Equity Applied to Proposed Dallas Economic Development Policy

There’s a new approach to spending at Dallas City Hall where there’s nowhere near enough money for everything.

It’s an equity policy approved earlier this year to help underserved areas catch up.

There was pushback Wednesday but also strong support as city staff applied the equity policy to a proposed economic development policy that Dallas has been refining for over a year.

The equity policy could move up improvements for streets like Chalk Hill Road in West Dallas, a beat-up two-lane stretch with heavy truck traffic.

The street is in a traditionally underserved neighborhood that is also targeted for incentives to attract private investment in the economic development policy.

Councilman Casey Thomas who championed the equity policy said the city must maintain the commitment to racial equity in all decisions.

“It’s a new day in the City of Dallas and we either need to get on board or we need to get off the ship,” Thomas said.

Equity could prioritize where city tax breaks would be offered in the economic development plan.

As an example, it would have supported the big Kroger Distribution Center South of I-20 off Bonnie View Road which did receive city tax abatement in another target area.

Councilman Tennell Atkins who represents that far Southern Dallas area said street and utility infrastructure investment is another economic development tool.

“We don't have equity if we don't have infrastructure in all parts of the City of Dallas,” Atkins said.

An October groundbreaking demonstrates the Dallas transition to that tool.

Near the University of North Texas at Dallas campus, the city began work on streets and utilities to support a massive development near I-20 instead of making developers do it.

“We have to play the game the way other cities are doing by offering infrastructure ahead of time,” Assistant Dallas City Manager Majed Al Ghafry said.

The discussion of equity and incentives for economic development came on the same day the Dallas City Council received briefings on city building maintenance issues and a 5-year plan to improve infrastructure management for all of Dallas.

For Dallas Libraries alone there’s $24 million in unfunded needs and for hundreds of city buildings altogether the Building Services Department reported $74 million in unfunded needs. That’s on top of the $63 million the department will spend in the current budget on building upkeep.

The unfunded need for streets and sidewalks in the infrastructure plan is even larger.

Dallas City Council Member Cara Mendelsohn questioned the wisdom of tax abatements and economic development incentives with so many unfunded needs.

“It's just the same overarching question of how are we going to pay for services in this city when giving up this much money,” Mendelsohn said.

Economic Development Director Robin Bentley said Dallas tax abatement deals for new development are always structured so that the city loses no money.

“We continue to collect what we’re collecting now, plus a portion of the growth,” she said. “It’s always positive for the city on these deals.”

North Dallas Council Member Jaynie Schultz said the benefit to Dallas in the long run from these policies will be tremendous by boosting areas that have not seen investment in the past.

“I think that we are not yet communicating enough the ultimate economic benefit to everybody not only for individuals but for the tax base in sales and property tax which will grow after these initial investments,” Schultz said.

Councilman Jaime Resendez spoke strongly in favor of the targeted incentives.

“I think we would be hard-pressed to find something else that would be so significant and we could point to once we move on from council,” Resendez said.

The goal is to raise enough new tax money to make future decisions easier about meeting unfunded needs.