By Travis Reynolds, Vice President, Public Policy
By mid-September, the City of Dallas’ fiscal year 2024-25 budget will be finalized and adopted through extensive collaboration between members of the Dallas City Council, City of Dallas staff, our neighbors across the city, and numerous organizations like the DRC. This collaborative process provides an important opportunity for the business community to influence economic development in the core of our region while ensuring the city’s financial planning aligns with the needs and aspirations of our community.
If you plan to attend one of the upcoming town hall meetings or budget workshops, here are four points to remember.
The budget is our opportunity to shape the city’s economic priorities.
The annual budget process sets the city’s economic priorities and strategies. By actively participating, the DRC and business community can advocate for investments that spur economic growth, such as infrastructure improvements, workforce development programs, and business-friendly policies.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson sits on the DRC’s Board of Directors, a collaboration that allows us to help prioritize initiatives that enhance the city’s competitiveness, attract new businesses, and retain existing ones. This proactive involvement ensures the budget reflects a balanced approach to economic development, benefiting both the public and private sectors.
The city must become more efficient.
In recent years, the City of Dallas’ budget has seen significant increases, but the number of residents has not kept pace with this financial expansion. This discrepancy underscores the need for the city to become more efficient in allocating its resources.
Under Interim City Manager (ICM) Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, the city has made great strides to address some of its inefficiencies through combining departments, personnel changes, and a directive to all departments to present 6% in budget cuts. However, there is still more work to do.
The goal for the city should be to operate like a business—delivering great service to its customers (residents) at the least possible cost. By pushing for efficiency and effectiveness in the budget, we can help ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and the city can achieve more with its existing resources. This focus on efficiency is crucial for maintaining fiscal health and providing high-quality services without overburdening residents and businesses with additional taxes or fees.
Addressing pension issues will be critical.
One of the significant financial challenges facing the City of Dallas is our unfunded pension obligations. The city’s pension funds, especially for police and firefighters, have experienced funding shortfalls over $4 billion, creating a strain on the overall budget. Addressing these pension issues is essential for the city’s long-term financial stability and the well-being of its public servants. By addressing the pension crisis today in a meaningful and sustainable manner, we can help ensure that the city can meet its obligations to public employees while maintaining fiscal health and avoiding excessive future tax burdens.
Local advocacy complements the DRC’s work in the upcoming 89th Legislative Session.
The Dallas Regional Chamber’s advocacy on the city budget aligns with and enhances its ongoing advocacy at the state level. By engaging in both arenas, the DRC ensures that local and state policies are cohesive and mutually reinforcing. For example:
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- Economic Development: At the state level, the DRC advocates for policies that create a favorable business environment in Texas. By aligning city budget priorities with these state-level goals, the DRC can ensure that local infrastructure and workforce development initiatives complement state efforts to attract and retain businesses.
- Education and Workforce: The DRC’s advocacy for education funding and workforce training programs at the state level can be complemented in city budget priorities. Ensuring that local resources support state-funded initiatives without duplicating them enhances the overall impact on the workforce and economic growth.
- Public Safety and Infrastructure: Local budget allocations prioritizing these areas can bolster state-level advocacy for transportation funding and public safety initiatives. This alignment ensures that city and state investments work together to create safer, more connected communities.
- Fiscal Responsibility: The DRC’s push for efficient and effective use of resources at the state level can serve as a model for city budget practices. By advocating for similar principles locally, the DRC promotes a culture of fiscal responsibility across all levels of government.
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The annual budget process is a pivotal moment for shaping the future of Dallas. To echo the words of Jack Lew, “The budget is not just a collection of numbers, but an expression of our values and aspirations.” For the DRC, that means improving the quality of life and well-being for all people in the Dallas Region by promoting policies that support economic growth, provide greater opportunity to all the region’s residents, and invest in our future.
“I met with ICM Tolbert on the budget and felt it was responsive to running a more efficient city government,” said Dallas City Council Member Gay Donnell Willis. “The voice of the business community during budgeting is critical to ensure that our core obligations of having a safe, clean city are fulfilled.”
Engaging in the city’s annual budget process is not just a civic duty but a strategic opportunity for the business community to help shape a thriving future. Visit the City of Dallas’ Budget Town Hall Schedule and plan to get involved.
To learn more about the DRC’s Public Policy work, visit our website.