Dallas City Hall’s fate remains undecided as council members opted to push back a vote to authorize repairs until the bill is compared to relocation costs.
It’s the third time in six months that the Dallas City Council has asked for more information on what to do with the I.M. Pei-designed building. And the public still doesn’t know what it would cost to move out.
After a judge blocked a relocation vote this week, the Dallas City Council on Wednesday was presented with only one option: Authorize a repair plan to fix the nearly 50-year old building.
Council members ultimately voted 9-6 to defer a repair decision until they’re briefed on a side-by-side comparison with relocation costs. City officials were directed to present all the costs to council by Aug. 26.
The vote gives residents “a full picture” of the cost of leasing or buying other office space.
“One of the main things that have been asked for … from many of the speakers over the course of the last several months is to have a true side-by-side comparison,” council member Chad West said.
Proposed repair options come with a heavy cost: taking on hundreds of millions in debt, raising property tax rates or making drastic cuts to city services, including reducing spending on libraries and parks and recreation facilities.
Council members could ask Dallas voters to approve $770 million in bond debt in November to pay for city hall repairs. Or they could increase the property tax rate and cut city services to pay for the renovation without debt.
Dallas voters may already be looking at a $1 billion bond election in November to fund the police and fire pension and build a new police academy. Adding city hall costs would increase the bond program to $1.7 billion, costing the city an additional $465 million in interest over 20 years.
But, council member Paul Ridley says city staff have presented “exaggerated” figures on the cost to repair city hall. He said the price tag includes over $200 million for improvements elected officials never asked for. He and other council members say it’s more cost effective to repair the building.
“The most sustainable building is one that’s already built,” council member Laura Cadena said.
The meeting went into recess multiple times throughout the day, as council members streamed in and out of the chambers or kept their videos off, losing the numbers they needed to conduct business.
Residents stayed at city hall well into the evening to get the chance to share their thoughts.
Many said the council should vote to move away from city hall, including Adam Krause, a downtown business owner, who called the building a “decaying mausoleum.”
Some suggested putting City Hall’s fate up for a public vote.
Christopher Weiss, a Cedars resident, turned to the audience and asked if anyone in the audience, regardless of the stance they adopted, was against economic revitalization.
“Don’t do this at the city council. Do it as a referendum vote,” he said.