It's time for Texans to cast their ballots: An election on May 4 will provide the opportunity to cast a vote on local contests, bond proposals, and more.

Early voting begins Monday, April 22, 2024, and continues through Tuesday, April 30. You can find voting locations for Dallas, Collin, and Denton County at May 2024 elections. Early voting means you can beat the lines! <— That is an ironic joke since voter turnout is usually so low. The last election in May 2023 drew only 8.4 percent turnout.

Voters in Dallas are facing a $1.25 billion bond program, which includes 10 individual bond propositions, for everything from library facilities to streets to public safety.

Unfortunately, what the bond options do not include is the opportunity to fund a new animal shelter, which advocates had worked on for more than two years, despite the fact that current shelter, built in 2007, is overcrowded, obsolete, and in disrepair.

For that omission, you can thank Jennifer Staubach Gates, chair of the Critical Facilities Subcommittee, and City Hall staff, namely Efrain Trejo, assistant director of the Office of Bond and Construction Management. Those two individuals had a big say in which projects would be included on the bond, and opted not to support a new shelter.

Streets are a big Dallas resident obsession, and that proposal asks for the biggest sum: $521.2 million.

Parks and recreation come in second with a humongous request for $345 million-plus.

The budget for a new animal shelter would have been $114 million.

On the 10 following bond options, voters can vote “for” or “against” each proposition, and each proposition may pass or fail.

The 10 propositions (A-J) are:

• Proposition A: Streets and Transportation - $521,200,000
  Proposition B: Park and Recreation - $345,270,000
  Proposition C: Flood Control and Storm Drainage – $52,100,000
  Proposition D: Library Facilities - $43,530,000
  Proposition E: Cultural and Performing Arts Facilities - $75,200,000
  Proposition F: Public Safety Facilities - $90,000,000
  Proposition G: Economic Development - $72,300,000
  Proposition H: Housing & Neighborhood Infrastructure - $26,400,000
  Proposition I: Homeless Assistance Facilities - $19,000,000
  Proposition J: Information Technology - $5,000,000

Under E. Cultural and Performing Arts Facilities, the money could be spent to buy land for new facilities as well as repair current facilities such as Dallas Museum of Art, Latino Cultural Center, and more. Under D. Library Facilities, there's a proposal to replace North Oak Cliff and Park Forest Branch locations.

Voters love to approve spending money, so the odds are good that all of these little projects will get approved. It's a pity that the animal shelter was not on the list.