Mayor Eric Johnson is challenging the rest of the Dallas City Council to propose their own budget cuts so that the proposed property tax rate could be lowered further.
In a memo on Friday, the mayor proposed eliminating $339,000 budgeted for the city’s state lobbying team, arguing that the team is “not delivering results commensurate with its cost.” Johnson also wants to redirect $386,612 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding away from Skillman Library to aquatics programs in southern Dallas.
“Equivalent dollars will be moved back into the General Fund and put toward reducing the tax rate,” Johnson wrote. “Together, these two amendments [to the proposed budget] will save $725,612 and enable a 0.032¢ tax rate reduction.”
The current proposed tax rate is $0.702200 per $100 valuation…