Texas attorney general sues Dallas over police funding

Bloomberg News

Dallas has failed to comply with a proposition passed by city voters in 2024 mandating increased funding for police, according to a lawsuit Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Friday.

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Proposition U requires the city to appropriate at least 50% of annual revenue increases over the previous year to fund public safety pensions, boost police starting pay, and maintain a police force of at least 4,000 full-time sworn police officers.

The lawsuit filed in Dallas County District Court claims Dallas officials excluded large categories of city revenue without citing any state or federal law restricting their use in calculating a $61 million revenue increase for fiscal 2026, while overall revenue was projected to grow by about $220 million.

“I filed this lawsuit to ensure that the city of Dallas fully funds law enforcement, upholds public safety, and is accountable to its constituents,” Paxton, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, said in a statement. “When voters demand more funding for law enforcement, local officials must immediately comply.”

The city declined to comment, citing pending litigation. 

Shortly after Proposition U’s passage, Moody’s Ratings, which rates the city’s general obligation bonds A1, revised its outlook to negative from stable, citing the measure’s expected credit impact, including reducing the city’s fiscal flexibility and boosting the Police and Fire Pension System’s liability by increasing police starting salaries and the number of officers.

The rating agency said the city’s plan to address the charter amendment’s mandates will be a “key focus” in future reviews. 

Dallas’ fiscal 2026 budget included a public safety spending boost with a plan to hire police recruits and retain existing officers. After the budget was adopted, the head of Dallas HERO, a group that backed the 2024 charter amendment ballot measure, said the spending plan did not comply with Proposition U.