The city of Dallas is grappling with a budget shortfall, and an $804,229.46 bill owed by the Republican Party for the midterm convention remains unpaid.

According to the itemized bill, Dallas fronted money for police, Fire-Rescue, emergency management and crisis response, transportation and public works services for the GOP gathering, and the reimbursement has yet to arrive. The largest expense came from the Dallas Police Department, which spent more than $661,000 on the convention, with costs covering overtime, barricades and vehicle use.

The arrangement is a familiar one for cities that host national political conventions: the host city advances public-safety costs up front and then awaits repayment from the party, a host committee, or federal agencies after the event. Dallas's case shows how that repayment can involve several entities at once, each with its own obligations and its own timeline.

Kevin Oden, the city's director of Emergency Management and Crisis Response, said in his bill: "The final costs were substantially lower than the preliminary planning estimates discussed with the Finance Committee in August. The overwhelming majority of these expenses were on-duty personnel costs already accounted for within adopted departmental budgets, rather than additional unbudgeted expenditures associated with the convention."

The final costs came in at less than half the roughly $2 million estimate from August. Even so, as Houston Public Media reported, the GOP still has not cut a check to reimburse the city. "It's unclear if they will," the report said.

Council member Maxie Johnson is furious, calling the situation "absolutely ridiculous."

"I'm just really uncomfortable, and I feel that this is wrong that this has not been rectified at this moment," Johnson said.

Oden told Johnson that the city planned to receive a "contractual reimbursement from U.S. Capitol Police before invoicing organizers for the rest of the cost." The Capitol Police handle security only when local security is needed for members of Congress, while the Secret Service is the agency that handles the president.

"City officials said that historically the Secret Service has not reimbursed Dallas for helping with that," the report noted.

Oden said two possible entities could be on the hook for the payments: "either the RNC or the host committee, whichever pays the bill back." The host committee in question is the Dallas 2026 Host Committee, which raised at least $45 million for the convention and said it would try to reduce the costs incurred by governments. "But it's unclear how much it intends to pay or if there's a formal agreement between city leaders and the committee," the report said. Oden's reference to "a contractual reimbursement" implies a contractual agreement exists.

Council member Kathy Stewart asked that Oden keep the council updated on the status.

"It is our job as stewards of our taxpayer dollars to watch over something like this and to make sure that we do get that reimbursement," Stewart said.

The steps to watch from here are the ones already in motion: the expected reimbursement from U.S. Capitol Police, the decision by either the RNC or the Dallas 2026 Host Committee to cover the remaining balance, and the updates Oden provides the council along the way.

Dallas is facing a $30 million budget shortfall, driven in part by the Police Department, which said it overspent its overtime budget, with more than $2.7 million in bills. Against that backdrop, council members have treated the unpaid convention bill as more than a clerical dispute — it is money the city has already spent and is owed back.

Council member Chad West was glad to see the city fighting for reimbursement. "I think we should invoice them and continue following up until we get paid," he said. "Or we hit a dead end, and then we take another route."

There is a long history of President Donald Trump's campaign ignoring bills from municipalities. In July 2020, Trump had more than $2 million in unpaid security bills that had piled up from Pennsylvania to New Mexico, and the city of Albuquerque sent the campaign to collections.