Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert doesn’t like the words “budget cuts.”

She said as much on Wednesday, when the council discussed the proposed tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year, which could be half a penny cheaper per $100 valuation than it was this year. After council member Adam Bazaldua used the word “cuts” to describe the city departments receiving less funding next year than they did this year, Tolbert reminded Baz that “cuts is not one of our words.” Instead, she prefers to think of the reshaped budget as an “optimization of service” that “serves the priorities of the community,” or something.

Whatever words you want to use, almost no city office (outside of the police and fire departments) is going into the 2025-2026 fiscal year with as much spending money as they’v

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