TX: Amid negotiations, DART agrees to pause issuing new debt until after exit elections

As negotiations between Dallas Area Rapid Transit and city leaders heat up, the agency announced Wednesday it will not issue new debt until after November in an attempt to appease member cities that have called elections to leave the public transportation system.

DART Board Chair Randall Bryant asked “that no long-term debt issuance requests are brought for DART Board consideration” until after November 2026, the last opportunity for member cities to hold withdrawal elections for the next six years, per state law.

Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer, whose city is one of five considering an exodus from the transit system at the polls this spring, said city leaders requested this of the agency amid ongoing negotiations to potentially call elections off. Cities have until the end of February to remove the exit measures from their May 2 ballots.

Stopfer said cities asked for a pause on debt issuance until DART’s future and membership has a clearer outlook.

“If you’re buying something, you want to know what it costs,” Stopfer said. “The cities are no different than any other business. They need to know what their exposure [to] financial liability is.”

DART plans to issue about $2.5 billion in new long-term debt during the next 20 years, including $2 billion for light rail vehicle and bus replacements and system modernization, and $254 million for the Silver Line, according to the agency’s 2026 fiscal year budget and 20-year financial plan.

DART’s annual service costs for existing and projected debt issuances are more than $200 million a year until 2056, according to the agency’s budget, and the annual payment is expected to peak at more than $400 million in 2035.

Each of DART’s 13 member cities contributes a 1% sales tax to fund DART and if voters choose to sever ties, they would continue paying for a number of years after ending their membership to pay off debt associated with their contributions. Service would end the day after votes are canvassed in cities that choose to cut ties with the agency.

DART’s board has not discussed how long cities would have to pay back sales tax without receiving service. But previous, outdated estimates range from three to more than 10 years for cities considering pulling out of the regional system.

DART’s president said pausing new debt issuances will slow down the agency’s work.

“This allows us to release some of the urgency our member cities feel as they make decisions in the coming months,” said DART CEO Nadine Lee in a statement. “This will delay some of the scheduled and promised updates the DART staff has been working on, but as good-faith partners in these negotiations, we will honor this compromise.”

DART and member cities are still negotiating the agency’s governance structure, service reforms and funding model. Dallas leaders met Tuesday to consider a “one city, one vote” framework for DART’s governing board, as some suburban leaders have requested.

“It’s an offering of good faith that we are negotiating and we are talking about things,” Stopfer said.

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