A year ago, the Dallas City Council authorized changing the city limits so a Dallas neighborhood isolated on the other side of a lake from the rest of the city might become part of Grand Prairie instead.
New information obtained by NBC 5 indicates Dallas city staff broke off the negotiation over money.
The Bella Lagos neighborhood is 250 homes west of Mountain Creek Lake. Dallas emergency and service vehicles must drive through Grand Prairie to get there. The homes have Grand Prairie mailing addresses.
Residents say Dallas collects trash and tax money in the neighborhood, but they complain most service delivery is weak.
Get DFW local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC DFW newsletters.
They cite several examples of slow response to past public safety calls.
“I can't bring my son back, but you know what, if those minutes could save somebody's life, give them that opportunity,” said Jenny Morgan.
Her 21-year-old son JePatrick Morgan Wright was murdered 6 years ago beside a park on the west side of Mountain Creek Lake when it was still part of the city of Dallas. The park land was switched to adjacent Grand Prairie 4 years ago.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Morgan said the border confusion caused a delay in emergency response the day her son was shot.
“One of the neighbors did call the police and he said they sent him to Dallas and they rerouted him to somewhere else,” Morgan said.
Bella Lagos resident leader Fred Allen said the same delays still occur for emergency calls from the homes that are still in the city of Dallas. And Allen said a Dallas plan to improve service and reduce Bella Lagos resident complaints has not worked.
“No, as a matter of fact, services have gotten worse. Considerably worse,” Allen said.
After meetings with Bella Lagos residents who supported a border change for their neighborhood, the Dallas City Council on August 25, 2021, approved a resolution that directed the city manager to execute a border adjustment with Grand Prairie.
The specific language of that Dallas City Council Resolution made it pretty clear that the change was to occur:
SECTION 1. That the city manager is hereby authorized and directed to execute a boundary
adjustment agreement with the City of Grand Prairie on behalf of the city.
SECTION 2. That the city agrees to the release of a tract of land, along with all extraterritorial
jurisdiction pertaining thereto, located west of Mountain Creek Lake and east of Hardy Road in
the City of Dallas into the city limits of the City of Grand Prairie.
SECTION 3. That the agreement authorized by this resolution shall be ratified by future
ordinance, thus effecting an exchange of this tract of land with the City of Grand Prairie.
Grand Prairie officials told NBC 5 in June that Dallas broke off negotiation.
On June 24, 2022, Dallas spokesperson Catherine Cuellar emailed this statement and said an open records request would be needed for additional detail.
“The City of Dallas did not back out of the deal; however, the City of Grand Prairie wanted advance money and guarantees to annex the land without any benefit to the City of Dallas, so there were no further negotiations,” Cuellar’s statement said.
Now, NBC 5 has obtained internal email records from the City of Dallas through that open records request which detail the city of Dallas staff objections that stopped negotiations.
The Dallas emails said Grand Prairie expected to receive annual tax revenue from the homes, upfront costs, a contingency fund and liability coverage for future erosion issues along Mountain Creek Lake.
“We could not move forward under those terms,” said an e-mail message from Dallas Chief Financial Officer Elizabeth Reich to Dallas City Councilman Casey Thomas who represents Bella Lagos.
Upfront cost included a switch to a different type of water meters used by the city of Grand Prairie.
Allen said the city of Dallas has received many years of tax benefits from Bella Lagos where homes were built between 2007 and 2011.
He said Dallas should not expect to receive future benefits if the neighborhood instead becomes part of Grand Prairie which would provide services.
“Dallas has not taken care of its business out here, so if we were to go into Grand Prairie, I think it would only be fair that Grand Prairie would receive that money,” Allen said.
Grand Prairie’s property tax rate is lower than Dallas and residents would end up paying less than they have.
“It would be abundantly clear we’d be better off because we would get the services that we so desperately need out here that the city of Dallas is simply not providing,” Allen said.
Jenny Morgan said she hopes the change happens before the next tragedy.
“I think they're being greedy. I think they're worried about the dollar more than people's lives,” she said.
Councilman Thomas said the issue will be reviewed at a Dallas City Council Quality of Life Committee meeting in August.
Grand Prairie Spokesperson Amy Sprinkles said Grand Prairie is still open to talks about the change.
