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Rowlett is the latest city to vote for slashing DART funding

The Rowlett City Council voted to cut funding 25% just one week after Plano passed a similar resolution.

Rowlett is the latest city to vote for cutting by 25% the tax revenue it and other member cities of Dallas Area Rapid Transit pay.

Since 1983, participating cities have paid a penny sales tax — a 1% tax on every dollar spent — to DART, contributions that are expected to amount to more than $870 million this year.

Why This Story Matters
Millions of people in Dallas-Fort Worth rely on transportation services provided by Dallas Area Rapid Transit. As member cities weigh whether they should have the ability to contribute less sales tax revenue to the transit authority, DART says less funding could result in widespread service cuts and job losses.

The Rowlett City Council passed a resolution Tuesday that supports reducing that to three-fourths of a cent, a move officials estimate would save the city more than $2 million per year. Plano City Council passed a similar resolution last week.

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Like Plano’s resolution, the motion was largely a symbolic one. Only the DART Board of Directors has the authority to reduce the contribution amounts member cities pay. Changes would apply to all member cities — not just those wanting to pay less. Board members are appointed by member cities.

A quarter reduction in contributions from all 13 member cities would amount to DART losing more than $6 billion in revenue over the life of their current 20-year financial plan.

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Possible service cuts

That would cripple the transit agency, DART says, resulting in widespread service cuts. Service would likely be reduced to no more than 30-minute frequencies on any route, with “major” reductions to the entire DART workforce and cuts to the paratransit service for residents with disabilities. It would also mean critical maintenance work couldn’t be done.

“That means now you don’t have money to do the repairs on a 40-year-old system that needs to be done to keep the system up to date, and you keep making the entire system worse and worse,” DART spokesperson Jeamy Molina said.

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Rowlett and Plano officials have complained about low ridership despite increased tax revenues. They have also complained about a lack of transparency around financials, slow DART Police response and an unclear return on investment for their tax revenue contribution, with much of DART’s ridership concentrated in Dallas.

The city contributed $138 million between 1984 and 2023.

“What this resolution is about is advocating for an efficient system that does not over-rely on taxpayer dollars to service approximately 4% of individuals in DFW,” Rowlett Mayor Blake Margolis said Tuesday.

DART has said that all of its financials are public, and member cities receive regular updates on ridership,

Operation costs remain the same no matter ridership levels, according to DART.

“While decreased ridership results in lower passenger revenue, it does not result in lower costs — putting a bus on the street costs the same whether it has one passenger or 30, and we have heard loudly and clearly from our communities that they want more service, not less,” Molina said.

Ridership up 20%

Ridership in Rowlett is up 20% over pre-pandemic levels — ahead of systemwide ridership levels, which are at about 82% of pre-pandemic levels. That’s ahead of the national average, DART points out.

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The cities are the latest to question whether the money that’s diverted to DART could be better spent. University Park was scheduled to discuss a similar resolution to cap funding Tuesday but postponed the matter.

In May, the Dallas City Council discussed diverting a portion of its DART funding to tackle the city’s pension crisis.

Most other DART member cities are considering similar resolutions as Rowlett and Plano, Margolis said.

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Texas cities have faced their own tax revenue caps, leaving many searching elsewhere to address funding gaps. A 2019 state law capped local government property tax increases at 3.5% without voter approval.

“For those who are concerned about a potential decrease in DART’s taxpayer contributions, rest assured they will find a way to make it work the same way that every city in Texas had to find a way to make it work when the state legislature capped city’s tax revenues,” Margolis said.

While member cities question the value DART provides for their dollars, DART says its rail facilities have driven more than $17 billion in economic development between 1999 and 2021, helping attract major employers to Dallas-Fort Worth.

Economic development

“For the time frame of 2019-2021 — at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — economic development within a ¼ mile of DART light rails stations produced $49.6 million in state and local tax revenue [not including sales tax directed to DART] and created 10,747 jobs,” Molina said in an email.

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Rowlett officials argue that doesn’t need to change — they say DART can make up any lost tax revenue from member cities by prioritizing fare collection.

“This proposed resolution is not about dropping membership to DART, [and] this proposed resolution is not anti-DART,” Margolis said. “This is about DART’s, in my opinion, flawed business model and the desire to incentivize an efficient operation to benefit the riders, the member cities and DART.”

The DART board is not currently planning to bring tax revenue caps to the table for a discussion, and transit service remains key to maintaining strong economic growth in Dallas-Fort Worth, Molina said.

“DART is familiar with the economic pressures that are squeezing our service area cities — things like inflation, rising costs on everything from parts to professional services, the labor market — and so we understand that they’re seeing pressures just as we are,” Molina said. “We cannot have a thriving region without a public transportation system that works for everyone. [...] We have the capacity for problem-solving as a region, and DART has demonstrated that we are a ready and willing partner in that endeavor.”

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If the DART board doesn’t address the desire for revenue caps, member cities that support them are considering “other options,” Margolis said, though he would not specify what those might be.

The Dallas City Council could consider adding a resolution seeking restructuring of DART tax contributions to its legislative priorities for 2025, council member Cara Mendelsohn said in a social media post last week.

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