A state representative has introduced a bill in the Texas House that would limit the amount of taxes that regional transit authorities could collect from participating cities. This measure could significantly impact the local Dallas Area Rapid Transit program.
HB 3187, filed by Rep. Matt Shaheen (R-Plano), seeks to limit the sales and use tax imposed by regional transit authorities to three-quarters of a percent, 25% less than the one cent per dollar that the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) currently collects from member cities.
In addition, the bill would mandate that the transportation authority create a general mobility program that would allow the member city to use 25% of the taxes paid to the transit authority for mobility projects such as constructing and maintaining sidewalks, trails, streets, bridges traffic signals, streetlights, road drainage, and other items.
Any money from the mobility fund that the city does not use up in the prescribed period would be used to pay down the transit authority’s outstanding debts.
However, the bill does not clarify whether this proposed law would apply to cities that are currently participating members of the regional transit authority or just to new member cities.
The bill comes after six member cities of the DART system called on the transit authority board to reduce the sales tax funding by 25% last year, KERA News reported.
Some member cities have complained of poor service from DART for years, suggesting a disparity between the value of the services provided and the dollars contributed. Plano officials, for example, have pointed to a 2024 study by Ernst & Young that shows the city paid $109.6 million in sales tax contributions in 2023 but received only $44.6 million worth of services.
However, Mark Enoch, a DART board member representing Garland, Glenn Heights, and Rowlett, said the E&Y report does not truly reflect how a regional system operates.
“The idea of a regional transportation agency, there was never a mindset of $1 out for $1 in, because it was an investment in the region,” Enoch said, per The Dallas Morning News.
DART Board member Enrique MacGregor, who represents Cockrell Hill and Dallas, said the measures outlined in the bill would likely result in a 44% reduction in the transportation agency’s funding.
“North Texas is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. We need leadership that understands that transit is a necessary investment, not a burden,” MacGregor said, per DMN. “Instead of gutting public transit, lawmakers should work to strengthen it.”
Gary Slagel, the chairman of the DART board of directors, said the proposed legislation, if passed, would drastically impact DART services and its trajectory in the future.
“We can say without question that this legislation will dramatically reduce bus and rail service reliability, expansion plans, and long-term infrastructure investments,” Slagel said, according to DMN. “This legislation will mean fewer stops, longer rides, and reduced services throughout the entire system, with a devastating economic impact on the Dallas region.”