Mayor Johnson: Triple whammy for Dallas taxpayers
Dallas residents are already dealing with the double whammy of inflation and high interest rates.
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It was an honor to join public, private, and non-profit partners last week to accept a federal grant that will help fund the Five Mile Creek Greenbelt. This transformative project comprises a network of nearly 17 miles of new trails and three signature parks that will traverse Oak Cliff and connect nearly 200,000 Dallas residents to a trail and/or greenspace within a 10-minute walk of their home!
Parks and trails are critical infrastructure in a modern city. This $6.4 million investment in the Five Mile Creek Greenbelt is more than an investment in a trail, however. It is an investment in the health, quality of life, and sustainable, environmentally-conscious development of Southern Dallas that will benefit not just the immediately surrounding community but all Dallas residents for generations to come!
The project will also propel Dallas closer to the goal of becoming the major city with the best park system in Texas!
Triple Whammy
Growing up in the 80s, one of my favorite game shows was the cheeky daytime television gem “Press Your Luck”. The object of the game was to answer trivia questions correctly and earn spins on a randomly generated video game board that in turn earned you money…unless you landed on the dreaded “Whammy”, in which case you lost all of the money you had just earned.
Last Wednesday, the City Council took yet another step toward adopting a 2023–24 city budget that, sadly, would represent a triple whammy for Dallas taxpayers.
You see, like all Americans, Dallas residents are already dealing with the double whammy of inflation and high interest rates. The prices all Dallas residents are paying for everything from gasoline to groceries are high. And buying a home or starting a business is really difficult right now for many Dallas residents because of high interest rates.
Now, on top of all this, most Dallas taxpayers are likely to see their property tax bills increase because of the size of the city manager’s proposed city budget.
Amendments to this proposed city budget were proposed by some City Councilmembers last Wednesday that would have reduced spending in several non-essential areas in order to decrease the tax burden on our city’s residents and halt the growth in the size of your city government.
Unfortunately, over my repeated objection, most of these amendments were struck down by a majority of the City Council, resulting in a currently proposed budget that instead will increase the size of your city government and likely cause your city tax bill to increase. Again.
There is still time, however, to adopt a 2023–24 city budget that puts Dallas on the path toward fiscal responsibility before the City Council finalizes the city budget on Wednesday, September 20.
EMAIL YOUR CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE NOW and let them know you want a lower city tax bill, not just a lower city tax rate.
Travel + Leisure Features Dallas
Dallas’ Harwood District was recently featured in Travel + Leisure. This beautiful, European-inspired neighborhood covers 19 centrally-located city blocks and is packed with premier residential and office buildings as well as outdoor pocket gardens and numerous trendy restaurants. I recently visited the Harwood District for the opening of what Travel + Leisure calls the “crown jewel” of this quintessentially Dallas neighborhood, Hotel Swexan. Go check it out for yourself: you will not be disappointed. And you won’t find a neighborhood like this in any surrounding city or suburb.
Read more about the Harwood District and Hotel Swexan in Travel + Leisure here.
National Cricket League
Last week, it was announced that Dallas has been chosen as the headquarters of the new National Cricket League and will be home to one of the league’s six inaugural teams! Dallas will serve as the launchpad for a new era of cricket in the United States.
Professional sports strengthen communities, foster pride, and generate significant economic benefits. This major announcement comes on the heels of the Sports Business Journal naming Dallas the #1 sports business city in the United States.
Dallas is clearly the place to be, and this latest win in a long list of wins over the last four years will only bolster Dallas’ position as the best sports town in America.
And on that note, GO COWBOYS!!!
