Dallas must get every penny of federal infrastructure funds

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The city cannot build the future on local taxes alone.

Dallas is an aging city, and there is little question that taxpayers here will never be able to pay enough from property and sales taxes alone to catch up with the backlog of maintenance that we have.

Residents complain, and rightly so, about our streets, sidewalks, alleys and traffic lights, among any number of other concerns that, every bond program, we chip away at even as more potholes open up and more sidewalks crumble.

For that reason, we are supportive of a plan from Mayor Eric Johnson to set up a working group to coordinate efforts to capture as much money as Dallas can from three key federal infrastructure programs.

Johnson has set up any number of task forces around a variety of issues. And while we worry about the goal and purpose of some of these task forces, and whether they are duplicating work better done by city staff, this one appears much needed and correctly set up.

It will be led by Alan Cohen, who has done important work leading the Child Poverty Action Lab. Cohen gave us assurances that he is working closely with leaders in City Hall with the goal of coordinating efforts to leverage existing city funds to win the greatest share possible of available federal funds.