Texas Republicans take aim at public transit in two major cities

DALLAS — Texas lawmakers could imperil the future of public transportation in two of the state’s largest urban areas, transit officials and advocates warn.

Republican legislators are entertaining proposals to sap hundreds of millions of dollars from Dallas Area Rapid Transit, the state’s largest public transit system, and thwart the voter-approved expansion of public transportation in Austin known as Project Connect.

Texas Republicans have long been wary of investing in public transit, given the state’s cultural ties to oil and gas and automobiles — and have long pursued ways to undercut the state’s urban areas. In the case of Project Connect, lawmakers see state intervention, at least in part, as a way to rein in high property taxes.

Here’s what the proposed legislation would do.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit

North Texas legislators want to reroute 25% of the sales tax revenue collected by DART, which serves Dallas and 12 neighboring cities, toward a “general mobility program.” Those cities could then draw upon those funds to pay for projects like building sidewalks and roads and installing traffic signals.

Transit agency officials say such a move would be catastrophic, costing DART more than $234 million in the upcoming fiscal year. That loss would spur deep service cuts and layoffs. More than 125,000 people would completely lose access to bus and light rail service, the agency projects, including vulnerable residents like seniors and lower-income families. With decreased service, the agency would collect less in rider fares and lose federal funds, further compounding budgetary problems and creating a downward spiral.

“I think this is the end of DART if we do it,” board chair Gary Slagel said at a recent DART meeting discussing the legislation. “I don’t know how we survive if we do this.”

Some cities have sought to reduce how much in sales tax revenue they pay into the transit agency, complaining that they don’t benefit in proportion to how much they contribute. Plano, for example, contributed $109 million in sales tax revenue to the system in 2023, but received about $44 million worth of investment, according to a survey conducted by EY, a consulting firm. DART officials have said the EY survey doesn’t capture the full financial benefit transit service brings to member cities. The disparity has undergirded those cities’ push to establish the mobility program, which proponents said is modeled on a similar program in Houston.

“Plano is not looking to leave DART,” said Andrew Fortune, Plano’s director of policy and government relations. “We are interested in a transit system that is going to work not only for our residents, but also the visitors and the employees who come to our city. Our hope is that this bill will not only protect against inequities like what we’ve experienced, but it will help us make a better transit solution and ultimately help those who need to move from place to place in Plano and to connect to the region as a whole.”

In an attempt to appease those cities’ concerns and convince them to stop pursuing the legislation, the DART board voted in March to create its own general mobility program — though using 5% of its sales tax revenue, not 25%. Such a plan would still prompt service reductions and budget cuts, though not as deep as those prompted by the legislation.

Regional transportation planners warn cutting DART’s funding so drastically will hamper mobility across the entire Dallas-Fort Worth region, worsen air quality and throw a wrench in public transit plans for next year’s FIFA World Cup, when the region will host nine matches. The Trinity Railway Express, a commuter rail line that runs between Dallas and Fort Worth, plays a central role in the region’s plans to ferry soccer fans to and from matches at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. DART projects a 25% cut in its sales tax revenue would wipe out its ability to fund the rail line. Officials with Trinity Metro, the Fort Worth area’s transit agency which co-owns and -operates the line, have said they would not be able to pick up the cost.

“This could not be occurring at a worse time,” said Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

Austin’s Project Connect

Lawmakers once more have taken aim at how Austin plans to pay for Project Connect, a multibillion-dollar public transit plan that includes light rail.

Austin voters in 2020 approved a hike in city property taxes to pay for the plan and create the Austin Transit Partnership, a local government corporation set up to build the light-rail system. Under the plan, the partnership receives city property tax revenue to help secure loans needed to fund construction.

Texas Republicans have taken issue with that funding mechanism and resurrected legislative efforts to kill it at the state level. The funds are generated from the portion of Austin’s property tax rate that funds maintenance and operations, or “M&O.” Attorney General Ken Paxton has argued that those dollars can’t be used to pay for debt and has contested the mechanism in court.

A pair of bills authored by state Rep. Ellen Troxclair, a Lakeway Republican and former Austin City Council member, and state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican, would enshrine that argument in state law.

The legislation would effectively get rid of Project Connect’s funding plan by outlawing the mechanism approved by voters. Taxpayers could also sue to stop the city from collecting property taxes used to fund the project if a court finds the project now “materially deviates” from how it was initially pitched — a nod to how planners, owing to inflation and other factors, reduced the project’s scope in the years after voters first approved it.

“We don’t mix M&O tax revenues with debt, and we don’t allow them to be mixed through a third party,” Bettencourt said earlier this year. “That’s not how things work. Taxpayers deserve transparency and that’s not transparency.”

Austin transit officials have defended the project and argued that the funding mechanism is legal.

“Austin voters overwhelmingly approved this transformative project that will reduce travel times, spur the development of much-needed housing, and generate jobs and state-wide economic benefits,” Greg Canally, Austin Transit Partnership CEO, said in a statement. “The need for more local investment in our transportation infrastructure will only increase as our state and community continue to grow.”