Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has insisted Dallas is “doing more” than the HERO charter amendments require on police pay. However, Dallas HERO Executive Director Damien Leveck disputes that claim, saying City Hall is misrepresenting the numbers.
Leveck pointed to the city’s claim that Dallas police starting pay of $81,232 ranks in the “top three” regionally.
“That’s just not true,” Leveck told The Dallas Express.
“Our independent research shows Dallas is actually 12th. They’re counting extras like bilingual or education pay — things not every cadet gets. That’s not base pay. That’s cooking the numbers,” he added.
A chart provided by Leveck showed Dallas officers starting pay at $81,232 in 2026 — behind Grand Prairie ($90,000), Frisco ($89,198), Allen ($88,884), and at least eight other North Texas cities. To break into the top five, Dallas would need to boost starting salaries by more than $11,000, more than twice the raise currently proposed.
Even city records appear to undercut Tolbert’s claim. A May 23 salary comparison slide obtained through a records request put Dallas eighth in the region, not third.
For Leveck, this disconnect is serious.
“This kind of obfuscation reeks of bad faith,” Leveck said. “It shows the city has no intention of upholding the charter amendments and just wants to gaslight the public.”
Tolbert has pointed to the city’s $5.2 billion budget proposal — which includes a 5.7% increase for public safety — as evidence of “good faith.”
“We are doing more and on top of what the proposition would require,” she told WFAA in August. The Dallas Morning News editorial board echoed that line, praising City Hall for “doing right by cops.”
“The oversight mechanism — ideally — is a city council that holds the city manager accountable,” Leveck said. He noted that Proposition S, another HERO measure, now allows citizens to sue the city for failing to comply with its charter.
With response times lagging and attrition draining the force, the fight over police pay is more than an accounting dispute. For HERO backers, it’s about whether Dallas will honor the voters’ will — or continue leaning on numbers that don’t add up.