Dallas residents’ satisfaction declines regarding city’s direction, survey says

A new report given to City Council Wednesday reveals that about a quarter of residents surveyed are pleased with the overall direction the city is taking, and even less believe they receive “good value” for their city taxes.

The survey, which had a margin of error of 2.5% and was previously given in 2020 and 2018, showed 25.9% or 382 of 1,475 residents agreed with the statement “I am pleased with overall direction that City of Dallas is taking,” and 21.7% or 320 of 1,475 agreed with the statement, “I receive good value for the City of Dallas taxes I pay.” The survey also gave residents an option of “I don’t know,” of which 6.3% and 7.8%, respectively, chose.

The findings indicate resident satisfaction with most city services is declining, and attitudes toward the effectiveness of public safety, the city’s homelessness problem and faith in the city’s future have worsened over the years. In 2018, 43% percent of residents, excluding those who answered “don’t know,” were pleased with the direction the city was taking. In 2020, that number fell to 36%.

Residents from all districts said police and infrastructure are their top two priorities – but those two categories also saw some of the lowest resident satisfaction rates.

“This should really give us pause for our entire budget,” said council member Cara Mendelsohn, who represents District 12. “This is a mandate to change how we are spending our dollars and what we are spending them on.”

The survey, for which the city paid $46,500 to the research firm ETC Institute, quizzed residents via phone, online and mail about their perceptions of Dallas. Over 100 residents from each of the city’s 14 districts answered the survey, and respondents’ race, age and gender were representative of the city’s demographics.

The results come at a time when the city has lowered property taxes, boosted the police budget to around $612 million and seen a drop in violent crime, a point that contrasts Dallas from other major U.S. cities and is championed by Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson. City officials said Wednesday the police budget is currently projected to increase $43 million, to close to $655 million, in the next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.

Despite the continued increase in funding, Dallas police saw among the lowest satisfaction rates of all city services. In one survey question, only 1.5% of residents thought the city’s crime prevention was “excellent,” with about one third of residents rating it as “poor.”

Still, the research company said resident satisfaction is higher in Dallas than other large U.S. cities, and 66% of Dallas residents thought their neighborhood was an excellent or good place to live.

“There is always room for improvement, which is why I’ve made public safety my number one priority since taking office,” Mayor Johnson said in a statement. “Prioritizing public safety in the next budget and in the 2024 bond program will be critical to getting Dallas closer to our collective goal of becoming the safest major city in the United States.”

Jason Morado, ETC Institute’s Director of Community Research, said the drops in tax dollar satisfaction and dimming faith in the city’s direction are consistent with national trends.

“I’m not surprised it went down, especially compared to the last survey,” Morado said. “It’s something we’ve seen all over the country.”

The survey also showed that about 75% of respondents identified homelessness as a major problem in the city, when only 40% did so in 2014.

Council member Omar Narvaez, who represents District 6, said residents’ perceptions of public safety in the city do not fairly reflect the work the Dallas Police Department has done to lower crime rates.

“It’s really easy to point out the negative, but it is really hard to make sure that the positive keeps getting built up,” he said.

In a statement, Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax said he agreed that infrastructure and safety should be residents’ top priorities, and encouraged residents to “continue to push” city officials.

“What we have worked to do, and you will see again in the upcoming budget, is a commitment to fund the upstream issues for both infrastructure and public safety. If we build it, we must maintain it,” Broadnax said.

“Our guiding principle in all things is service to our residents,” he added.