The bond is divided into 10 propositions: streets and transportation ($521,200,000), parks and recreation ($345,270,000), flood protection and storm drainage ($52,100,000), libraries ($43,530,000), cultural arts facilities ($75,200,000), public safety ($90,000,000), economic development ($72,300,000), housing ($26,400,000), homelessness ($19,000,000), and information technology ($5,000,000.)
Late last month, the city released a list of the proposed projects in the bond, which is subject to change. It includes $50 million for a new Dallas Police Department training facility at UNT Dallas, $25 million set aside to replace the State Highway 356 bridge over the Elm Fork Trinity River, $30 million for a new habitat at the Dallas Zoo and so much more. But, there are some items that didn’t make the cut.
For example, Dallas Animal Services (DAS) could have really used that new shelter it was asking for as part of the bond package. DAS’ current facility was primarily designed for animal control and housing, not to be a well-flowing, inviting adoption center for visitors and staff. The facility is showing wear and tear, is routinely over capacity and has issues with disease control.
DAS was hoping to fix some of this with a new $114 million shelter. The site would have been double the size of the current facility. The money would have covered the cost of site development, the new building, a livestock building, all of the animal care enclosures and contractor fees. “This is a shelter that would bring us into 2050 and beyond,” MeLissa Webber, DAS director, said last year of the proposed shelter. Instead, since the new shelter didn’t make it in the bond, DAS will be stuck in 2006, the year the current facility was built.
There was also District 14’s Glencoe Skatepark project that died after neighborhood opposition. The skatepark would have cost just about $500,000 and sit on a 5,000–9,000-square-foot piece of land in Glencoe Park off Central Expressway, just south of Mockingbird Lane. Though the park had support from local skaters and the area’s park board representative, there was too much local opposition to get it in the bond. “So, when you start seeing just a massive amount of those folks just oppose this amenity, I mean the right thing to do is say, ‘Hey, look, while on paper this might be a great suggestion for Glencoe, in reality, it’s not going to fly,'” Rudy Karimi, District 14’s park board representative, told the Observer at the time. While the district won’t get a new skatepark, the money will still be used on another skatepark somewhere else in the city.“I’m mostly disappointed with the lack of funding in the overall housing and homelessness solutions category." – Dallas City Council member Chad West
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Dallas City Council member Adam Bazaldua was really passionate about including fixes to City Hall in the bond. That didn’t happen either. Bazaldua was the lone vote on council against the 2024 bond package. He didn’t respond to a request for comment, but in an Op-ed for The Dallas Morning News, Bazaldua laid out the reasons he didn't support the bond. One was the lack of funding for fixes at City Hall: “... our building is deteriorating, yet we have not allocated a single cent in this bond package toward necessary infrastructure for the critical workspace of front-line staff who interface with more than one million residents daily both in and outside of 1500 Marilla,” Bazaldua wrote.
The other reason Bazaldua voted no on the bond was the lack of funds for housing.
While he voted to approve the bond, City Council member Chad West told the Observer he'd also hoped for more money allocated toward housing. He said he was happy with the District 1 projects that made the cut, like major street and transportation items neighbors have been asking for, renovations to the Martin Weiss Recreation Center and funding for a skate park.
“I’m mostly disappointed with the lack of funding in the overall housing and homelessness solutions category,” West said. “I believe that our No. 1 issue facing the city that we’re not addressing well is housing, our lack of housing for our workforce, our first responders, teachers, medical technicians, postmen and women. It’s a real shame that we didn’t make more of a commitment in the bond for those individuals. ”
Now that the bond is being sent to the voters, the gaps in funding for housing and homelessness will have to be filled in other ways, West said.
Dallas City Council member Paula Blackmon said she would like to have seen more money allocated for infrastructure projects, housing and homelessness. “I think we basically got most of the big projects funded to some allocations,” Blackmon said. “The question is, was it funded enough, and that’s a different conversation.”
But, ultimately, Blackmon thinks the city will be able to make do with what it gets out of the bond and is encouraging people to vote yes on the propositions. “I think we can make it work with what we’re moving forward with,” she said. “We need the investment.”
Early voting for the bond will take place April 22–30. Election Day is May 4.
