Council Member Chad West says Dallas expected more of a bump from World Cup visitors.
DALLAS — Many Texans are looking for ways to cut costs as everything from gas prices to plane tickets are getting more expensive.
It’s no different for many Texas cities, including Dallas.
Council members recently learned that Dallas is facing a nearly $20 million shortfall in the next budget, in addition to the current budget’s deficit that’s running in the millions of dollars as well.
District 1 Council Member Chad West says money is suddenly tight at City Hall because of a number of factors.
“We have expenses that have gone up in the city, costs us more to pay for gasoline to get our trucks out to fix the roads. It costs us more money to repair facilities, repair roofs and repair windows,” West told us on Inside Texas Politics. “And so, we’re feeling that. Plus, we’re seeing a reduction in sales tax revenue that was forecasted to be a little bit higher than it was. And I think that’s a result also of the national economy and gas prices going up and less people just traveling.”
West said he doesn’t think the shortfall will lead to cuts in city services or layoffs.
But city leaders are exploring whether to cut the city’s workforce and, up to this point, that has primarily been through eliminating vacant positions.
West also tells us council members have more time to address the shortfall because City Manager Kim Tolbert now presents the budget months in advance of a final decision.
Another reason Dallas is facing a budget crunch is because the World Cup doesn’t appear as though it will be as profitable for the city as originally envisioned. Hotel bookings, for instance, are well below expectations, not just in Dallas, but across the country.
Sixteen World Cup games are scheduled for Dallas and Houston.
“We expected more of a bump from the travel coming into Dallas from FIFA, number one. And then two, the convention center right now is not fully occupied. The only thing happening in the convention center, which is a big piece of our tourism dollars in Dallas, is the media center, the media headquarters for FIFA. Whereas normally, we’d be having the big cheerleader conferences and everything else coming here,” West explained.
West said, so long as the convention center is under construction, sales tax revenue will fall short. And the new convention center isn’t scheduled to open until 2029.
City leaders are also still deciding whether to renovate or move out of City Hall, and that decision is now delayed until at least June because of extreme interest in the building’s future.
“We had over 400 submissions from interested folks who have ideas… to redevelop the site, or to keep it and to build around it. And some of them were 100 page theses that are like really detailed plans. And then there’s some two or three page plans that are just like, alright, do this, put a museum there. Very simple plans,” West relayed.
But before those plans get released to the public, confidential information must be redacted. And West said, because there are so many submissions, it delayed their review.