Dallas Voters Approve Record $82M Bond Funds for Housing

Dallas’ latest bond election delivered a win for affordable housing advocates.

Voters approved three measures that set aside $82 million to increase the city’s affordable housing stock and combat homelessness, Bisnow reported. The city of Dallas has approved just $46 million in bond funds for affordable housing since 2006, KERA reported.

The funds are part of a $1.25 billion bond package, the majority of which will be used for roads, parks and public safety.

More than half of the $72 million included in Proposition G will help developers finance housing projects that include affordable units. The proposal was approved by 68 percent of voters.

Proposition H, which was approved by 70 percent of voters, allocated $26 million to making affordable housing infrastructure updates in Southern Dallas. The area has been historically underserved by the city of Dallas.

Proposition I allocated $19 million to upgrade the Bridge homeless shelter in downtown Dallas and help rehome the city’s unhoused population; 77 percent of voters approved this measure.

The $82 million in housing funds are less than half of the $200 million that advocates like the Dallas Housing Coalition pushed for last year.

“It’s going to be more than a surface scratch, for sure,” Dallas Habitat for Humanity CEO Ashley Brundage said. “My hope is the dollars go pretty far, but it’s definitely not as much as we wanted, and our fight is not over.”

Dallas is short 33,000 affordable rental units, according to the Child Poverty Action Lab. The number is projected to grow to 84,000 in the next decade.

In January, an estimated 3,700 people in Dallas were experiencing homelessness. That’s a nearly 20 percent decrease since 2021.

The bond amount won’t increase taxes for Dallasites, but taxpayers will foot the bill for $51 million in interest on the package, KERA reported.

—Jess Hardin