Plano City Council members this week unanimously approved a resolution reducing the city’s sales-tax contribution to Dallas Area Rapid Transit by 25%.
“We have no intention of leaving DART,” Mayor John Muns told Community Impact. “We would like to lower our cost that we’re putting into DART because we’re not seeing the ridership that justifies $115 million a year from Plano.”
The one-page resolution also “supports capping sales and use tax revenues at the amount equivalent to 2024 collections until a reduction can occur.” Community Impact reported that number for DART is $870.8 million.
Plano voters would still have to approve the reduction in funding.
“There’s going to have to be some hybrid models that create an opportunity for cities to join and utilize [DART] in a way that fits their community,” Muns told Community Impact. “You’re going to need to come up with some discounts for cities that aren’t members right now but do have an interest.”
Neither Paul N. Wageman nor M. Nathan Barbera, Plano’s two representatives on DART’s Board of Directors, responded to requests for comment.
The Dallas Express reported in May that the Dallas City Council reappointed two of its eight members — Rodney Schlosser and Carmen Garcia to the board. Randall Bryant, Michelle Wong Krause, Flora Hernandez, Patrick Kennedy, and D’Andrala Alexander also represent Dallas. Enrique MacGregor represents both Dallas and Cockrell Hill.
The Plano City Council resolution comes at a difficult time for Dallas officials who are trying to reconcile the police and fire pension fund while facing a $40 million budget deficit for the next fiscal year.
Dallas City Council Member Cara Mendelsohn, who has advocated for reducing Dallas’ sales-tax contributions to DART, marked the Plano City Council’s decision on X.
“Thank you @cityofplanotx for your leadership,” she wrote.
In another post, Mendelsohn said the City of Dallas is headed in the same direction as Plano.
“Unanimously added to the legislative priorities for the City of Dallas Government Performance & Financial Management Committee. It will be discussed and voted on in September by the full city council. ‘Seek restructuring of DART sales tax contribution.'”
As DART member cities, Dallas, Plano, Irving, Carrollton, Addison, Cockrell Hill, Garland, Farmers Branch, Richardson, Rowlett, Glenn Heights, University Park, and Highland Park direct a 1-cent sales-tax contribution to DART that accounts for roughly 75% of the entity’s $1.8 billion budget. DART CEO Nadine Lee has warned that losing a quarter of the sales-tax funding it receives from Dallas would ruin the agency’s operations.
DART CEO Nadine Lee warned in a May 6 memo to Dallas City Council members on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee that a 25% reduction in sales-tax funding would result in $6 billion less collected by the transit system over 20 years.
“We anticipate DART would also have to substantially curtail demand response services that overlap fixed-route service, impacting large parts of the South Dallas, West Dallas, Inland Port, and Legacy West (Plano) zones, as well as portions of many others,” Lee wrote.
Earlier this month, DART board members approved an updated strategic plan to guide the agency for the next 10 years, The Dallas Express reported.
