Recently, Dallas voters agreed to put aside $82 million to deal with the problem of affordable housing and homelessness. This is a big deal because it shows a change in how the city handles affordable housing. In the past, they only approved $46 million for this issue since 2006, but now they’ve almost doubled that amount.
This money is part of a bigger plan to spend $1.25 billion on improving things like roads, parks, and public safety. But a good chunk of it will now go towards affordable housing and helping people without homes.
Let’s break down where the money will go:
- Proposition G got 68 percent of the votes and will use $72 million to help developers build housing projects that have affordable homes in them.
- Proposition H got 70 percent of the votes and set aside $26 million to update the infrastructure for affordable housing in Southern Dallas, an area that hasn’t gotten as much attention in the past.
- Proposition I, which got 77 percent approval, focuses on improving the Bridge homeless shelter and helping homeless people find homes again. It has a budget of $19 million.
These measures cover different aspects of the housing problem in Dallas, like making more affordable homes and supporting the services needed to keep them going.
Even though $82 million is a lot of money, it’s still less than what some groups, like the Dallas Housing Coalition, wanted. They were hoping for $200 million. But even with this amount, it’s expected to make a big difference.
Right now, Dallas doesn’t have enough affordable homes, with a shortage of 33,000 rental units. And this could get worse, with a projection of 84,000 more needed in the next ten years. But there has been some progress, with a drop of about 20 percent in homelessness since 2021.
The good news is that residents won’t see their taxes go up because of this bond. However, they will have to pay $51 million in interest over time. But it’s seen as a worthwhile investment to tackle the city’s housing issues. The focus now is on using this money wisely and pushing for more support to keep making progress.
