Municipal Finance

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert and Chief Financial Officer Jack Ireland Jr., alleging the city is violating Proposition U, a 2024 voter‑approved charter amendment that requires 50% of all new annual revenue to go to police and fire pensions and mandates a minimum force of 4,000 officers. Announced Friday, the suit claims Dallas undercounted its "excess" 2025–26 revenue as about $61 million instead of the roughly $220 million Paxton says should be subject to Proposition U’s pension‑funding formula, and accuses the city of failing to hire an independent firm to conduct the required annual police compensation survey. Paxton is asking the court to order Dallas to recalculate its new revenue and redirect funds to pensions, officer pay and hiring enough officers to meet the 4,000‑officer requirement, arguing city leaders are ignoring voters’ demand for more law‑enforcement resources. Dallas officials, who in December approved a 30‑year, $11 billion pension funding plan, have said they are taking steps to comply with Proposition U, setting up a legal test over who gets to interpret and enforce the measure’s fiscal and staffing mandates. The case underscores a wider national battle over "back the blue" ballot measures, police staffing shortfalls and the tension between state attorneys general and big‑city governments over how far law‑and‑order mandates should reach into city budgets.