Most Dallas voters will see two measures labeled Proposition A on the Nov. 3 ballot. One is the city’s $443 million public safety bond. The other, Dallas County Prop A, asks voters countywide to approve a property tax rate of $0.248650 per $100 of value, about 2.4 cents above what the county could charge without an election, to pay for homelessness programs.
Here is the short version: county property taxes go up next year either way. Dallas County Prop A decides by how much, and whether about $102.9 million a year goes to homelessness, encampment and housing programs.
What a yes or no vote on Dallas County Prop A does
Commissioners adopted the 24.865-cent rate on Aug. 11 and, because it exceeds the state’s voter-approval rate of 22.465 cents, ordered an election in the same session. Court Order 2026-0879 passed 3-2. County Judge Clay Jenkins and Commissioners Theresa Daniel and Andrew Sommerman voted yes. Commissioners John Wiley Price and Elba Garcia voted no.
- A yes vote keeps the adopted rate of $0.248650.
- A no vote drops the rate to the voter-approval rate of $0.224650, as Texas Tax Code Section 26.07 requires.
- Either result is higher than last year’s rate of $0.215500.
The order states the purpose of the higher rate: programs that measurably reduce homelessness and resolve encampments, improve neighborhood vibrancy, help homeless people reach self-sufficiency, increase access to mental health treatment and support stable housing.
What it costs a typical homeowner
The county’s Aug. 11 presentation uses the median residence homestead from the Dallas Central Appraisal District: a market value of $345,070 and a taxable value of $268,056 after the homestead, over-65 and disability exemptions. Taxes are figured on taxable value.
For that median home, the county portion of the bill would be:
- $558.97 last year, at the old rate on last year’s value
- $546.26 at the no-new-revenue rate
- $602.19 if Dallas County Prop A fails
- $666.52 if it passes
So the proposition itself is worth about $64.33 a year on the median homestead, or roughly $5.36 a month. If you want to check your own home, the math is simple. Take your county taxable value, divide by 100 and multiply by 0.024. The county’s own table shows $24 a year for every $100,000 of taxable value, so $84 at $350,000 and $120 at $500,000.
Why you have seen three different numbers
Voters may have seen $116.03, $84 and $64.32 attached to this measure. All three come from public documents, and they answer different questions.
The $116.03 figure is in the election order itself. It describes a $350,000 home and compares the adopted rate with last year’s rate, so it captures the full 3.315-cent increase from last year, not just the 2.4 cents on the ballot.
The $84 figure comes from the county’s tax rate election fact sheet. It is the Prop A difference alone, at $350,000 of taxable value.
The $64.32 figure appears in an Aug. 28 City of Dallas memo to the mayor and council from Ahmad Goree, chief of staff to the city manager, citing county information, for “a home valued at $350,000.” It matches the county’s median homestead math, which starts from a market value of about $345,000 but taxes only the $268,056 left after exemptions.
The election order also contains a typo. One sentence lists the voter-approval rate as $0.226450. The same order, the county’s tax rate notice and its fact sheet all give $0.224650, and the 2.4-cent difference only works with $0.224650.
Where the money would go
The county’s fact sheet estimates the higher rate would raise $102.9 million from the tax rate election. The FY2027 budget summary sets up a separate fund, 12200 Tax Rate Election, budgeted at $102,974,126. Programs proposed by Housing Forward and the All Neighbors Coalition are expected to start Jan. 1, 2027, according to the county.
The election sits on top of a large increase in the rest of the county budget. The county’s final vote notice says the budget will raise $189,369,240 more in property tax revenue than last year, a 22.51% increase, and that the maintenance and operations rate is effectively raised 22.02%. About $18.9 million of that new revenue comes from property added to the tax roll this year.
How it compares with other money questions on your ballot
Dallas residents will also vote on the city’s Dallas Prop A public safety bond, which the city says will not raise its tax rate. The city cut its own rate this fall, as covered in the Dallas FY2026-27 budget. Neighboring Collin County went the other way and kept its rate flat for a 33rd year, and Garland put its own rate question on the November ballot.
Because the county measure is an election on a rate, not a bond, there is no borrowing and no repayment schedule. If it passes, the 2.4 cents stays in the county’s rate for this tax year, and commissioners would set a rate again next year.
Before you vote
Early voting runs Oct. 19 through Oct. 30, and Election Day is Nov. 3. Dallas County Prop A appears on every Dallas County ballot, so Dallas County voters in Garland, Irving, Mesquite, Richardson and other cities will see it too, not only Dallas residents.
How Never Late News reported this
This explainer is based on Dallas County records: Court Order 2026-0879 calling the election, with the vote, purpose and $116.03 figure; the county’s November 2026 tax rate election fact sheet with the $102.9 million estimate, the per-$100,000 table and the Jan. 1, 2027 start; the notice of final vote with the median homestead bills, the 22.02% and 22.51% figures and Court Order 2026-0878; the Aug. 11 presentation on the median homestead; and the FY2027 Budget in Brief. The $64.32 figure comes from the City of Dallas memo of Aug. 28, 2026. The ballot label Proposition A was confirmed through Texans for Fiscal Responsibility’s review of the sample ballot and a Hotel Association of North Texas event listing. The $64.33 difference, the monthly figure and the reconciliation of the three numbers are Never Late News calculations. No interviews were conducted for this report. To report an error, email editor@neverlatenews.com.