Budget committee recommends 2025–26 city budget, approves cuts and a potential $17.2 million police bond for council consideration

The City of Dallas Budget Committee voted to recommend the City Council adopt the 2025–26 city budget as presented and amended, approving staff proposals that include a shift to a two‑year budgeting approach (for Urban Renewal as a test case), personnel changes, targeted cuts and several motions to add or remove specific capital and grant items.

Brian, a city budget staff member, opened the substantive presentation and described “some significant changes,” including that staff propose a two‑year budget cycle for the Urban Renewal budget that will serve as a test before moving the full city budget to a biennial process. In the citywide budget message he said the general fund is “feeling a squeeze,” highlighted rising personnel‑related costs such as health‑care increases and fully staffed public‑safety departments, and identified precision cuts and reassignments to present a balanced budget.

Key operational changes approved or discussed by the committee include:

- Personnel and reorganization: Public Works will eliminate several supervisor‑level positions and create an assistant public works director, a civil engineer, a support services supervisor and an administrative assistant shared across divisions. One planned Planner I position…