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A conceptual rendering shows what the Austin Light Rail system could look like along the Drag, near The University of Texas campus.<\/p>\n
Austin Transit Partnership<\/p>\n
The legal battle surrounding Austin\u2019s multibillion-dollar Project Connect light-rail plan<\/a>\u00a0is paused again after a lengthy hearing Thursday in a Travis County District Court that sent the case back to the appeals process.<\/p>\n Judge Maria Cant\u00fa\u00a0Hexsel denied challenges to her court\u2019s jurisdiction in the case, which centers on the legality of the funding plan for the train.\u00a0Attorney General Ken Paxton\u2019s office immediately appealed Hexsel\u2019s decision, likely setting up another long court battle.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Hexsel also denied a request from the city of Austin and the Austin Transit Partnership, the local government corporation responsible for building the light-rail system, to dismiss portions of the lawsuit challenging the project\u2019s funding.<\/p>\n ATP and the city also appealed Hexsel\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n The case stems from two lawsuits filed in 2023 that were later consolidated. The first was brought by a group of residents including business owners, current and former elected officials and social justice advocates who argued that the light-rail project has been scaled back so significantly that it no longer reflects what Austin voters approved more than five years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n The second was filed by ATP and the city, which\u00a0seek a court\u2019s permission to issue bonds for the project<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The combined case could determine whether ATP can secure major portions of the project\u2019s funding, which could determine whether it can proceed.<\/p>\n Hexsel did not rule on the legality of the funding mechanism Thursday. Instead, she ruled on a procedural challenge known as a plea to the jurisdiction, affirming the court\u2019s ability to rule on the overall case.<\/p>\n Paxton\u2019s office argued the attorney general alone, and not a court, has the ability to determine whether ATP can issue bonds. ATP asserted that state law gives it the ability to ask a court to validate the bonds.<\/p>\n Artist conceptual visualization shows how the light-rail line might look at the intersection of East Riverside Drive and South Pleasant Valley Road.<\/p>\n Austin Transit Partnership<\/p>\n The Texas Supreme Court in May ruled the case could not move forward<\/a> before a trial court judged the jurisdictional challenge. A different Travis County court previously declined to rule on the plea before heading to trial.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Since Paxton\u2019s office and ATP immediately challenged Hexsel\u2019s jurisdictional ruling, the case is frozen again until the Fifteenth Court of Appeals\u00a0\u2014 and likely the Texas Supreme Court\u00a0\u2014 can review her decisions.<\/p>\n \u201cI do have a mandate from the Texas Supreme Court with respect to this case,\u201d Hexsel said Thursday. \u201cFor that reason, while it is up on appeal, the underlying proceedings are stayed.\u201d<\/p>\n Though Thursday\u2019s decisions set up a potentially protracted appeals process, attorney Bill Aleshire, who is representing the plaintiffs in the underlying lawsuit, said the decision is \u201ca victory for Austin taxpayers\u201d because it keeps challenges to the light-rail plan alive.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is high time (Mayor Kirk Watson) and Members of the Austin City Council rethink the inefficient, unaffordable, and illegal Project Connect Light Rail Project and go back to the voters with a mass transit system that can be immediately citywide quicker with an honest price tag and a feasible construction schedule,\u201d Aleshire said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n A conceptual rendering shows what the inside of Austin\u2019s future light rail trains could look like once completed.<\/p>\n Austin Transit Partnership<\/p>\n ATP\u00a0officials also counted the judgment as a win.<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s ruling confirms that the legal tactic used by the Attorney General to prevent a judge from ruling on our bond program has no legal basis,\u201d said Casey Burack, ATP\u2019s executive vice president for business and legal affairs. \u201cWe appreciate the court\u2019s quick action to remove this procedural roadblock and look forward to our day in court.\u201d<\/p>\n Voters overwhelmingly endorsed the light-rail plan in November 2020 as part of Project Connect. Early proposals envisioned as many as 28 miles of track across the city. Local officials later reduced the plan to fewer than 10 miles, citing rising construction costs.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The 2020 ballot measure authorized a 20% increase in Austin\u2019s property tax rate dedicated to transit improvements. Under the plan, the city would transfer that revenue to ATP, which would use the funds to repay bonds issued to finance the project\u2019s construction.<\/p>\n The pause in the legal fight does not necessarily mean that construction on the light-rail system will stop, however. Preconstruction work has been underway since May, and ATP has remained confident the project will break ground in 2027.<\/p>\n The agency recently signed<\/a> more than $100 million\u00a0worth of contracts with construction firms\u00a0and a railcar manufacturer<\/a> to begin the project. It hopes to open the light-rail line by 2033.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A conceptual rendering shows what the Austin Light Rail system could look like along the Drag, near The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408396,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-408395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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