DART presents two network concepts for Des Moines as funding questions loom

DART officials and consultants on April 15 laid out two alternate concepts for the agency’s Reimagine DART network and warned that funding uncertainties — including a pending property-tax bill at the Iowa legislature and a proposed local franchise fee — will determine which version the region can afford.

At a city meeting, Amanda, a DART staff member, said, “63 percent of the total boardings were in Des Moines,” noting that figure excludes Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS) trips and Iowa State Fair service and that the whole system must be considered when allocating service.

The difference matters because DART staff presented a status-quo budget and a smaller-network scenario that use the agency’s same accounting metric — revenue hours on the road — but that would produce different service patterns and different impacts on local property tax levies. Amanda said the status-quo scenario would require roughly a 5 percent increase in property taxes to sustain a forecasted 4 percent annual expense growth; the smaller-network scenario spreads a one-time reduction and then applies the same growth assumptions going forward.

Why it matters

DART and its consultant, Jarrett Walker & Associates, said the city and the regional commission must decide two linked questions by mid-May so staff can draft a network: how much service the region can afford, and whether to prioritize ridership (frequent service on major corridors) or coverage (less-frequent service that reaches more neighborhoods). Staff asked member governments for guidance at a May 6 commission meeting and said the commission will…