Dallas HERO says newly approved budget violates city charter police pay requirements

The Dallas HERO organization, which advocates for public safety in the city, claims that the starting salary for the police department in the new budget violates the charter — and now they plan to hold city leaders accountable.

The Dallas City Council passed the fiscal year 2025-26 budget early Thursday morning. Council members set the proposed starting salary for police and fire department recruits at $81,232, an increase from the current rate at $75,397.

Chief Financial Officer Jack Ireland previously told the city council that the new rate would rank Dallas 12th out of 24 peer cities in North Texas. However, the city ranks third — after Allen and Frisco — with combined salary and non-pension benefits.

That 12th place ranking is a violation of Proposition U, Damien LeVeck, Dallas HERO Executive Director, said in a statement.

"This will worsen recruiting, deepen attrition, and drive response times even higher at a moment when Dallas already ranks among the least safe major cities in America," LeVeck said in his statement.

Proposition U, passed by Dallas voters last November, requires the city to spend no less than 50% of new, annual revenue to fund the police and fire pension. It also mandates that the city increase the number of sworn police officers to a minimum of 4,000.

Dallas HERO already put city leaders on notice earlier this year, warning them to comply with Prop U's mandate to hire hundreds more police officers or possibly face litigation.

LeVeck told KERA in an email that Dallas HERO is "currently exploring all options available" to the group moving forward.

Dallas HERO is associated with the North Texas based hotelier Monty Bennett — who has donated to GOP initiatives — and started last year to push for an increased police force and pay. The organization collected enough signatures to include Propositions S, T, and U on last November's ballot despite city council's opposition.

Prior to the budget vote, Council Member Cara Mendelsohn raised the alarm on police starting pay. She told KERA the proposed rate doesn't appear to meet the intent of Prop U, which voters approved under the impression that the city would competitively pay its police officers.

But city staff have been reluctant to discuss police and fire pay because the city is under meet and confer with the employee groups.

Mendelsohn, who voted against the new budget, previously told KERA that she was against Prop U not because the ideas were wrong but because it was poorly written and oversimplifies staffing issues.

Combining the proposed base salary of $81,232 with non-pension related benefits brings the potential starting salary at $91,912 which appears to boost Dallas’ ranking in the top five out of its peer North Texas cities.

But not every officer would be eligible for every non-pension related benefit, like bilingual pay or assignment pay, to get them to that max.

During Thursday's meeting she proposed an amendment to reallocate funds to increase police and fire pay, but it failed to move forward with the final budget.

Got a tip? Email Megan Cardona at mcardona@kera.org.

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