As Dallas Mayor, was Ron Kirk a fiscal conservative?

At a press conference at Dallas City Hall today, Texas CSE director Peggy Venable made the following statement:

While he claims to have balanced the city budget (a requirement of the city charter), Ron Kirk left Dallas with a $95 million budget deficit when he quit to run for the U.S. Senate.

While he claims to have cut taxes four times, Ron Kirk increased City of Dallas expenditures from $693 million in 1995 to $1,022 million in 2001, or an increase of 47.5%. Taxpayers funded that growth through increased real estate appraisals and higher fees for city services.

While Mayor Kirk claimed to cut taxes, Dallas residents didn’t see their tax bills fall under his tenure:

Property taxes rates were cut from 1995-2001 less than a penny – or .7 cents

While evaluations went up more than 60%

Meager property tax cuts didn’t reach the pockets of the taxpayers…

Residents paid more for sanitation services, security alarm permits, water, and 911 calls

In 1997, Mayor Ron Kirk fought unsuccessfully during the legislative session for room to raise the city’s sales tax above the current 8.25% cap

As Dallas Mayor, Ron Kirk amassed one of the largest city budget deficits in the South. Yet that increased spending did not significantly lower the poverty rate in Dallas County, which went from 18.7% to 18% from 1989 to 1999. During the same period, the poverty rates in other counties in Texas dropped dramatically:

From 18.8% to 13.9% in Travis County

From 14.4% to 13.8% in Tarrant County

From 28.1% to 22.4% in Bexar County

From 11.7% to 5.4% in Williamson County

As Dallas Mayor, Ron Kirk oversaw some of the largest corporate welfare projects in the city’s history and left taxpayers holding the bag:

1998 bond program totaling $543 million, which included $246 million to fund the Trinity River Corridor Project

DART $2.9 billion Bond Campaign

Mayor Kirk supported a $4.7 million tax abatement for New York Life Insurance Co which created only 11 new jobs

Kirk supported a “nearly $4 million tax break to the downtown Hyatt Regency Hotel”

In 2000 when the Council approved a $6.2 million in tax breaks for businesses, Mayor Kirk said, “This is a good day for all of Dallas.”

Even veterans of the Dallas budget battles have cited the significant budget shortfall as unusual.

”. . . Wasn’t it just a short while ago that Dallas was gearing up to make its big pitch to host the Summer Olympics in 2012? Didn’t the Dallas public library recently celebrate its 100th anniversary by unveiling a new master plan that would cost $50 million? Wasn’t the planned opening of the Nasher Sculpture Center next year going to be the inspiration for major downtown improvements?

”. . . I am a 30-year veteran of these annual budget deliberations, and there are proposals in this package that have sent chills up even my spine.

”. . . It is amazing what a $95 million shortfall can do to budget planning and to the hopes and aspirations of a city like Dallas.”

— 08/14/2002 By HENRY TATUM / The Dallas Morning News

In 1997, Mayor Ron Kirk pushed for higher taxes and fought unsuccessfully during the legislative session for room to raise the city’s sales tax above the current 8.25 percent cap.

The result of Kirk’s sloppy financial management is that Standard & Poor’s downgraded outlook of the city’s AAA credit rating from stable to negative.

As a Senate candidate, Ron Kirk claims to be a tax cutter but has called President Bush’s tax cuts “irresponsible.”

Taxpayers deserve to know where Ron Kirk stands. Will the real Ron Kirk please stand up?