Dallas Blog

At Wednesday's Dallas City Council briefing, there will be yet another Budget Workshop -- the fourth of many in advance of the September 23 due date for next fiscal year's budget. In the doc prepared for the council, City Manager Mary Suhm describes the process of "Setting the 'Price' of Dallas Government":

The "Price" is what the residents of Dallas are willing to pay for the services they receive

"Price" = Amount of locally-generated city revenue as a percentage of gross personal income. Includes all taxes, fees, and charges.

She says that since 2000, the so-called "Price" of Dallas Government has dropped from 3.25 percent of personal income to 3.19 percent, which is very bad news. Why? Well, says the briefing, "it is unlikely the City will be able to achieve this 'price' while increasing public safety, maintaining current service levels and maintaining the current property tax rate." And while it's still early in the game, the city's starting to fear the worst: a $100 million budget deficit.