DALLAS — Dallas City Council members got their first look at the new, proposed budget recently. And to say they liked what they saw might be an understatement as it includes “substantial” increases in both property tax revenue and sales tax revenue.
“We’ve had over a 15% increase here in Dallas on our property tax and over 11% increase in the sales tax numbers as that comes in,” McGough said on Inside Texas Politics. “So, quite a bit of additional funding, at least from previous years, to allocate to all of the services that the city offers.”
The dramatic increase in revenue is not limited to Dallas. Cities all over Texas are trying to figure out how to distribute all the extra dollars flowing in, due in large part to sky-high property values in Texas and inflation, which means consumers are paying more for goods, leading to more sales tax collection.
One of the top priorities for the city of Dallas will be to reduce the property tax rate.
The proposed budget is $4.5 Billion, $160 Million more than the budget Council adopted last year.
It proposes lowering the property tax rate by nearly 3 cents to $74.58 per $100 assessed valuation.
While that is significant, for many homeowners, it will likely be a wash in the end.
“Now with the increases in property value, most of our citizens are going to still be paying a higher property tax,” said McGough. “But the part that we can control from Council, we’re able to hopefully reduce a larger amount than we’ve reduced in over 40 years in the city of Dallas.”
Outside of property taxes, Councilman McGough says another focus is public safety, which is the largest part of the budget. It includes nearly $10 Million to retain and recruit new officers, with a goal of hiring hundreds.
Other departments would also see their budgets swell, including fire, public works and code compliance.
McGough says residents can expect to hear a great deal of discussion over the next couple of weeks about how the money should be spent. And if they want to weigh in, they can provide feedback during City Council meetings on Wednesdays.
City Council members will also be hosting nearly three dozen town hall meetings this month. You can find more information here.