The Plano City Council will hold a special session on whether to let its residents vote on withdrawing from Dallas Area Rapid Transit.
The council will hold a special session at 5 p.m. on November 5 to consider whether to call a special election, according to an October 29 press release.
If the council moves forward, Plano residents would vote in 2026 on leaving DART for another transit service.
“Plano is committed to ensuring safe, reliable mobility options that serve the best interests of our residents,” said Mayor John Muns in the release. “We want our council and community to feel empowered to choose what transportation options work best for us.”
The same day as Plano announced the special session, DART CEO Nadine Lee held a press conference at 3 p.m. to “reaffirm the agency’s commitment to Plano riders and businesses.”
The Dallas Express has reached out to DART for comment and will update this article accordingly.
Plano officials said in the release that they have been working for years to hold DART accountable for how it spends residents’ tax dollars.
A 2023 study found Plano gave $109.6 million in sales taxes to DART but received only $44.6 million in services, as The Dallas Express exclusively reported. This is an annual deficit of $65 million.
“We were putting way more into the DART system than we were getting out of it,” said former Plano City Councilman Shelby Williams to The Dallas Express. “What we did see in terms of DART presence in the city was empty buses and mostly empty trains, and many of them not safe.”
Williams said he has personally witnessed people on drugs on DART trains. “It’s not safe, especially with kids,” he said.
DART has been struggling with growing crime across the system, as The Dallas Express previously reported. Group A Offenses – including arson, assault, robbery, and drugs – have increased by nearly 44% since last year.
Meanwhile, Dallas maintains a vast majority on the DART board. At the same time, cities like Plano and Farmers Branch share a single representative—an imbalance, mayors said, that makes it difficult to represent constituents.
DART also spent more than $2.4 million on executive bonuses from 2020 to 2024, and more than $800,000 total on executive bonuses last year alone, as The Dallas Express exclusively reported.
“Despite Plano’s repeated efforts to address this imbalance, DART has maintained that it requires every dollar it receives,” the release reads. “Given these circumstances, city leaders believe it is time to ask residents directly: should DART continue to operate in the City of Plano?”
Plano has already set aside funding to implement a “fast, efficient Microtransit solution” for the community’s needs, according to the release. No matter the outcome, officials say they are committed to providing accessible transportation for those who rely on it, including people with disabilities and the elderly.
“As Plano continues to grow, our community’s needs are evolving,” said City Manager Mark Israelson in the release. “We need transit solutions that evolve with us to provide flexible and responsive options for everyone who lives and works in Plano.”
Amid funding and governance concerns, the DART board of directors approved a “General Mobility Program” in March, which returns 5% of annual sales tax revenue to several member cities. Cities like Plano still went to the Texas legislature, seeking more permanent solutions—supporting bills to reform the DART board and divert some of its sales tax revenue.
“We have tried diligently to work with DART. Especially during the legislative sessions, DART says, ‘Oh no, we’ll work with Plano, we want a local solution to this,’” Williams said. “As soon as the legislative session is over, they disappear, and we don’t hear from them, and they don’t actually work with us.”
In July, DART Board Chair Gary Slagel demanded that the member cities drop reforms in exchange for the GMP funding, as The Dallas Express exclusively reported. Carrollton Mayor Steve Babick previously told The Dallas Express that DART had turned the compromise into a “poison pill.”
“We have tried over and over again, but I likened it to Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown. Again and again, Charlie Brown takes a run at the football, and Lucy takes the ball away,” Williamson said. “They have pulled the football away so many times.”
The GMP led to a $42-43 million budget shortfall for DART, leading the agency to make the largest service cuts in its 40-year history in September.
If Plano voters decide to withdraw from DART, service will be cut off as soon as the election is certified, according to Williams. But they would be obligated to continue paying a portion of sales taxes until they pay off what DART considers the city’s share of its debt.
“Our share of debt is not calculated by anything that was ever actually spent in Plano. It’s just all of DART’s debt, divided amongst the cities on a per capita basis,” Williams said. “DART has always had an incentive to rack up as much debt as they could, because that served as an exit barrier to the member cities.”
Plano may take 7 to 8 years to pay off this portion of the debt, according to Williams. But he said he felt this would be “worth the price tag.”
“I think there has been a lot of fear-mongering by DART over the past few years over this,” he said. “I would urge the public to see through the smoke screen and realize DART has been fighting tooth and nail to keep your money for years.”