Transportation
BY COLBY FARR
Texas lawmakers heard testimony from dozens on a bill that could potentially redirect 25% of Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s sales tax revenues back to its member cities. HB 3187, a bill filed by Rep. Matt Shaheen, R-Plano, seeks to mandate that 25% of Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s sales tax revenue is made available to its member cities for general mobility improvements. The bill was passed through the House’s Transportation Committee in May. As of May 13, the bill has not been scheduled for a vote on the Plano officials talk DART funding at Texas House
Expenses vs. sales tax contribution by member city A report by Ernst and Young Infrastructure Advisors showed seven of DART’s 13 member cities contributed more sales tax revenue in 2023 than operations, capital and interest expenses cost to maintain transit service.
Sales tax contribution Expenses
$0M $20M $40M $60M $80M $100M $120M
Carrollton
Farmers Branch
Highland Park
Plano Richardson University Park
Addison
SOURCE: ERNST AND YOUNG INFRASTRUCTURE ADVISORS/COMMUNITY IMPACT
officials project “devastating” cuts for the entire system’s maintenance and overhead times. “That will create a downward spiral until the entire system collapses,” she said. Plano Mayor John Muns testified in support of the bill. Muns also referenced the Ernst and Young study completed in 2024 saying Plano was the second largest contributor to DART behind Dallas. In 2023, Plano contributed $109 million to the transit authority and received less than 50 cents on the dollar of that investment, Muns said. “This is an inefficient, indefensible use of the tax dollars that my taxpayers committed to benefit transit and our city,” he said. Muns said Plano was committed to transit but that structural change was needed for DART’s “outdated” member city model. “We really want to rightsize a 42-year old model that really hasn’t changed in those 42 years,” he said.
Abbott, it would mandate that 25% of DART’s sales tax revenue is made available to its member cities for projects on city highways, sidewalks, trails, traffic signals and more. Also of note DART’s board of directors approved a resolution in March signaling its own intention to establish a general mobility program that would be funded by 5% of its annual sales tax collections. What they’re saying Nadine Lee, DART’s president and CEO testified against the bill saying taxpayers have voted twice to invest billions of dollars into the transit author- ity’s system, referencing elections that came in 1983 when DART was first formed and in 2000 when the voters approved $2.9 billion in long-term financing for system expansion. Defunding DART by 25% in perpetuity will reduce available revenue for transit investments by $7 billion over a 20-year period, she said. DART
House floor. In a nutshell
Shaheen said the transit authority is bringing financial harm to many of its member cities. He referenced a study completed by Ernst and Young Infrastructure Advisors in 2024 which found that multiple member cities contributed more sales tax revenue in 2023 than operations, capital and interest expenses cost to maintain transit service in those cities. “Because of DART’s unwillingness to address these overpayments, I have filed HB 3187 that provides a legislative fix to these imbalances DART refuses to fix.” What’s in the bill? If HB 3187 were approved by the Texas House and Texas Senate and signed into law by Gov. Greg
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