Dallas council sets tax-rate ceiling after heated debate over cuts and services

The Dallas City Council set a ceiling for next year’s property tax rate on Aug. 27 after hours of debate over whether to hold the line at the city manager’s proposed rate or preserve more revenue to avoid deep cuts to services.

Councilmember Paul Basildua moved to keep the maintenance-and-operations (M&O) rate at 51.09 cents per $100 of value — the current year’s level — while adopting the city manager’s recommended 0.1913 debt-service rate, for a combined total tax rate of $0.7022 per $100. The motion passed on roll call, 10–5.

The vote follows a failed effort by Councilwoman Kara Mendelson to adopt a “no-new-revenue” ceiling (0.673196 total), which she said would protect taxpayers from higher bills tied to rising property appraisals. That amendment failed 13–2 on a roll call, and Mendelson later renewed her push in debate before the council rejected it.

Why it matters: The ceiling adopted on Aug. 27 is not the final tax rate but caps what the council may adopt on the Sept. 17 final vote. City staff and council members said the choice matters because it determines whether roughly $30.5 million must be cut from the manager’s recommended FY2026 operating budget and which programs would be affected.

What supporters said: Basildua and other proponents of the motion argued the city still reduces the total tax rate compared with recent years and that restoring the quarter‑cent to M&O gives elected officials flexibility to avoid cuts to libraries, street maintenance and other local services. Councilmember Basildua said his motion was intended to preserve an option to restore targeted spending without adopting a higher tax rate permanently.

What opponents said: Mendelson and other critics said restoring revenue now would lock the council into a higher ceiling before the public and council had heard remaining town halls and budget amendment proposals. She and other opponents argued staff already proposed a budget that reduced the overall tax burden and that cutting $30.5 million would force programmatic changes the public would not support — for example, reducing planned police hires, cutting library hours, delaying pool and park maintenance, or accelerating library and pool closures.

Staff explanation and trade-offs: Chief Financial Officer Jack Ireland and Budget Director Jeanette Weeden told the council the city manager’s recommended budget lowers the overall rate by a quarter‑cent on debt service and proposed savings elsewhere. Weeden said the no‑new‑revenue scenario prepared by staff identifies about $30,472,942 in reductions that could achieve the lower ceiling, but those savings come from a mix of items the manager identified as priorities, including delaying some street and facility maintenance, reducing police hiring by roughly 50 officers compared with the manager’s recommended hiring level, changing planned merit increases and pausing some partner grants.

Public comment and context: Council chambers heard multiple speakers during public comment urging different priorities: some urged preserving libraries and maintaining branch operations, others pressed for infrastructure and public safety funding. Several council members said town halls and constituent input remained underway and that the Sept. 17 vote will be the time to finalize tradeoffs.

Formal action: The council adopted a motion to set the public hearing and tax-rate ceiling at a total rate of $0.7022 per $100 valuation (M&O 0.5109; debt-service 0.1913). The ceiling may be reduced but not increased before the final Sept. 17 adoption.

Ending: Councilmembers said they expect vigorous budget amendments during upcoming workshops; the Aug. 27 ceiling keeps multiple options open while underscoring the difficult trade-offs the council must finalize next month.