A senior recruit class seen in a classroom at the Dallas Police Academy in Feburary 2026.
Dallas could ask voters this fall to approve a nearly $1 billion bond package for police training, emergency facilities and the police and fire pension fund.
The City Council voted 9-5 late Wednesday to direct City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert to prepare the steps needed to put it on the November ballot. Mayor Eric Johnson was absent for the vote, which was taken around 11:30 p.m.
Council members are expected to decide Aug. 12 whether to formally call the election and how the propositions would be presented.
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The proposal could ask voters to approve $441 million for public safety projects and $500 million in pension obligation bonds for the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System.
The possible bond election would come as Dallas faces a projected $51 million general fund shortfall and a hiring freeze. City leaders are already weighing possible service cuts, library system changes and park and recreation reductions as they prepare next year’s budget.
It could also land on a busy November ballot led by statewide races and possibly other local tax questions. Dallas County commissioners are considering separate proposals to raise property taxes for childcare programs and homelessness services.
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Dallas has been debating for months how to pay for a long-promised new police academy at the University of North Texas at Dallas and a separate public safety training complex proposed for Dallas Executive Airport in Oak Cliff.
Voters approved $50 million for the academy in the city’s 2024 bond program, but city officials now say the broader public safety training effort needs more money. Meanwhile, the pension system remains one of the city’s biggest financial challenges, with a $3.73 billion unfunded liability.
The proposed Dallas public safety bonds would pay for projects city officials say need funding before the city’s next regular bond program in 2029. Those include:
- Money for the Law Enforcement Training Center at UNT Dallas, which has an $82 million funding gap.
- A separate Public Safety Training Complex at Dallas Executive Airport, which has a $149 million funding gap.
- A new or relocated 911 and Emergency Operations Center ($40 million).
- A new Dallas Police Department property room and evidence storage facility ($150 million).
- A replacement for Fire Station No. 4 on Akard St. ($20 million).
The 911 and emergency operations center became one of the most disputed pieces of the proposal because of its connection to the ongoing broader and contentious debate over whether Dallas should move out of its City Hall.
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Council member Cara Mendelsohn said including the 911 center with the other public safety projects could sink the whole package.
“The 911 center is a poison pill for this entire proposition,” Mendelsohn said. “If it goes in together, this bond will not pass.”
Mendelsohn also accused city staff of “playing games” by placing the 911 center in the same proposal as the police academy, which led to push back from Tolbert.
“The continuation of the comments as if staff has done something wrong by bringing this item today and that we’re playing games with the City Council is unacceptable and it’s not fair and I will not continue to sit and let those comments be made as if we’re doing something intentionally,” Tolbert said.
Council member Gay Donnell Willis, who expressed support in continuing to explore the proposal, said council members still need to consider how the projects could be grouped for voters. But she said Wednesday’s vote was about gathering more information, not making a final decision.
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“It’s really just to give us flexibility that we may never use,” Willis said.
The $500 million pension bond proposal would work differently from borrowing money for buildings. The city would borrow money and put it into the pension system, then repay the debt over time.
Chief Financial Officer Jack Ireland told council members Dallas doesn’t need pension obligation bonds to fix the pension system, which already has a state-approved 30-year funding plan.
He said the bonds would make sense only if market conditions improve enough for the city to borrow money at a lower cost than the pension system could earn by investing it.
If voters approved the bonds, the city wouldn’t have to issue them immediately, Ireland said.
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Council member Paul Ridley urged the city not to move forward with the proposal now. He said residents are already seeing budget pressure and may question whether City Hall is being “fiscally wise”.
“I’m opposed to the staff spending a lot of hours getting ready for a bond election that is doomed to failure,” Ridley said.
Ireland said the city has limited borrowing capacity each year. If voters approve new public safety bonds and council members prioritize those projects, some projects already earmarked in the voter-approved 2024 bond program could be pushed back.