四虎影院

Correction: A previous version of this story listed the incorrect district for District 13 Council Member Gay Donnell Willis.

After a contentious debate around the horseshoe 鈥� complete with props to punctuate their points 鈥� Dallas City Council members decided to adopt the proposed tax rate ceiling originally set out by the city manager.

That decision comes after District 12 Council Member Cara Mendelson circulated a memo detailing her concerns over what many call an approaching 鈥渇inancial cliff.鈥�

Part of that memo 鈥� and an amendment introduced by Mendelsohn during Wednesday鈥檚 council meeting 鈥� called for the tax rate ceiling to be lowered 5 cents from the City Managers recommendation of $0.7393 per $100 valuation.

鈥淭oday every council member will decide, by their vote, the tax ceiling they support,鈥� Mendelsohn said. 鈥淎nd if they want to lower taxes, keep them the same or raise taxes.鈥�

Mendelsohn鈥檚 recommended rate would mean millions in cuts from the proposed budget, according to the city's Chief Financial Officer Jack Ireland.

鈥淲e released a 鈥楴o New Revenue鈥� tax rate scenario, that identified $123 million dollars of reductions that would go along with that revenue,鈥� Ireland said.

Mendelsohn argues that the overall budget increases year to year are getting out of hand 鈥� and a higher tax rate has major implications for the city鈥檚 budget and financial future.

鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about a billion dollar increase in the budget in four years," Mendelsohn said. 鈥淭o our Dallas residents and our business I want to say, thanks a billion. But have you had enough?"

Even with the budget cuts due to adopting a lower tax rate ceiling, at least one other council member agreed with Mendelsohn鈥檚 push for a decrease.

District 10 Council Member Kathy Stewart, who was elected in the most recent general election, framed her decision to back a lower rate by her experience at a constituents鈥� town hall meeting.

鈥淎nd it dawns on me that the people I鈥檝e spent the evening with鈥�are all going to pay more next year,鈥� Stewart said. 鈥淚f we stick with the City Manager鈥檚 recommendation, the homeowners are going to pay more and the renters are going to pay more.鈥�

The current tax rate ceiling would bring an increase in the property bill of $64.99 for the median homeowner. A motion introduced by District 13 Council Member Gay Donnell Willis would decrease that to $55.62. But Mendelsohn鈥檚 recommendation would bring a $83.62 reduction in some property tax bills.

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson put his two cents forward on the situation 鈥� complete with a toy version of the Titanic.

鈥淭o me, of these options, only one of them represents turning this ship around and going the other direction,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淭he other options that I see before us amount to us saying 鈥業 see that iceberg over there and I think what we ought to do is move the chairs on the deck of this boat around鈥�.鈥�

But there seemed to be one issue. Community members have already been weighing in on the budget, which was built around the City Manager鈥檚 recommended tax rate cap. City officials say the 鈥淣o New Revenue鈥� scenario has not been part of those talks.

鈥淎re we just checking a box when we go and speak to our constituents, but really willing to make all the hard decisions here without their input?鈥� District 7 Council Member Adam Bazaldua said during the meeting. 鈥淏ecause that鈥檚 the message I think we are sending to the public.鈥�

The decision to adopt to recommended tax rate ceiling is just the beginning of the process. Both the budget and the finalized tax rate will be decided on September 20.

Got a tip? Email Nathan Collins at ncollins@kera.org. You can follow Nathan on Twitter .

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