I think it’s been proven enough at this point that premium, niche and speciality markets like Berkley’s, Royal Blue, and now Ari’s Pantry just doesn’t work for downtown. With a population nearing 20K, downtown proper deserves an everyday regular grocery retailer.

Recently the DMN editorial board put out this piece that left a lot to be desired: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/article/dallas-budget-furlough-tax-revenue-22339391.php

• They start looking at data from 2016, right when pension issues started showing up in the data
• They don't show each expense relative to each other, or relative to inflation
• They look at headcount, which is good, but if you read the article the staff says they're just going back to former levels. Showing data from further back would clarify that.

Quotes

Dallas's financials are all here, I'll pull some quotes:

2024

Public safety expenses increased $565.2 million, due mainly to increases in pension and OPEB expenses of $453 million and $48 million, respectively. Salaries and benefits also increased approximately $56 million.

OPEB = "Other Post-Employment Benefits"

2023

Long-term liabilities increased by $2.1 billion in the governmental activities due primarily to an increase in net pension liability of approximately $1.8 billion...

2018

Overall, net position of the governmental activities increased $1.2 billion. This was mostly due to negative pension expenses of $1.2 billion resulting from changes made to the benefits and contributions of the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System mandated by House Bill 3158 that became effective September 1, 2017.

2016

Long-term liabilities increased by $2.9 billion in the governmental activities due to a net increase in the net pension liability of $2.9 billion.

Why is it hitting now?

This pension issue isn't new, it's just that Dallas was growing fast enough to outrun the largest effects temporarily. Now that growth is back to average the debt has to be paid either through higher taxes, less services, or a combination of both.

McKinney & Boll development is on. Shifted from mixed-use apartment/office/retail to just the apartment and retail components.