Dallas plans to increase its budget to maintain its buildings after discovering earlier this year the city is spending half of what it needs to keep up with all of its facilities.
The recommended budget includes about $36 million for the facilities and real estate management department, which is about $2 million more than last year’s budget. About $4.3 million is dedicated to operating repairs. In addition, the proposal sets aside $14.5 million for major maintenance projects, covering larger capital investments.
City officials said the extra $2 million is for preventative maintenance.
The push comes after recent incidents underscored the city’s backlog of repairs, including a broken water pipe that flooded Dallas City Hall’s council chambers earlier this summer and roof damage at the municipal court building following heavy rains.
“Historically, we’ve been reactive,” said John Johnson, director of the Facilities and Real Estate Management Department. “This proposed budget gives us more capacity to plan for major investments, rather than waiting until something fails.”
The funding is part of a larger plan to improve conditions in more than 500 city-owned facilities, including libraries, recreation centers, police substations and City Hall, said assistant city manager Donzell Gipson, who oversees the facilities department.
In late May, the Dallas City Council was briefed on the status of its facilities and learned that Dallas is not meeting the recommended 2% to 4% annual investment of total facility replacement value. Based on the industry standard, he said city maintenance requires approximately $15 million more annually.
Council member Chad West, who chairs the Government Performance and Financial Management Committee, said the city has not managed its assets well, and the increase in funding signals the city’s commitment to taking care of its buildings.
“I had pushed the city to conduct a real estate strategic plan so that we could better manage our assets. And I’m glad staff is actually proceeding forward with that plan because that will tie in directly to our maintenance issues.”
Matt Haynie of Accurate Facility Services has worked with multiple businesses in Dallas’ downtown area and across North Texas on emergency facility support and mitigation services. He said that cities that do not prioritize a preservation mindset end up paying more for emergency repairs.
“It’s like taking care of your car. You need to get an oil change, check your tires, and do all that other stuff,” Haynie said. “The city should take the same approach with its buildings.”
In July, the Dallas Municipal Court was undergoing a roofing renovation when heavy rains came through and flooded the building. According to a city memorandum, it cost $508,161 to repair.
Dallas buildings need an assessment
Dallas manages more than 500 buildings totaling almost 10 million square feet. The approximate value of these buildings is $1.5 billion, and the average structure was built 47 years ago. But that’s not the whole picture.
The city currently lacks a comprehensive, up-to-date condition assessment of its building portfolio. The last review, in 2017, covered fewer than half the city’s properties and cost about $1.9 million.
The 2026 budget proposal includes money to hire a vendor to conduct a new citywide assessment, Gibson said. That process is expected to take 18 to 24 months.
The facilities team is prioritizing critical safety issues and repairs that keep buildings operational.
For West, the Martin Weiss Recreation Center, the North Oak Cliff library, and the Oak Cliff Cultural Center are some of the buildings in his district that need the most urgent attention.
Gibson said Dallas is also preparing a strategic real estate plan to guide decisions about which buildings to keep, improve or potentially sell. Revenue from future property sales could be redirected into the major maintenance fund.
Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert said during an editorial meeting with The Dallas Morning News earlier this month that she wanted to focus on addressing long-term asset reliability and reducing emergency repairs.
“We really need a real estate master plan to help guide decisions around assets that we should monetize and things that we should be doing when it comes to truly looking at our overall real estate portfolio,” Tolbert said.
City leaders hope the new assessment and planning tools will also help shape future bond packages — an area where infrastructure needs often compete with higher-profile projects such as parks and cultural centers.
Council member Paula Blackmon shared West’s concern that the city needs to understand its assets and the condition of its buildings and facilities.
Before and after photos of the repairs conducted in the Dallas Animal Services shelter. Photos provided by the city of Dallas
courtesy
She also wants to explore the possibility of partnering with the private sector to increase the number of uses for each building, generating more revenue that could be allocated toward maintenance.
“Brick and mortar is what we do,” Blackmon said. “What we need to do is, as these facilities are aging out, we need to understand, is there a way, a best practice, to deliver these same services?”
Blackmon knows that sometimes the city doesn’t consider a facility’s needs until something breaks, which can be more costly.
She proposes setting aside money solely for repairs and maintenance when new buildings or parks are proposed, so voters don’t need to pay for them with bond money.
