Carrollton council backs NTC plan to give every city a seat on DART board

Carrollton’s City Council on Feb. 3 approved a goodwill resolution supporting the North Texas Commission and North Central Texas Council of Governments’ recommendations to change the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) board’s governance so every member city would have a seat and votes weighted by population or sales tax contribution.

Staff briefed the council that the action is symbolic pending final ILA language and DART agreement. City Manager and staff said they had redlined two interlocal agreements circulated in the fall — a general mobility fund rebate and a draft arrangement to reinvest incremental sales-tax growth in transit districts — removing language that would permanently disqualify a city from funding if it later adopted a withdrawal resolution.

City staff described the governance proposal as creating a seat for every member city and fractional (weighted) votes tied to population or sales tax; early readouts suggest Dallas’ share could fall to about 40–47% under some proposals. Staff said Carrollton would likely continue to share its representative with Irving and that fractional votes are intended to prevent any single city from holding a majority.

Councilmembers and members of the public said they viewed the resolution as a pragmatic, interim step to preserve regional transit investments while negotiations continue at the NTC and COG level. Staff cautioned that final seat counts and vote weights are subject to further refinement and legislative review.

The action was approved as part of a unanimous consent agenda vote.