Officials at Dallas City Hall have started work on crafting a bond package that could be on the ballot in the spring of 2024. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson predicts the spending program could total $1 billion.
"Next year, we'll get serious about what we want to see in a billion-dollar 2024 bond package. As we shape that proposal for our voters to consider, I will push our city leaders to focus primarily on the Three P's - public safety, potholes, and parks," he said during his recent State of the City speech.
The city's Office of Bond and Construction Management began discussing a bond proposition for housing programs this summer. Elected officials and city staffers will take public input and feedback over the next 15 months to determine which projects should be part of the proposal. If the City Council eventually gives its approval, the items could be on the ballot in May of 2024.
Mayor Johnson hopes the package will include new money for facilities for both police officers and firefighters.
"These fire stations are homes away from home for our first-responders. And between their life-saving fire-and-ambulance runs, they deserve to go back to places that are clean, safe, and comfortable," he said. "It's also time for us to get moving on a new police academy in partnership with the University of North Texas at Dallas. Our current police academy is, frankly, unworthy of the men and women of the Dallas Police Department."
He also wants new parks for the city plus a significant amount of money to repair streets and sidewalks.
"When it comes to potholes, our residents deserve better streets and sidewalks," he said. "In 2017, Dallas voters committed more than half a billion dollars to streets in the bond package. The next bond package needs to make another commitment to resurfacing our roads, making them friendlier to pedestrians, and readying them for the demands of the future."
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