Dallas City Council approved a $5.2 billion budget for fiscal year 2025-26 on Thursday, marking the tenth consecutive year of property tax cuts.
Mayor Eric Johnson noted this is the first budget to exceed $5 billion and called the council’s lack of action against waste “unconscionable.”
Johnson had earlier challenged the council to propose budget cuts to relieve tax burdens. After the budget passed, he expressed disappointment over the council’s rejection of several amendments aimed at reducing unnecessary spending, calling the budget “bloated.”
The total budget includes $1.9 billion for the General Fund, representing a 3.1% increase from the previous year. Property tax rates will drop from 70.47¢ to 69.88¢ per $100 valuation.
Senior citizens and disabled residents will see their property tax exemption increase from $153,400 to $175,000. This marks the seventh increase since 2017. Other priorities highlighted in the budget include homeless services, traffic safety improvements through the Vision Zero Action Plan, and implementation of the 2024 voter-approved bond program.
Public safety funding jumped by $63.1 million.
While the budget boosts the hiring level for the Dallas Police Department to 3,424 officers, the highest number since 2016, it falls short of Proposition U’s mandate of 4,000 police officers.
Additionally, Proposition U stipulates that the combined starting salary, along with non-pension benefits, must rank within the top five departments across five metropolitan counties with populations exceeding 50,000.
Officials from the Dallas Police Association also encouraged the council to raise the starting salary for officers even more, pointing out that the $81,000 figure places them 12th among nearby cities, as reported by CBS News.
“I introduced a $4.2 million amendment to raise police and fire pay,” City Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn told The Dallas Express. “The amendment did not pass.”
The new budget takes effect October 1 and runs through September 30, 2026.