Overview:
The DART Board of Directors discussed the new Silver Line, newly proposed legislation that could affect the makeup of the current board, budgeting concerns, and another possible financial audit. Member cities are fed up with unfair funding, with Plano contributing over $109 million to DART but only utilizing $44 million. The board plans to call a public hearing to identify service reductions for cities that want to be refunded for their percentage of the tax payout to DART that is going virtually unused. A new bill proposes that each of the 13 member cities of DART have their own representative on the Board of Directors, which could result in a reduction of service reliability and infrastructure.
The DART Board of Directors Meeting on Tuesday, March 11, brought up talks of the new Silver Line, newly proposed legislature that could affect the makeup of the current board, budgeting concerns, and another possible financial audit.
There is a tentative meeting scheduled for Sunday, May 25, in which the board plans to call a public hearing to identify service reductions for cities that want to be refunded for their percentage of the tax payout to DART that is going virtually unused. The board hopes this measure will invoke “certainty and confidence” among member cities.
Board Chairman Gary Slagel welcomes the idea of considering a “solution on governance” of DART and its member cities, noting that funding issues have created tensions between the Board of Directors and the cities.
Member Cities Are Fed Up With Unfair Funding
Ernst and Young conducted an audit in 2023 that found some DART member cities were contributing more money to DART than the transit service was using. Plano, for example, contributed over 109 million dollars to DART from their one percent sales tax, yet the transit service only utilized roughly $44 million. For comparison, in the same year, Dallas contributed over $400 million towards a $690 million bill for operating, capital, and interest costs.
In the board meeting, Slagel clarified that another audit of DART’s budget will be conducted this year. The board was unable to come to a conclusion on whether or not they will be using EY or a third party for this investigation.
Plano is not the only city that feels slighted by DART following their $65 million shortfall.
“There are several cities here that would receive money from Dart for year number one. In year number two, we would hope to have an EY study modification that the cities agreed to that lays out the Silver Line in particular because that will be up and running in the second year.”
The Silver Line, formerly known as the Cotton Belt Regional Rail Corridor, a 26-mile rail service spanning Dallas, Collin, and Tarrant counties. Presently, it is under construction and set to be completed as soon as the end of this year.
Slagel mentioned four cities are currently eligible to receive a payout from DART in a proposed modification of DART’s financial structure: Plano, Highland Park, University Park, and Farmers Branch. Slagel’s jurisdiction on the board covers two of these cities: Highland Park and University Park.
New House and Senate Bills Could Restructure the DART Board
Republican Senator Tan Parker recently authored a bill proposing that each of the 13 member cities of DART have their own representative on the Board of Directors. It is one of three bills related to DART in this legislative session, the other two are focused on reducing 25% of member cities’ contributions to the service. If Parker’s bill is passed, Dallas’s voting power on the board would be drastically reduced, as it currently has eight representatives for the city on the board.
The implication of the latter bills, HB 3187 and SB 1557, would likely result in a reduction of service reliability and infrastructure, according to DART Board Chair Slagel.
DART has a disappointing history when it comes to overall performance as a transit system. It consistently falls short in fair recovery rate and operating cost per mile.
These shortfalls have some member cities, notably Plano, fed up with the lack of representation on the board and the current one percent commission payout to the transit system.
Irving Mayor Richard Stopfer echoed this sentiment in the board meeting on Tuesday.
“I’m very upset that the 13 member cities are being villainized by the region. What do we get out of this deal? There’s no other group that puts a full penny (percentage) in,” Mayor Stopfer said to the board.
A Brief Trip to the Past
Still, DART’s overall ridership is slowly improving. The transit service’s Fiscal Year 2024 ended with 56 million trips. This number shows an increase from the previous three post-COVID years with 48 million trips in 2023, 40 million in 2022 and 35 million in 2021. These numbers still hardly compare to the 70 million riders DART saw in 2019 before the pandemic.
With the introduction of new legislation from both the Senate and the House now pressuring DART, the board now plans to give some member cities their money’s worth for their ridership.
If any of the 13 member cities were to withdraw from DART, that would make four total cities who have withdrawn from the transit system. Buckingham withdrew in 1996 after it was annexed by Richardson, and Coppell and Flower Mound withdrew in 1989 after a failed referendum that would require DART to take on a long term debt.
Rowlett recently passed a resolution to join Dallas in continuing its financial support for DART. This measure rescinds the July 2, 2024, resolution of cutting tax revenue allocated to DART from one cent to 0.0075 cents. Rowlett, like Plano, had the hope that this pay cut would encourage DART to have more efficient operations.
Mapping Out the Future
Plano, Irving, Highland Park, Carrollton, and Farmers Branch all officially declared last year that they plan to reduce funding for DART. Dallas is perhaps the strongest supporter of maintaining its penny sales tax to DART, with Councilmember Carolyn King Arnold of South Oak Cliff being one strong supporter. Arnold explained that her constituents and Dallas residents as a whole depend on DART.
Technically, the DART Board of Directors is the only body with the power to reduce these tax contributions, as they would be forced to restructure their funding model. But with Senator Parker’s proposed bill, a new board with accurate representation of member cities could have DART rearranging its pockets in the next Fiscal Year.
There are presently 27 cities eligible to join DART, should the board decide their funding may need supplementation going forward. Arlington, DeSoto, Duncanville, and Mesquite are among the list of cities that presently border a current DART member city, making them eligible for membership.
