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Farmers Branch mayor: city won’t leave DART but urges restructuring after council reduced contribution
Summary
The mayor told the City of Farmers Branch council the city is not seeking to exit Dallas Area Rapid Transit but supports restructuring that could allow tailored services; he noted the council earlier approved a resolution to reduce the city’s DART sales-tax contribution from one cent to three-quarters of a cent.
The mayor of Farmers Branch (name not specified in the transcript) told the City Council at its Oct. 22 study session that the city is not seeking to leave the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system but wants DART’s governance and service model overhauled.
"City of Farmers Branch is not looking to get out of DART but we do believe that DART needs to be restructured and reorganized," the mayor said, adding the agency’s original model — created 41 years ago — has not evolved to meet the varied needs of member cities.
Why it matters: DART is a regional transit authority funded in part by member-city sales-tax contributions. The mayor said Farmers Branch and five other cities passed a resolution asking the DART board to consider adjusting member-city funding arrangements so each city can access a menu of services better aligned with local needs. "We would like to reduce our contribution from 1 cent to 3 quarters of a cent," the mayor said, referring to the council’s prior resolution.
The mayor framed the request as a push for flexibility rather than a withdrawal: "That didn't mean we're gonna drop out a DART ... It's not a mandate. It's just saying, hey, we would like the DART board to think about how they're operating," he said, urging the board to listen to member cities.
Regional context: The mayor said the DART model was designed for 13 original member cities and argued that newer, larger suburbs have different needs and that expanding DART membership or changing revenue allocations could make the system more attractive to cities such as Grand Prairie, Arlington and Frisco.
Council next steps: The mayor invited council members to contact him for more detail, and staff indicated follow-up discussions and further information from regional transportation partners are forthcoming.
No formal vote on new DART policy occurred during the study session; the mayor’s remarks recalled a resolution the council had previously adopted.
