The Dallas City Council voted to approve the Fiscal Year 2026-27 operating and capital budget totaling $5.66 billion during its meeting Wednesday, Sept. 16.

“This budget reflects the efficiencies we have worked hard to identify, uses new technologies to modernize how we deliver core services, and strengthens the partnerships that help us reach and provide services,” Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert said in a press release. “We are aligning taxpayer dollars with the priorities residents expect: public safety, streets and infrastructure, libraries, housing and parks, while maintaining our commitment to strong fiscal stewardship.” Here’s what to know about the new budget:

Of the $5.66 billion total, the General Fund accounts for $2.05 billion, an $83 million (or 4.2%) increase from the budget adopted by the City Council last September.

The Dallas City Council also approved budgets for the Internal Service Funds and Employee Retirement Fund totaling $318.7 million.

This marks the 11th consecutive year Dallas City Council has lowered the property tax rate. A 0.10-cent property tax reduction lowers the tax rate from 69.88 cents to 69.78 cents per $100 of valuation.

The combined budget for the Dallas Police Department and Dallas Fire-Rescue increased by $82.3 million.

The budget includes funding to add 750 police officers over a two-year period, bringing staffing to 3,651 officers by the end of FY 2026-27 and 3,800 by the end of FY 2027-28.

It also increases police officer compensation to $83,822 through market-based pay and step increases.

The budget also expands “Dallas is Home” opportunities through public-private partnerships aimed at increasing housing production, preserving affordable housing units, supporting homeownership and strengthening services for people experiencing homelessness.

According to a Sept. 22 presentation to the Dallas City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee, the “Dallas is Home” initiative aims to improve housing stability for 55,000 Dallas households by 2031. The preliminary five-year planning estimate includes 35,000 households receiving rental or shelter stabilty support, 17,500 benefitting from homeownership opportunities and 2,500 through housing preservation.

The Dallas City Council restored about $3.1 million in one-time funding to the Dallas Public Library system this budget cycle.

After proposing a flagship model in January 2026 that could have closed four branch locations, the system is now planning to transition to a flagship model with zero branch closures.

This version of the flagship model will begin Jan. 4, 2027 with seven flagship locations open seven days a week, plus expanded services and programming. The new flagship locations include: Bachman Lake, Fretz Park, Hampton-Illinois, Pleasant Grove, Vickery Park, Lochwood and Highland Hills.

Adult learning classes received a one-time $125,000 allocation to continue services and pay an office assistant for one year. The assistant will coordinate all volunteers.

There is also a partnership with the Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas Adult Education and Literacy Consortium to continue offering free GED and ESL classes, which began at six locations in October.

Community pools were saved once again, even after budget writers have proposed closing the nine aging facilities for two years. Council members supported a budget amendment to keep six community pools (Bonnie View, Everglade, Martin Weiss, Pleasant Oaks, Tommie Allen and Walnut Hill) open for one more year. The operations costs will be $700,000.

The budget also details the start of design and construction for aquatic and community recreation improvements for the Pleasant Oaks and Jaycee Zaragoza Park, community pool replacements and the Vickery Meadow sprayground and pavilion.