Plano Mayor John Muns announced that the city is poised to cancel its scheduled May 2 election to withdraw from Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), pending successful negotiations on funding and governance reforms.<\/p>\n
Speaking to The Dallas Express, Muns indicated the Plano City Council will vote on pulling the election during its February 23 meeting, where officials will also review proposed changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll have that vote to pull that election down if all goes well,\u201d Muns told The Dallas Express.<\/p>\n
Similar discussions are underway in Addison (council consideration set for February 24) and other DART member cities, amid ongoing talks to address long-standing concerns about funding and regional transit governance.<\/p>\n
Six cities \u2013 Plano, Addison, Farmers Branch, Highland Park, University Park, and Irving \u2013 have already called elections<\/a> on leaving DART for May 2, as The Dallas Express reported. These elections would let voters decide whether to keep funding the agency or to withdraw to other options.<\/p>\n Deadline Looms: Cities Have Until March 18 to Halt DART Withdrawal Votes<\/p>\n Officials repeatedly emphasized the need for citizens to decide their future with DART, but some cities like Plano and Irving are now suggesting they could cancel<\/a> the elections in exchange for concessions. Cities have until March 18 to call off their withdrawal elections.<\/p>\n The recent withdrawal efforts follow years of mounting frustration<\/a> with governance and funding among member cities. The last time cities left DART was in 1989, when Coppell and Flower Mound withdrew<\/a>, as DX previously reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n If member cities fail to leave in May, the next window to opt out falls in 2032.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Plano City Council will consider canceling<\/a> its DART withdrawal election the evening of February 23. During the same meeting, officials will also consider governance and funding reforms.<\/p>\n Mary Rosenbleeth, Addison marketing director, told The Dallas Express the city council will consider canceling<\/a> the DART withdrawal election on February 24.<\/p>\n \u201cAddison has been in discussions with DART and regional partners regarding funding and service considerations, and those discussions remain ongoing,\u201d Rosenbleeth told The Dallas Express.\u00a0<\/p>\n Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer was unavailable to answer questions from DX, but staff members pointed to the city\u2019s webpage<\/a> about its relationship with DART.<\/p>\n Plano\u2019s Withdrawal Vote: Serious Threat or Leverage for Reform?<\/p>\n Muns told The Dallas Express that negotiations may have reached a point where Plano could vote to cancel its withdrawal election.\u00a0<\/p>\n The agency and member cities have been working on an \u201cinterlocal agreement\u201d (ILA) with the DART Board for governance and funding reforms, according to Muns.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll also vote in agreement on the details of the ILA,\u201d Muns told The Dallas Express. \u201cThen we\u2019ll also vote on whether or not we pull that off the ballot in May.\u201d<\/p>\n Muns stressed that the agreement must be fair to the agency and member cities.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, we\u2019ll have that vote to pull that election down if all goes well,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Dallas Express asked Muns if officials truly intended to let residents vote on keeping their 1% sales tax that funds DART, or if the withdrawal elections were a negotiation tactic.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think we were using it as a negotiation tactic, but I think we felt compelled this was the sixth year \u2013 every six years you can put this on the ballot, whether you want to stay in DART,\u201d he explained. \u201cThis was one of those last resorts we had, and we didn\u2019t know whether or not we were going to have discussions and negotiations to be able to come up with a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n Muns said officials were serious about a May election, since they had been dealing with DART issues for six years and three legislative sessions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m glad it resulted in this,\u201d Muns told The Dallas Express, \u201cbut at the same time, I think we had every intention to take it all the way to May.\u201d<\/p>\n Governance Reform: Rebalancing Power<\/p>\n DART and member cities are also working on an interlocal agreement for governance reforms, according to Muns. He said this would reduce Dallas\u2019 power on the agency\u2019s board and provide at least one representative to each member city.\u00a0<\/p>\n Currently, Dallas holds a majority<\/a> on the board, while some cities are forced to share a single seat.<\/p>\n Dallas approved a measure on February 11 to reduce<\/a> its share on the DART Board to 45%, as The Dallas Express reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Dallas City Council meeting was really important for them to agree on being able to have a percentage of the votes, and still give the other 12 member cities a vote and a place at the table,\u201d Muns told The Dallas Express.<\/p>\n The state legislature would need to sign off on final governance reforms, but these negotiations set the stage by getting all parties on board, according to Muns. He said member cities will vote on an agreement in the coming days.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of dominoes had to fall in a certain order,\u201d Muns said. \u201cAs far as the governance goes, we really had to make sure that everyone was on board.\u201d<\/p>\n Funding Reform: Returning Sales Tax Revenue to Member Cities<\/p>\n Muns also said member cities and DART have developed a funding structure to return some sales tax revenue, though he could not offer a specific percentage.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the beginning of creating some value for those of us that feel like we haven\u2019t had a reasonable value and in what we contribute and what we receive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n