Dallas Area Rapid Transit board members are still considering how to respond to requests from cities looking to leave the system as a sixth member plans to hold a withdrawal election.
Nearly half of DART’s member cities – Farmers Branch, Highland Park, Irving, Plano University Park, and now Addison – could soon vote whether to withdraw from the agency. Some have put forward proposals under which they would cancel the elections.
On Tuesday, DART CEO Nadine Lee briefed a board committee on those requests.
“The issues around service and funding equity have been around for a long time, but I think what's really striking here is that there are different perspectives on why all of these issues have arisen,” Lee said.
At issue are how the agency will provide funding for each city in the system, and how much money each city needs to contribute to the agency. All 13 currently pay one cent from every sales tax dollar they collect.
Lee said pressure on cities’ financial resources is “one of the reasons why we are having a lot of conversations about funding.” one of the reasons why we are having a lot conversations about funding.”
DART and city leaders have been in negotiations since September over funding and governance disagreements.
Anthony Ricciardelli, who represents Plano on the board, said the city’s proposal is fair to all 13 members and opens the door to new cities joining the agency.
“That's what needs to happen for DART to be viable into the future,” he said. “I just hope we don’t write off these negotiations.”
Each city has until late February finalize ballots and until March 18 to rescind the withdrawal elections scheduled for May 2. DART will hold a public hearing on March 24 over potential service changes if the elections are successful.
Avery Escamilla-Wendell is KERA’s news intern. Got a tip? Email Avery at aescamillawendell@kera.org. You can follow her on Instagram @by_avery_escamilla.
