Reward Increased

Reward increased to $10,000 for information on missing woman Christina Morris

Thanks to donations from supporters, the reward for information about missing woman Christina Morris is now $10,000. Plano police officer David Tilley announced the news in an October 9 release. The new funds double the original $5,000 Crime Stoppers reward.

Although it was previously characterized as an anonymous donation, Morris' family says the money was raised through their support network for Christina.

Morris, 23, disappeared without a trace August 30 from the Shops at Legacy in Plano. When traditional police methods failed to yield any leads, an independent search and recovery team used ATVs, horses and even drones to look for her. No clues have revealed the young woman's whereabouts.

"There's nothing that's leading us in any positive direction," Tilley says.

Surveillance video shows Morris left a friend's apartment at the Shops at Legacy in Plano around 4 am on Labor Day weekend. Since then, no one has seen or heard from her. Calls to Morris' cellphone go straight to voicemail, there's been no activity on her bank account and her car was found nearby without any signs of foul play.

"You would hope that people would come forward with information because it is the right thing to do and not because of money," Tilley says. "But we're coming up on the holidays, and economic times are tough, and money is what motivates some people to talk."

Christina's stepmother, Anna Morris, says the outpouring of public support has helped sustain the family in this difficult situation. "We truly appreciate everything that people have done. None of it is taken for granted."

Anyone with information on Christina's disappearance should call Crime Stoppers at 877-373-TIPS or the Plano Police Department at 972-424-5678.

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Billion Dollar News

Dallas City Council passes $4.9B budget for '24-25, property tax drops

Photo courtesy of PCF

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The Dallas City Council unanimously adopted a budget and tax rate for FY 2024/25 totaling $4.97 billion. It goes into effect October 1 and runs through September 30, 2025.

The top topics are public safety, whose budget increased; and property tax, whose rate went down.

Public Safety: The combined budget for the Dallas Police Department and Dallas Fire Rescue increased by $78 million.

Property tax: The budget includes a property tax rate reduction of 3.10 cents, lowering the property tax rate from 73.57 cents to 70.47 cents per $100 valuation. A release calls it the largest single-year reduction in modern history. We can't rule out ancient history but definitely lowest in modern times.

In addition, the property tax exemption for 65 and older or living with a disability has increased from $139,400 to $153,400.

The $4.97 billion is just under $5 billion, which is surely deliberate. It's like when retailers charge $9.99 — it's really $10 but you can still get the cheaper buzz of something being $9-something. Saying the budget is $4-billion something feels way better than saying it's $5 billion.

Budget Highlights:

Invest $44.1 million in pay raises.
Hire 250 police recruits and implementing an incentive program to retain officers.
Add 63 firefighters and four Single Function Paramedics to strengthen response to medical calls.
Ensure the fiscal soundness of both the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System (DPFPS) and the Employee Retirement Fund (ERF) with increased City contributions. (At its meeting on September 11, the Dallas City Council voted to invest $11.2 billion over the next three decades to fix a $4 billion shortfall.)
Continue partnership for the R.E.A.L. Time Rehousing (RTR) program to reduce unsheltered homelessness.
Invest $129.5 million in funding for street improvement and maintenance of approximately 710 lane miles, alley maintenance, sidewalk projects, bridge maintenance, and updating paving model.
Invest $26.2 million to address City facility maintenance needs.
Launch Clean Sweep! a proactive Citywide program to keep public right-of-way clean.

“This budget is focused and mindful of every tax dollar we spend, while addressing the needs of our residents and the priorities of the Dallas City Council,” said Interim Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert. “We are proud to deliver the largest tax rate reduction in Dallas’ modern history without compromising our commitment to delivering Service First with the urgency of Now! And, we cannot stop there, we must be diligent to continuously improve. We will Reset, Revisit, and Raise the Bar for the next budget cycle and beyond.”

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