The parking item on University Park's November 3 ballot came to $294,230, about half the cost of the four new police officers and their patrol vehicle. It is also the item most likely to show up on an ordinary weekday, on blocks of Rosedale, McFarlin, Westminster, and Lovers Lane where a car without a sticker can be ticketed before lunch.
According to the city's unofficial results, voters approved the proposition. Those results become final once City Council canvasses them. On permit-only streets the rules stay where they are. What the money changes is how much staff time and equipment the city has to run a program that has grown block by block for more than a decade.
Four Items, One Vote
Texas law required one yes-or-no question. University Park could not split the four items into separate propositions, so the parking technology went to voters bundled with public safety staffing and pensions. As reported by People Newspapers, the full package looked like this:
| Proposition A item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Four additional patrol officers, plus a patrol vehicle and equipment | $601,560 |
| Pension changes that cut the fire department's vesting period from 20 years to 10 and improve the benefit formula | $300,286 |
| Residential parking district technology | $294,230 |
| Two additional firefighters and equipment | $263,400 |
The same article included photos of early voters at University Park United Methodist Church on October 26.
City Council adopted the Fiscal Year 2027 budget on August 17 with a base property tax rate of $0.209534 per $100 of assessed value. Proposition A raises that to $0.220055. The city's FAQ gives its own example. For a median taxable residence valued at $1,836,884, the annual city tax goes from $3,848 to $4,041, an increase of $193. That example covers only the city's portion of the tax bill.
The reason for the vote comes from Austin. In 2019, Senate Bill 2 lowered the amount of property tax revenue a Texas city can add each year without voter approval from 8% to 3.5%. University Park's proposed rate would have raised revenue past that line. The city also says that approval resets the base used to calculate how much revenue it can add in future years under that law.
A Map That Keeps Getting Redrawn
University Park's residential parking rules are in Article 12.05 of the city's parking code, and the amendment history printed there shows how often they have changed. Between 2011 and 2019, the parking district section was amended by 14 separate ordinances. No amendments appear for 2020 through 2022. Then, from June 2023 through July 2026, there were 16: four in 2023, seven in 2024, three in 2025, and two so far in 2026. The latest is Ordinance 26-027, adopted July 21.
That pace matches what the city wrote in its Proposition A FAQ: "As the number of residential parking districts has grown, staffing has not increased at the same pace."
The program grew in an uneven way, and each addition brought its own schedule. The code lists:
- Blocks near Highland Park High School, including Lovers, Hyer, Grassmere, Druid, Glenwick, Westchester, and Emerson, with resident-only parking from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. on public school days.
- SMU-adjacent streets, including Binkley, Daniel, Dyer, Fondren, Granada, Hillcrest, McFarlin, Milton, Rankin, Normandy, Rosedale, Shenandoah, and University Boulevard. Many are restricted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
- Westminster and Snider Plaza blocks, including the south side of the 3500 block of Westminster and parts of the 3400 blocks of Westminster, Rankin, Milton, Rosedale, and Daniel between the alley near Snider Plaza and Dickens.
- Designated locations on Normandy, Shenandoah, St. Andrews, and Connerly, restricted all day on weekdays, from midnight to 6 p.m. on Saturday, and from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
- Specified Amherst blocks, restricted 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
An enforcement officer has to know all of these schedules and check them against stickers, placards, and temporary permits, car by car. Today that work happens on a map that has been redrawn many times in three years.
The pressure behind the map is not new. In 2011, The Daily Campus reported that residents near SMU were complaining about scarce street parking outside their homes because of student and employee parking. At the time, the newspaper described the permit proposal as a police response to long-standing complaints.
What $294,230 Buys
The city broke down the parking item in its FAQ:
| Parking technology component | Cost |
|---|---|
| Two license plate recognition systems | $150,000 |
| Resident parking district portal | $98,000, including $16,000 in recurring costs |
| Parking enforcement vehicle and equipment | $46,230 |
The phrase "license plate recognition" raised questions before the vote, and the city addressed them directly in its FAQ:
"No, the proposed license plate recognition technology is not part of the Flock camera system. It is the same technology the City has used since 2009 and would be used solely to help parking enforcement officers determine whether a vehicle is authorized to park within a residential parking district or has exceeded a posted time limit. License plate images collected during enforcement are not stored."
The equipment is an expansion of a tool University Park has used for about 17 years, built for the specific job of checking whether a parked car belongs on a given block. The city describes the portal in administrative terms. It is meant to streamline permit administration, reduce the staff time needed to run the program, and improve service for residents.
How Permits Work on These Streets Now
The new equipment will be added on top of the current permit system, so the current rules are the starting point. Under the code and the city's most recent permit notice:
- Each household in a district can get two resident stickers and two year-long visitor placards. The city's October 2025 newsletter listed them as free for the Hillcrest West, Hillcrest East, R, YMCA, Westminster, Milton, and Amherst districts.
- A sticker has to be displayed on the vehicle listed on the application. The code caps resident permits at two per residence.
- Placards in the Hillcrest East and Hillcrest West zones expire December 31 of the year they were issued. High school zone placards expire June 30.
- For a party or special event, residents can ask the police department for free temporary visitor permits 24 to 72 hours before the event. Those permits are good for up to five days.
Applications go through the city's online Residential Parking Permit Application. It asks for the applicant's contact details, address, and driver's license information, and renters must submit a current lease for staff review.
The date matters this year. The October 2025 notice said the current district stickers are valid through December 31, 2026, so households in those districts are about seven weeks from the end of the sticker cycle. The newsletter lists Dawn Kossmann at 214-987-5355 as the city contact for permit questions. The city's Resident Parking Districts page is where it posts program information.
Where This Leaves a Permit Block
The ballot language funded enforcement equipment and an administrative portal. It did not change the hours on Shenandoah or the school-day window on Grassmere, and it did not change who can park in front of a house on the 3500 block of Westminster. Those rules come from the ordinances listed in the code, and the code is still where any change would show up first.
What the money pays for is a city that can process permits with less staff time and check more parked cars against more schedules. That is the work of keeping up with a program amended 16 times in a little over three years. The city's election update tells residents to check its website for updates as the Budget+ items are put in place.
This post is general information and not legal or tax advice. For questions about your own property tax bill or permit eligibility, contact the city or a qualified professional.
If you want help with a home you own or are considering, contact Elliott & Elliott Real Estate Group. Start Working Together.
