The city released—finally, on Friday—the wish list of projects for the 2024 bond election in May. That’s just a month before we head to the polls; it’s three weeks later than most City Hall watchers expected.
The list includes nearly 800 items. (You can see a map of the projects here.) They range from replacing streets and playgrounds to acquiring land for parks. The list includes money for dredging White Rock Lake and funds to replace two libraries in North Dallas (Preston Royal and Park Forest) and one in Oak Cliff.
It also includes $50 million for a new police academy at UNT Dallas. Officials say that the academy will help the city recruit more officers. The current academy has been located in an industrial space in the Red Bird neighborhood since 1990. Last month, the $150 million project received $10 million from the Communities Foundation of Texas, and the state Legislature allocated $20 million in the last legislative session. Should the proposition get voter approval, funding for the project would be over the halfway mark.
However, a grassroots effort has emerged to urge people to vote no on the police academy proposition. The group Stop Cop City Dallas opposes it and says that it will sit in Council District 8, “a predominantly low-income Black and Latino district.” “Our communities and neighborhoods do not need more police officers, and we understand investment in community care and not cops will KEEP US SAFE,” the group said.
The bond wish list also includes $25 million to replace the State Highway 356 bridge over the Elm Fork Trinity River, $20 million for Dallas Museum of Art upgrades, $17 million for traffic signal replacement and improvement, $30 million for a safari trail habitat at the Dallas Zoo, $27 million to replace fire stations in Oak Lawn and Northwest Dallas, and $20 million to buy parkland for the Dallas International District, where a 20-acre park is planned.
There are also less specific allocations, such as $29 million allocated for projects that align with the city’s economic incentive policy, nearly $37 million for projects that support housing, $1 million for “Greening Czar Parks,” and $8 million for projects aligning with the city’s Vision Zero plan to reduce traffic injuries and deaths.
It should be noted that this list could change. For instance, there is currently $500,000 allocated for the Glencoe Park skatepark, which was pulled from consideration after neighbors voiced opposition.
In a press release Friday, the city’s Bond and Construction Management Department said that the Council could also change the scope of specific projects on the list or adjust the money allocated for those projects. “Passage of a proposition does not guarantee that the city of Dallas will complete a specific project,” the press release said.
The May ballot (which will also include Dallas ISD school board elections for districts 1 and 9, as well as three elected Dallas Central Appraisal District seats) will include 10 propositions:
- A: streets and transportation, $521.2 million;
- B: parks and recreation, $345.3 million;
- C: flood protection and storm drainage, $52.1 million;
- D: libraries, $43.5 million;
- E: arts and culture facilities, $75.2 million;
- F: public safety, $90 million;
- G: economic development, $72.3 million;
- H: housing infrastructure, $26.4 million;
- I: homelessness initiatives, $19 million;
- J: information technology improvements, $5 million.
The city’s last bond election was in 2017. It asked voters for $1.05 billion spread over 10 propositions that included streets and transportation, parks, Fair Park improvements, flood protection and storm drainage improvements, libraries, public safety, and economic development. All 10 propositions passed. Based on the greatest number of votes any one proposition received, a little more than 49,000 Dallas voters participated in the 2017 election, with every proposition passing by at least 62 percent.
The upcoming bond election falls on May 4, and early voting begins April 22. The last day to register to vote in time for this election is April 4.
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