$1.025 Billion Bond Plan Would Dig Dallas Out of Some of Its Troubles

The city of Dallas is struggling under a growing heap of basic infrastructure that's in desperate shape. We're talking about more than $10 billion in needs resulting from years of let's-do-that-later.Finding the right shovels within city hall to dig out of this mess has been frustrating and difficult. But thank goodness, with time running out, the city council came together Wednesday on a $1.025 billion bond proposal.It's a big number, larger than the $800 million starting point but still well below the city's borrowing capacity of $1.2 billion. No one likes long-term debt. Still, the council is right to recognize that it is poor governance to continue to defer maintenance on its deferred maintenance. Neighborhoods north and south have waited for years to get basic repairs and much-needed projects. Years of kicking these promises down the road is what got Dallas into this jam. And speaking of streets, half or more of this still-evolving bond proposal will go toward fixing them.  Continue reading...