Lawsuit filed against Dallas officials for not fully funding police

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(The Center Square) – Dallas city officials have been sued for refusing to comply with Proposition U, a public safety measure Dallas voters approved in the November 2024 election. It mandates increased funding for police and other public safety priorities after a movement was launched in 2021, including by the Austin City Council, to defund police. 

That year, Gov. Greg Abbott and the state legislature prioritized several “Back the Blue” bills, which are now law. One law requires municipalities to lose state funding if they defund their police. At the local level, voter-led ballot initiatives sought to add local requirements and penalties for city councils that defunded police. In Austin, one failed after outside money poured in, voters supporting increased funding for police argued, The Center Square reported.

In Dallas, one voter-led initiative passed, which city leaders have failed to implement, Attorney General Ken Paxton argues.

The lawsuit was filed in Dallas County and names the city, its city manager and chief financial officer as defendants. It alleges they acted beyond their legal authority by underfunding the Dallas Police Department. 

The city is required by its charter to account for excess revenue when calculating police funding. In the most recent fiscal year, excess revenue was approximately $220 million, the lawsuit alleges, but the city said it was $61 million. This was due to “an improper calculation that excluded large categories of city revenue without citing any state or federal law restricting their use,” according to the lawsuit. As a result, the city’s budget failed to fund voter-mandated public safety priorities and didn’t meet Proposition U requirements, according to the lawsuit. The city has said it does not comment on ongoing litigation.

Dallas officials also didn’t comply with another Proposition U mandate requiring the city to hire an independent third-party firm to conduct an annual police compensation survey, the lawsuit alleges. Public information requests revealed no survey was conducted, in violation of the city’s charter. 

“When voters demand more funding for law enforcement, local officials must immediately comply,” Paxton said. “As members of law enforcement across the country increasingly face attacks from the radical Left, it’s crucial that we fully fund the brave men and women in law enforcement defending law and order in our communities.”

The lawsuit asks the court to require the city to comply with its charter and include all revenue not restricted by state or federal law when calculating excess revenue. It also asks the court to require the city to allocate the funds to police pensions, officer pay, and fund hiring more police officers in compliance with Proposition U.

The lawsuit follows one filed by the Texas Public Policy Foundation over ordinances city leaders failed to repeal after a new law went into effect last year, The Center Square reported. In this case, city officials didn’t repeal or amend 133 ordinances identified as illegal.

The ordinances relate to multiple insurance requirements for transportation network company drivers, ambulances, mobile food units, motor vehicle escorts for hire, street seat permits, special events, streetlight pole banners, valet parking services, shared dockless vehicles, transportation for hire, vehicle tow services, and many others. 

“Cities don’t get to pick and choose which state laws they follow,” TPPF senior attorney Matthew Chiarizio said in a statement. “For too long, Dallas has piled unnecessary and duplicative regulations on its citizens. The Legislature has rightly preempted those rules, and this lawsuit is about protecting Texans’ freedom to live and work without being smothered by layers of needless local regulation.”