I went onto the Dallas County website and the Dallas city website, I found the Dallas County mission: “Deliver exceptional services that promote a thriving community.” Our vision: “Improving people’s lives.” Our values: “Professionalism, customer focus, diversity, and inclusion.”
The City of Dallas Vision Statement reads: “A diverse, vibrant, progressive, and engaged workforce.” Would you provide our audience with a high-level overview of your insights into the importance of a city mission?
Mark Moses: A mission statement is important for any organization. It provides focus. It helps employees understand what they are actually rallying around.
The problem is, you can have these nice mission statements that sound inspirational but aren’t very practical in terms of providing real focus for the organization. People often blame incompetent people, laziness, corruption, or bad systems. And sure, those issues exist, but you’re never going to solve any of that with better people or less corruption if your goals are wrong. Bad goals come from poor, vague mission statements that don’t give the organization focus.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: I’d love for you to touch on the different budgeting methods you wrote about in your book.
Mark Moses: Traditional budgeting involves taking last year’s budget and comparing it to projected revenues. If there’s more revenue, you can accept proposals for new activities. If there’s less, you push back on department heads and ask them to cut back. This is essentially the “balancing the budget” act—ensuring your expenditures align with your revenues.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: And then every few years, the city issues a capital bond program for $1.2 or $1.3 billion.
Mark Moses: Or they increase the sales tax or introduce some other local tax to make up the difference. That’s the basic pattern.
The problem isn’t necessarily that taxes are too high—it’s that, under the current structure, they always have to go higher. Systemic scope creep and the ambition to expand services feed that process.
You’ve got other budgeting approaches, like zero-based budgeting, where you supposedly start from zero, but it’s impractical. For example, labor contracts account for 70-80% of a city’s budget. Those are multi-year contracts, so you can’t renegotiate them. As a result, you end up operating at the margins, adding or cutting small programs without conducting holistic scrutiny.
Budgeting for scope requires evaluating every activity in terms of whether it relates to what a local government should be doing. You need to make distinct decisions about which activities to continue or phase out over time, setting sunset dates or announcing plans to exit those businesses by, say, 2028 or 2030.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Like our DART system here in Dallas. I know I spoke with you about this at lunch, but your book perfectly articulates the issue. You wrote that scoping requires asking, “Does this activity require the local government’s legislative and enforcement powers to protect residents, businesses, and their property?”
I also noticed you wrote about municipalities creating local monopolies for services like water, sewer, and transportation, which stifles private sector innovation.
Mark Moses: Exactly. Once a local government commandeers a service, it cuts out creative thinking, private capital, and innovation. It socializes local services, preempts capital investment, and limits the private sector’s role. Public utilities, for instance, tend to be non-innovative and resistant to technological changes.
Look at the taxi industry, which was disrupted by Uber. Cities that benefited from medallions and permits lost out when Uber disrupted the monopoly. Similarly, when the government takes over a sector, it removes competition and innovation, leading to stagnation.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: I know. The DART system in Dallas has 6% ridership, yet taxpayers are footing the bill. If Dallas were to divest from DART and other wasteful activities, would it make the city more affordable?
Mark Moses: Absolutely. Divesting from such services would encourage capital investment and creativity from developers and business leaders. The current pattern of increasing taxes to cover inefficiencies would be broken, making Dallas more affordable for everyone.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Mark, having you here has been such a gift. Your book gives me hope that there’s a way out of our current situation. We can do this!
Mark Moses: Definitely.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Thank you again for your time.
Brunch on a Budget Segment
Ricki Casper: Are we just doing a small thing at each place?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Yeah, we’re going to three places, so we have to choose wisely.
Later at brunch…
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: I’m going to try the red chili lime shrimp.
Ricki Casper: I’ll have the hot honey chicken and hummus.
And so on…
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Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Ricki Casper is my executive assistant in all things life. She helps me stay sane in every part of my life.
Okay, y’all, we have a lot to talk about regarding the new office space. We need something that can fit in the new podcast space, my house in Dallas, and at the ranch.
I told Mark, “I want something flexible,” and I’m fine sitting in different podcast spaces with my own backdrop so I can say, “Hey, I’m coming to you from here, here, and here!” But Monty wants something too.
Ricki Casper: What about that corner in the master bedroom where you’re not putting the treadmill or bike anymore? There’s a small nook to the right of the closet entrance.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Oh! This could work! I don’t want to work from the bed anymore, but Monty likes me in the room when I’m working. I need a desk in the master bedroom, and this is perfect!
Ricki Casper: There’s a little space there, right by the stained glass.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: You figured it out! We’re gonna make this happen.
Ricki Casper: And we’re not restricted by a thin desk against the wall anymore since the space was already tight.
Shanon: Doesn’t that look so healthy?
Ricki Casper: Hot honey chicken and hummus. Oh yeah!
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: That looks amazing. Thank you!
Ricki Casper: I’m waiting for you to ask for some of mine!
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Not right away, I’ll wait. But the broccoli, shrimp, cauliflower, and chives look delicious!
Shanon: Not bad for quick food.
Ricki Casper: Try mixing that with the yogurt. It’s delicious.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Mmm, that’s good! How’s yours?
Ricki Casper: A little bit of both—veggie and shrimp.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: It’s really hot! I’m eyeing your hummus.
Ricki Casper: Let’s go! Next stop, I’ll follow you.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: I love your dramatic glasses.
Ricki Casper: My cat-eye glasses? They’re a bit dramatic, aren’t they?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Yeah, but so cute.
At the next brunch spot…
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: I’ll have the chilaquiles, and you’re getting the huevos rancheros?
Ricki Casper: Yep, and we can split them!
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Perfect! We can try a little of both.
Ricki Casper: The prices here are great, even compared to my area, which has a lower cost of living.
Shanon: I’d love to see some alcohol options.
Ricki Casper: You should see me with a lot of alcohol!
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Oh my God, Shanon.
Ricki Casper: I’m not from the country; I grew up in Houston but moved out to the country about five years ago. Don’t knock my city, though—that’s my hometown!
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Shanon’s a Dallasite.
Ricki Casper: And here we are, enjoying these amazing chilaquiles and huevos rancheros.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: I’m always jealous of your plate. I might steal a bite!
Ricki Casper: Go ahead! I worked out today, I deserve it.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Okay, I’ll try a little bit.
After tasting the food…
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: This place is great. I love how fresh everything tastes.
Ricki Casper: We’re doing “Brunch on a Budget,” but the quality here is amazing!
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Honestly, these tacos are exquisite.
Ricki Casper: Yeah, they’re both really good. But if I had to choose, I’d say I like Manny’s tacos a little more.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Really? I’m team Chop Shop for the vibe and the bowls, but today, this place is perfect for our “Brunch on a Budget.”
Ricki Casper: Totally! The red salsa on the huevos rancheros is unbeatable. One for one—both places are amazing!