Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson vowed at his inaugural address in June to do three things in his final term: improve public safety, create the best park system, and have the lowest tax rate of a major city in North Texas.
Cynics will say that Dallas leaders have to pick sides, Johnson told a crowd at the Meyerson Symphony Center on June 20.
“They will tell us that we have to choose between a safe city or protecting the rights of people of color; affordable housing or new, beautiful greenspaces; delivering high-quality services to all Dallas residents or lowering our tax rate,” he said. “But over the last four years, we’ve proven these are all false choices and that Dallas residents can have it all.”
At daltxrealestate.com, we like to hold our elected officials accountable for what they say, so here’s hoping Mayor Johnson will bring Big Dallas Energy to the horseshoe when the council returns from a month-long break Aug. 2, just in time for the budget process.
Budget town hall meetings are scheduled in every City Council district from Aug. 10-24.
Property Taxes
Johnson said in his inaugural address he would “advocate fiercely for additional property tax relief so that Dallas becomes the major city with the lowest tax rate in the North Texas region.”
On July 10, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the House and Senate had finally reached a compromise on how to distribute the “largest property tax cut in Texas history.”
Within a few hours, Mayor Johnson issued a press release of his own, announcing an Ad Hoc Committee on Legislative Affairs, chaired by District 12 Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn, to advocate for passage of the bill.
Johnson has supported tax-rate reductions annually since he was first elected in 2019.
The Dallas City Council adopted a $4.75 billion budget in September 2022 and lowered the property tax rate for the seventh consecutive year. The current property tax rate is 74.58 cents per $100 assessed valuation.
“Last year we reduced the city’s property tax rate to its lowest level in 15 years with the largest single-year rate cut in four decades,” Johnson said in his public address last month. “As you can see, we’ve made undeniable progress toward preserving Dallas as a city of dreams.”
It’s still not the lowest rate of a major city in North Texas.
Fort Worth’s property tax rate, approved in September 2022, is 71.25 cents per $100 assessed valuation. The rate was a 2-cent drop over the previous year.
“Although the tax rate goes down, a property tax bill could increase depending on the property appraisal,” Fort Worth City Manager David Cooke said in a press release last year.
Under the proposed state legislation, Dallas taxpayers with a median home value of $320,900 would see an annual savings of nearly $1,000, Johnson said.
“I wholeheartedly support this legislation,” he added.
‘Choose Greatness’
Johnson, a former five-term member of the Texas House of Representatives, was the only named mayoral candidate on the May 2023 Dallas ballot. Every other eligible incumbent also was re-elected, a sign that — despite low voter turnout — Dallasites are generally pleased with the current leadership.
But without meaningful property tax relief, residents may choose or be forced to forgo the opportunity to live and work in Dallas, Johnson has said.
“In this ‘either/or’ world, you have a ‘both/and’ mayor, which Dallas deserves — despite what the cynics and the dividers tell you,” Johnson said. “Dallas is a great city. And that is why we must choose greatness every single day for every single Dallas resident and never settle for anything less.”
Public hearings on the proposed Dallas budget are set to begin Aug. 10, with adoption in September. The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
