Dallas voters will decide the outcome of 10 propositions on the ballot for the May 4 municipal bond election, including projects for spurring housing development throughout the city.

The bond funding dedicated to housing could add an estimated 3,000 units of affordable housing units, according to Dallas Housing Coalition organizer Bryan Tony. The funding could be used for mixed-use and multifamily development, as well as single-family homeownership opportunities.

Proposition G, which will fund $72 million for economic development, includes $36.6 million for projects in support of housing development.

City officials told the public last month that more than half of the money initially planned for housing development would have to be moved to the economic development category.

State law mandates bond money designated for housing infrastructure be separated from funds that could be used for grants, loans and other incentives toward building homes, according to the city.

The city’s Office of Economic Development produces affordable housing through investment in infrastructure such as water pipes and sewers, which are needed before homes can be built.

“Ken Montgomery’s builds in The Bottom and some stuff that Builders of Hope and James Armstrong are doing, even Habitat for Humanity, could benefit from having money for infrastructure for streets and sidewalks and sewage that enable the housing to be built,” Tony said.

“They’re still gonna build all the housing, and they have the means to do it. They can’t afford sometimes the pre-construction and public infrastructure that is necessary for those homes.”

Part of Proposition G’s funding for housing projects lays the groundwork for larger economic development projects that include more than just housing opportunities.

Jennifer Nicewander, interim director of Dallas’ bond and construction management office, said the city has the option of designating specific housing projects to be paid for with up to $36.6 million out of the economic development bond allocation.

According to city officials, eligible housing infrastructure bond money uses could include street and sidewalk improvements that could support future housing developments.

Housing

Proposition H would also fund $26.4 million in housing and infrastructure projects citywide.

Last fall, local housing advocates with the Dallas Housing Coalition launched a public campaign to raise $200 million in bond money to help Dallas grow its housing development, especially of affordable units.

Neither of the propositions lists specific projects in a particular council district, a criticism that Dallas City Councilmember Cara Mendelsohn highlighted in an April 12 column in The Dallas Morning News.

While she acknowledges housing is “worthy of investment,” Mendelsohn said she doesn’t support the housing proposition because, she argues, Dallas has other ways to pay for development without adding debt and interest to the city’s books.

“We have more than a dozen housing development tools at our disposal that don’t require directly taxing our residents,” wrote Mendelsohn, who represents Far North Dallas’ District 12. “Some are federal and state programs, city tax abatements, density bonuses and use of the Dallas Housing Finance Corp., which can issue bonds repaid by the rent received on the units.”

The reason the housing proposition doesn’t have specific projects attached to it is in large part because of the long timeline required in the funding process for housing projects, said Ashley Brundage, the newly named CEO of Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity.

“[The city] can’t identify those ahead of time because of the nature of housing development and the timing it takes for a project to come together,” Brundage said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News. “You cannot do that ahead of time and then have a developer sit and wait and see if the bond is going to pass.”

Brundage says the city has already dedicated itself to affordable housing development through the adoption of several city plans, including the Dallas Housing Policy 2033, which includes efforts to develop in target areas marked by disinvestment.

While the city plans to target three areas in southern Dallas for housing development, various projects that add to Dallas’ housing supply across council districts will still continue citywide.

Early voting on the bond program began on Monday and runs through April 30.