The Dallas County Elections Department offers a “Voter Lookup” tool that allows registered voters to identify their elected officials. (In order to search, you need to enter your name and birthdate or voter identification number.) You can also find the boundaries of various districts using the Election Department’s “Find my District” map.

The League of Women Voters also publishes a “Find Your Elected Officials” search tool that is easy to use.

City of Dallas – The easiest way to find a comprehensive list of upcoming public meetings is to visit the Dallas City Secretary’s website. You can find agendas for the Dallas City Council, City Council committees, City Plan Commission, Board of Adjustment, Reinvestment Zone boards, Landmark Commission, and other boards and commissions. You can also find agendas for Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Dallas Housing Authority meetings.

If you are interested in reviewing past public meeting agendas or conducting a keyword search for various topics that have been discussed at public meetings, you can search the City’s Legistar database.

The City Council meets at 9:00 a.m. each Wednesday, except there are no meetings the 5th Wednesday of the month. Council briefings are held the first and third Wednesdays of the month and voting agenda meetings are held the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month. Members of the public can watch most City of Dallas meetings online and in-person.

DISD – The Dallas Independent School District (DISD) is governed by a Board of Trustees. DISD publishes its Board of Trustees’ meeting agendas (as well as archived materials) on its website. The Board of Trustees meets at 6:00 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month and Board Briefings are held the second Thursday of each month (with some exceptions).

Dallas County – The Dallas County Commissioners Court is the governing body for Dallas County. Dallas County is responsible for providing public services such as public health, criminal justice, road and bridge maintenance, tax assessment and collection, elections, and public records management. The Commissioners Court meeting agendas (as well as archived materials) are available on the County’s website. The Commissioners Court meets at 9:00 a.m on the first and third Tuesday of the month.

State of Texas – The State of Texas is governed by the Texas Legislature. The Legislature consists of two chambers – the Senate and the House of Representatives. The essential functions of the state government include: public health, criminal justice, higher education, transportation and child welfare. The Legislature convenes every two years (on odd numbered years).

City of Dallas – You may register to speak at a City of Dallas public meeting by calling the Dallas City Secretary’s Office at 214-670-3738 or sending an email to secspeakerrequest@dallas.gov. (If you wish to speak at a City Council meeting, you may also register by filling out an online form.) The Dallas City Secretary’s Office publishes Public Speaker Guidelines that you should review before speaking at a public meeting. The deadline to register to speak at a Dallas City Council meeting is 5:00 p.m. of the last regular business day preceding the meeting.

Speaking at a City Council meeting (or other public meeting) can be a highly effective way to advocate for or against a specific issue. Prior to each City Council meeting, most City Council members and City Department Directors will review the list of registered speakers and the topics on which they have registered to speak. Sometimes, City staffers will contact registered public speakers before the City Council meeting to introduce themselves and learn about the issue that prompted the person to register to speak.

For many City of Dallas meetings, public speakers are invited to either speak in person or to participate via videoconference. Speakers who choose to appear via videoconference are required to keep their video camera “on” for the entire time they are speaking.

DISD – The DISD Board of Trustees does not allow public speakers to register online. Instead, public speakers must call Board Services at (972) 925-3720. The deadline to register to speak is no later than 5 p.m. on the day before the meeting.

Dallas County – The Dallas County Commissioner’s Court provides a convenient way for public speakers to register online. The deadline to register to speak is Monday at 4 p.m. the day before Tuesday’s court.

State of Texas – The Texas Legislature provides several different ways for public speakers to register, depending on which legislative body is hosting the hearing. However, in all instances, public speakers must be present at the Capitol to register to speak. During the legislative session, the Texas House of Representatives allows members of the public to submit electronic comments while a committee meeting is occurring.

A government’s budget is the clearest reflection of its priorities. Therefore, it is vitally important for neighborhood leaders to be active participants in the budgeting process for all taxing entities, including the City of Dallas, the local school district, and the county government. Neighborhood leaders should provide formal input regarding: (1) the services and projects that should be prioritized (i.e. “funded”) and (2) the level of funding that should be allocated to major services/projects.

City of Dallas – The City of Dallas’s fiscal year begins on October 1, so the City adopts an annual budget in September of each year. In order to solicit public input, the City usually holds “Budget Townhall” meetings in August. Additionally, sometimes councilmembers host budget-related meetings earlier in the budget-development process.

The “Budget Overview” section of the City of Dallas Budget provides an easy-to-understand overview of the budget development process and the funding allocated to various city priorities.

The City of Dallas regularly issues bonds to pay for capital improvements such as new streets, parks, stormwater improvements, among other capital items. The City publishes information on its website about its bond program development and performance.

DISD – DISD’s fiscal year begins on July 1, so DISD adopts an annual budget in June of each year. In order to solicit public input, DISD usually holds “Budget Workshop” meetings in February and March.

DISD’s Budget Services Department posts the current budget along with prior budgets. The Construction Services Department provides information on projects funded by the 2020 bond. (The easiest way to search for projects in your neighborhood is by clicking on the “current” and “completed” links at the top of the webpage.) DISD publishes several reports related to academic performance at the districtwide and school level.

Dallas County – Dallas County’s fiscal year begins on October 1, so the County adopts an annual budget in September of each year. The County does not host public workshops but distributes the proposed budget to County Commissioners in late August.

The Dallas County Office of Budget and Evaluation posts the Dallas County budget. It also publishes various performance reports. However, the most recent posted performance report is from 2021.

State of Texas – The Texas Legislative Budget Board publishes the State of Texas budget as well as performance reports for various state agencies.

The government’s budgeting and property tax rate decisions are intertwined. Once a local government adopts its budget, it adopts a property tax rate that is sufficient to raise the revenue necessary to fund its day-to-day operations and any debt service. (While local governments also receive revenue from other sources – such as sales taxes, state contributions, or federal grants – the bulk of revenues comes from property taxes.)

Your total property tax bill is composed of taxes imposed by several taxing entities. In Texas, the following entities may impose a tax on real property: counties, school districts, cities, and special districts (municipal utility and community college districts).

The tax “rate” for each of these taxing entities is set by its governing body (e.g. city council, commissioners court, etc). The tax rate is a combined total of two separate tax rates:

• Maintenance and Operations (M&O) – Revenues raised from this tax rate pay for costs associated with the day-to-day operations of the governmental entity, such as police officer salaries, repairs to garbage trucks, and utility bills for government buildings.
• Interest and Sinking (I&S) – Revenues raised from this tax rate must be used to make interest payments on the short- and long-term debt issued by the governmental entity. For example, a city can issue tax-exempt bonds to pay for the development of a new park or the installation of a new street.

The Texas Comptroller publishes a Data Visualization Tool that allows you to compare property tax rates between counties, cities and school districts. You can also compare the total amount of taxes collected by each governmental entity as well as the market value of all taxable property located within the boundaries of each governmental entity.

The City of Dallas publishes an Appraisal Data Dashboard that includes multiple data dashboards that allow you to visualize property tax value trends throughout the city and compare commercial and residential property tax values.

Finally, if you are interested in learning more about the property tax system in Texas, the Texas Comptroller publishes a “Property Tax Basics” manual along with other resources on its website.

On an annual basis, the City of Dallas conducts a community survey. According to the City’s website, the purpose of the survey is to “assess citizen satisfaction with the delivery of major city services, to help improve the quality of city services and to determine priorities for the community.”