Highland Park has joined the list of North Texas cities hoping to cut their funding to Dallas Area Rapid Transit.
The town council approved a resolution Tuesday calling to reduce its contribution to DART by 25%.
Tobin Maples is Highland Park's town administrator, equivalent to a city manager in the municipality of about 8,000 residents.
Maples said the council voted unanimously on the resolution calling to reduce DART's funding because Highland Park isn't getting "the bang for the buck." The resolution states that the town expects to contribute $6.8 million through a one-cent sales and use tax this fiscal year.
"It's our it's our job as leaders... to ask DART, you know, what are you doing with our taxpayers' money?" Maples said. "So we're asking those questions, and it's been difficult at times to get answers to those questions."
Highland Park is only served by one bus route, Route 237, which runs from downtown Dallas to Addison Transit Center along Preston Road. DART also provides on-demand GoLink services to the area as part of its Park Cities zone.
"We're contributing too much relative to services that are coming here," Maples said. "What's the right size service delivery here?"
The town is the sixth DART member city to formally support cutting the agency's funding. Rowlett, Irving and Plano all passed similar resolutions in recent weeks.
Maples added that the intention of the resolution isn't to get rid of DART services in Highland Park.
"We support regional transportation, but we think it's time to reevaluate the cost allocation methodologies that DART uses to generate its revenue," Maples said.
Pablo Arauz Peña is KERA’s growth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org. You can follow him on X @pabloaarauz.
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