Dallas, Texas: Jenkins Wins 70 Percent in Dallas County as $443 Million Bond and Homelessness Tax Trail

Dallas County voters made two different decisions on Tuesday night. They kept their county judge by a landslide and, in the same count, turned away the tax increase he had put on the ballot and the $443 million bond the City of Dallas asked for. Both money measures still trailed after midnight, and neither has been called.

The split in Dallas County

Just after midnight Central time, with 732 of 914 reporting units in, the county's unofficial returns had County Judge Clay Jenkins at 70.48 percent, with 504,616 votes. Proposition A, the county homelessness property tax Jenkins voted to put on the ballot, had 48.5 percent, behind by 338,437 votes to 318,669. The measure drew 58,899 fewer votes than the judge's race. Subtract the two, and at least 185,947 people who chose Jenkins either voted no on the tax or skipped the question. If the measure loses, the county rate returns to the 22.465 cent voter approval rate, still about 4.2 percent above last year's 21.55 cents.

The county measure would raise roughly $103 million a year for homelessness services. Supporters say the money would expand services to help 4,500 households. Critics cite a lack of clear performance oversight and cost controls. Dallas County's order set no allocations for the money, and the contract and goals were to come after the vote.

The city bond and the region

The City of Dallas bond stood at 43.79 percent for and 56.21 percent against, with 385 of 482 reporting units in, and FOX 4 reported it failing. The $443 million package has five parts: $149 million for a public safety training complex at Dallas Executive Airport, $150 million for police evidence storage, a property room and a crime lab, $82 million to close the funding gap for the new police academy at the University of North Texas at Dallas, $40 million to move 911 dispatch and the Emergency Operations Center out of City Hall, and $22 million to replace Fire Station No. 4 downtown. Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn told FOX 4 that many usual bond supporters objected to moving 911 out of City Hall: "No, we're not gonna leave City Hall, and we're gonna give you this big pot of money." Supporters warn that finishing the police training center as designed depends on about $82 million from this bond.

The no votes ran across the region. In Collin County, at 88 of 90 vote centers, all four county bonds totaling $817.5 million were underwater: courts and detention at 62.57 percent against, roads at 51.65, parks at 53.30 and an elections and records building at 69.94. Collin College's $600 million bond was at 52.47 percent against. Plano's arena taxes, a venue tax on hotels and car rentals to help fund a new Dallas Stars arena at The Shops at Willow Bend, had 54.78 percent against in the Collin County report.

It was not a blanket no. University Park's rate measure had 61.13 percent, and Garland's Proposition A led 51.71 to 48.29 with 48 of 61 units reporting. All of these counts are unofficial until canvassed, and the Dallas Patriot found no post-election statement from the county by its deadline. The needs behind the measures do not go away with a no vote. They return to the regular budgets of the commissioners and councils that meet in public.