One would grant child care facilities a 50% property tax break; the other would expand the areas where child care and adult care facilities can operate in the city, such as in single family neighborhoods. Both were passed by the City Council with some exceptions.
Sen. Royce West, a Dallas Democrat, turned out to Wednesday’s City Council meeting to advocate for an even bigger property tax break for child care facilities – a 100% tax break. West helped pass a state constitutional amendment allowing for the tax break during the last legislative session.
He said that the number of child care facilities in the state of Texas has declined by 27% since 2020. “And we know with inflation, the cost of child care to our families,” West said. The City Council approved the larger tax break for child care facilities. But where to allow child care and adult care facilities in the city was a more contentious issue that saw some compromise.
Jack Cox, a Dallas resident and father of two, said at Wednesday's meeting that he understands the need for affordable and accessible child care. Having early child care, he said, allowed him and his wife to bolster their financial security. But, he doesn’t think child care and adult care facilities should be allowed by right in residential neighborhoods, which is what the measure would do, in part. He also said there’s no evidence that doing so would make caregiving cheaper.
“The proposed provisions to the Dallas development code to allow child care and adult care facilities in residential areas by right raises concerns for myself and other Dallas residents,” Cox told the council members. The change would remove the requirement that these facilities obtain a specific use permit to operate in neighborhoods. This is important because the specific use permit process can be time-consuming and costly. “Removing the [specific use permit] requirement and allowing these uses by right eliminates special review or approval by city staff and others,” he said. “Equally important, it overrides residents’ rights to have a voice as to what happens in their neighborhoods. Kindercare by right is wrong for Dallas neighborhoods.”"Kindercare by right is wrong for Dallas neighborhoods.” – Jack Cox, Dallas resident
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He said it seemed that few people knew of this proposed change, but when they found out about it they were opposed.
Not everyone feels this way though. Nicole Gann, president and CEO of Juliette Fowler Communities, told council members that for over 130 years the organization has been serving the communities’ most vulnerable: children and the elderly. “In our experience, we see the gap in services, specifically in the affordable sector based on children and adults alike,” Gann said. “Further, we’re in a unique time in history where many more individuals are caring for children and aging family members simultaneously as well as working outside the home. And lack of care and services has an impact to our workforce and economy.”
She cited a few statistics. She said 42% of millennial caregivers are sole caregivers. Half said their caregiving duties interfered with their work. Some 33% reported severe interference with their work, like having to cut back on hours, losing job benefits or being fired. Gann said caregiving impacts business productivity by an estimated $34 billion nationally.
“Therefore, greater access to caregiving, support services are needed to support our growing workforce and economy,” Gann said. “Further, we are advocating for the awareness for needed services for adult day programming, specifically for those living with Alzheimer's and dementia.”
She said in 2020, 400,000 Texans were living with Alzheimer’s disease. That number is expected to reach 490,000 by 2025, Gann said. “Texas ranks No. 2 in Alzheimer’s deaths,” she said. “In our experience, these individuals and families are living with this diagnosis and struggling alone in their homes. Eighty five percent are unpaid caregivers.”
Ashley Brown, the chief advancement officer for Juliette Fowler Communities, said at Wednesday's meeting that she was advocating for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s and their caregivers. “We’ve served thousands of people of all ages and today in our residential care community, one year of dementia care starts at $70,000," Brown said. “That’s too expensive for most people in the city. More day programs for people with dementia are really needed.”
She said her friend who has dementia recently got lost after wandering away from her home. She was later found, but Brown said, “Her family cannot afford dementia care to live in a residential program.”"More day programs for people with dementia are really needed.” – Ashley Brown, Juliette Fowler Communities
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“If she had had access to a day program for people with dementia in our neighborhood, she probably would not have gotten lost because people in the day program for dementia care are engaged,” Brown said. “They get to exercise and receive care and that keeps them safe. And guess what, it helps the caregivers. It’s important. They’re suffering too. Their jobs are suffering. Their health is suffering and we need more care like this. Juliette Fowler and other organizations like us, we’re ready to jump in and do it. We just want to be able to do that easily and quickly.”
At the end of the day, there was a compromise on where these care facilities could go, proposed by Dallas City Council member Paul Ridley. The city’s development code was amended so that these facilities would be allowed by right in several districts, including multifamily, retail and mixed-use. But they would still need a specific use permit to operate in single-family neighborhoods.
Ridley explained what is allowed now and what his amendment would allow. Before his amendment, the city code allowed daycares by right in residential areas for up to ten children with no specific use permit. No specific use permit is required in commercial services or industrial districts, either, Ridley said. Schools can also provide preschool and afterschool programs by right for those over 3 years old. Adult day care is allowed in residential areas by right without a specific use permit as long as the facility serves no more than four individuals.
Ridley said there seemed to be only anecdotal evidence of the need for more child care and adult care facilities. “Are daycares full today? We don’t know,” Ridley said.
The City Council approved Ridley’s proposal. Now, daycare facilities will be allowed by right in residential areas as long as they don’t exceed 12 attendees. His proposal also increases the number of adult care attendees by right in residential neighborhoods from four to eight. “I think this is a good balance between the conflicting interests,” Ridley said.
“People are reticent and also worried that they’re going to be judged if someone in their family has dementia, so they’re not as open about it,” Brown said. But, she added, there are very few adult daycare facilities in the city for people with dementia.
“They need good day programs for people with dementia because their caregiver – their spouse, or their child" – is often still working and they need a great place for their mom or dad to go or their husband or wife to go where they can be engaged and well taken care of specifically for dementia,” she explained.
