Dallas officials acknowledged Monday that the planned police training center at the University of North Texas at Dallas faces a funding gap following voters’ rejection of a $443 million public-safety bond. The city is evaluating alternatives with its contractor and fundraisers, according to a November 9 memorandum.
The defeated proposal included $82 million for the academy.
Meanwhile, Dallas had 3,427 sworn police officers as of October 27 — 573 short of the 4,000-officer benchmark voters placed in the city charter through Proposition U in 2024.
City Acknowledges Gap, Offers No Replacement Plan
“As a result of November 3, 2026, Public Safety Bond election, the city is evaluating options with the contractor and the fundraisers to address the funding gap and will present to the Public Safety Committee and the Dallas City Council in the upcoming months,” Chief of Public Safety Dominique Artis wrote in the November 9 memorandum.
The memo does not identify replacement financing, a revised dollar shortfall, or a new completion date. The rejected $82 million allocation was part of the city’s existing plan to complete the project, not a newly calculated post-election deficit. The update was on the Public Safety Committee’s November 9 agenda.
What Voters Approved — And Rejected
Dallas voters approved Proposition U in November 2024, adding public-safety priorities to the city charter.
Under the charter, at least 50% of specified year-over-year excess revenue must first go toward the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System as directed; any remainder from that allocation goes toward listed objectives, including making starting police compensation competitive with the top five qualifying area departments and increasing sworn staffing to at least 4,000. The charter also calls for maintaining the resulting officer-to-resident ratio.
Proposition U does not designate money for the UNT Dallas academy or set an explicit deadline for first reaching 4,000 officers. Construction of a training facility is not the same as hiring sworn officers.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the October 27 sworn strength was 3,427, down from 3,447 at the end of September.
By contrast, voters rejected the separate November 3, 2026, Proposition A bond authorization. The city’s original project breakdown proposed $443 million in borrowing for five facilities, including $82 million for the UNT Dallas academy, $149 million for another police training complex, $150 million for evidence storage and a crime lab, $40 million for emergency operations and 911 facilities, and $22 million for a fire station. Voters could not approve those projects individually.
The proposed debt carried estimated principal-and-interest repayment of about $629.6 million over no more than 20 years, based on conditions described by the city. Rejecting the measure denied that new bond authorization; it did not repeal Proposition U or cancel funds previously approved for the academy.
Previously Approved Funding Remains
The city had already identified $50 million from its 2024 bond program and $25 million in state grants toward the academy, along with committed and anticipated private donations. Its published funding plan estimated the overall project at $227 million; anticipated donations are not equivalent to cash received, as DX previously reported.
On October 28, the council approved receipt of the remaining $15 million of the state commitment, authorized steps to accept up to $17.5 million in private contributions from QuikTrip and the W.W. Caruth Foundation, and authorized a $20 million supplemental construction agreement, the city announced. The city said those funding sources were already reflected in its project assumptions, rather than new money generated by the election.
Accountability Questions After The Vote
Council Member Cara Mendelsohn (District 12) criticized how the five projects were bundled. “People are not rejecting public safety; they are just demanding a better plan,” she said at a Dallas Express election-night gathering, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The November 9 memorandum leaves two distinct questions unanswered: how Dallas will finance remaining academy work without the rejected borrowing authorization, and how it will meet Proposition U’s staffing and compensation objectives. City officials said options for the academy will be brought forward in the coming months but did not announce a replacement plan or a revised timetable.
