Dallas leaders hear new property tax proposals targeting homelessness, childcare funding

Dallas tax proposals could help homeless, childcare funds

Several groups are advocating for new property taxes for Dallas residents that would increasing funding for homelessness support and childcare for low-to-middle income families. FOX 4's Shaun Rabb has more on what Dallas leaders are saying about the proposals.

DALLAS - Proposals for new property taxes that address homelessness and childcare funding were heard by the Dallas County Commissioners Court on Monday.

Dallas County Commissioners Court

Property tax addressing homelessness

What they're saying:

The groups Housing Forward and the All Neighbors Coalition gave a proposal for a new property tax combating homelessness in Dallas.

The proposed tax would cost homeowners $5 a month. Revenue from the property tax would go towards getting people out of homeless camps and moving them from shelters into houses over time.

"We continue to have a funding gap that's creating a bottleneck and pushing people onto the streets," part of the proposal went. 

"There's 11,000 households that need an intervention each year to exit homelessness, and despite the fact that we've built the capacity of our system to address that need, over 40% are not getting the support they need to quickly exit the system."

Both groups say more than 60% of survey respondents said they would agree to the tax increase.

Property tax addressing childcare funding

The proposed property tax to address childcare funding would also cost homeowners $5 a month.

Proponents say the tax would create assistance scholarships for low-to-middle income families who struggle to afford the increasing prices of daycare.

"We see a big need right now with childcare locally, and folks that want to work but aren't able to do so because they don't have access to childcare," part of the proposal said. 

"It is the kind of issue that has a regional economic impact, and that's why we're interested in it. We're wanting to expand it forward here in Dallas County."

"Taxes taxes taxes"

What they're saying:

"We can't tax our people into oblivion," Commissioner John Wiley Price told FOX 4's Shaun Rabb.

Dallas County Commissioners showed interest in both proposals, but expressed concerns about the lack of infrastructure for both causes.

"Some of my concerns also are: who is going to manage these programs, right? Dallas County, at this point, I don't think we have the infrastructure to do it, and none of these proposals really tackle that part either," Price continued.

John Wiley Price (left) and Dr. Elba Garcia (right)

Dr. Elba Garcia told the crowd on Monday that she's worried about burdening Dallas County homeowners with too many taxes, noting the city just approved a $6.2 billion bond for Dallas ISD.

If both proposals were approved, the average homeowner would increase their property tax by $247 a year.

What's next:

The Dallas County Commissioners Court has until August to vote on adding either proposal to November's election ballots.