TX: DART talks ramp up as another city considers exit election, leaders work on negotiations
As negotiations between Dallas Area Rapid Transit and city leaders inch toward a late February deadline, key discussions weighing the public transportation agency’s future are coming to a head.
Leaders in five of the agency’s 13 member cities have until the last week of February to remove from their May 2 ballots the question of remaining in DART or dissolving the system in their city limits.
Addison may become the sixth city to schedule a withdrawal election on Tuesday, when the City Council is scheduled to vote on the measure for a second time.
The last time Addison leaders took up the matter at a December council meeting, they could not agree on scheduling an election, citing a need for more public input and further negotiations with DART. After they reconvened to discuss the vote in a work session, the item was returned to the council for consideration.
If leaders opt to put membership in DART to a vote, nearly half of DART’s member cities could exit the agency.
Plano, Irving and Farmers Branch have scheduled exit elections and submitted proposals to DART’s board with conditions on what it would take to stop efforts to cut ties with the agency. The Park Cities have also scheduled May elections.
The DART board is scheduled Tuesday afternoon to receive an update on the status of city and regional discussions related to reforming DART’s governance, funding and service. The 2:30 p.m. meeting will be held in person at DART’s headquarters on Pacific Avenue and by video conference.
Dallas leaders were split last week on conceding power on DART’s 15-member governing board to appease suburban member cities who say they don’t have a fair seat at the table.
A working group of mayors, city managers and DART leadership, convened by the North Texas Commission and North Central Texas Council of Governments, has met for months to work out concerns between DART and member cities.
The group convened last week to discuss next steps and receive feedback from other cities on the discussions in Dallas, according to a memo from Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert.
DART will share results of a rate study with the working group on Jan. 29, she wrote, and the results will inform the feasibility of a new funding model for DART.
On Feb. 12, the mayors and city managers of DART member cities will convene to discuss governance and funding options, according to the memo.
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