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The Plano City Council voted to call off a planned May vote that could’ve resulted in the city dropping its partnership with the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system at a meeting Monday night.
Following months of debate and negotiations with DART leadership, the council unanimously voted to repeal an ordinance calling for a May 2 election. Plano is the largest of the six member cities that have called exit elections since November. Farmers Branch, Irving and Addison are expected to also reconsider those votes at council meetings later this week.
Plano will be unable to call another withdrawal election until 2032, as mandated by state law.
DART officials and the Regional Transportation Council recently approved an agreement that reforms the agency’s funding structures and governance, an agreement Plano Mayor John Muns said would lead him to support cancelling the planned election in a previous interview with the Observer.
“I think it’d be great to not have to talk about DART like I have for the last six years,” Muns said in the interview. “In my term, I’ve spent most of my time discussing DART issues since I became mayor, so I look forward to not having to do that for several years.”
Under the interlocal agreement, member cities will initially receive 5% of sales tax contributions back for transit-oriented general mobility programs, increasing to 10% by 2031. The Regional Transportation Council will provide up to $75 million in funding to help offset the agency’s costs. DART’s board of directors formally approved the interlocal agreement at a meeting on Friday.
Council members voted approve the agreement with DART and to pass a resolution supporting proposed changes to the agency’s board of directors. Plano’s decision comes only weeks before a March 18 deadline to rescind elections.
Funding Compromises
At the meeting, Plano council member Rick Horne thanked city staff and DART Board Chair Randall Bryant for their work on the compromise.
“A lot of you thought that we were really against mass transit. What we’re trying to do is improve the mass transit within the city of Plano,” Horne said. “And for a long time, the DART board did not listen to us, with Mr. Bryant taking the lead the day before we set to have the vote, he had a herculean task to try to keep us inside the DART community, and I applaud you for that.”
Residents largely supported the measure and called for continued transit investment.
“I just want to say I really support DART,” one resident said. “I think that it is a vital benefit, a vital lifeline for the city of Plano. I personally can drive downtown if I want to, but there are many who cannot, and we need to remember those who have less than we do. And I appreciate all the time you’ve taken to consider this. Thank you.”
The city has had one of the loudest voices in the debate over the agency’s future. Plano leaders have said they have not received a proportionate return on their sales tax contributions and have concerns about representation on DART’s 15-member Board of Directors. An Earnst and Young Study published in 2024 reported that Plano contributed $109.6 million in sales tax dollars to the agency in 2023. That same year, Plano received $44.6 million in services from the agency, according to the study.
City leaders have been vocal in their aim to claw back a quarter of Plano’s one-cent-on-the-dollar sales tax contribution. In June 2024, the council passed a resolution calling for a permanent 25% decrease in the agency’s sales tax contributions. That resolution was followed in 2025 by ultimately unsuccessful state-level legislative efforts to enact the change, with one bill supported by Plano being dubbed the ‘DART Killer Bill.’
In addition to immediate returns, DART has committed to a collective lobbying plan to find alternative funding sources to permanently reduce sales tax contributions from member cities by 25% after 2031, a change that would require approval from the state legislature. Following the vote to call off the election, council members voted unanimously to repeal the 2024 ordinance. Plano has also pledged to cease legislative efforts to reduce agency funding.
At the meeting, council member Bob Kehr said the agreement didn’t meet all of Plano’s initial goals, but that it represented progress toward a long-term solution.
“Let’s be honest, this is a compromise. This isn’t at all what we asked for or were looking for. But I believe this is a step forward, and I think that we’re going to continue to get there by working together in this collaboration. So I’m excited about the future,” said Kehr.
The Path Forward
Council members also expressed support for expanding the DART board, another change that would require approval from Austin lawmakers. The Dallas City Council recently passed a resolution supporting giving up the city’s majority on the board in favour of retaining at 45% weighted vote.
If the plan is approved by state lawmakers in its current form, Plano will appoint two members to the board, whose votes would count for 8% of the total weighted share in a 13-member system. Each member city will also have at least one dedicated representative on the board, which had been a sticking point for smaller cities like Addison, which currently shares a representative with Richardson, Highland Park and University Park.
With the general mobility program, cities will begin to assume greater responsibility for providing transportation services in their communities. Residents advocated that sales tax returns be spent on reinforcing non-vehicular transit, in addition to calling for Plano to create civic committees to oversee the city’s transportation investments.
“We need a permanent resident transit committee, similar to parks or planning and zoning or other committees, that can provide feedback to this council, make recommendations for ILA-related projects and help you develop metrics for what does success actually mean in improving transit in our city,” said one resident.
Earlier this month, the council tabled a discussion on a microtransit contract with Via, a company that provides similar services in Denton County and Arlington. Officials had signalled that microtransit would be part of Plano’s transit picture regardless of the election’s outcome, either as an alternative or a complementary service to DART. Council members voted 7-1 to approve the agreement at the meeting. Shun Thomas cast the sole dissenting vote.
Plano will pay less than $4 million for Via services in 2026, rising to $8 million annually upon renewal. The city has already allocated funds to cover the program in its current fiscal year budget. Further information on routes and services will be presented to council members at a later date. Similar to Arlington’s “Arlington On-Demand” Via branding, Council members voted to name the service “Plano Rides.”
Addison and Farmers Branch’s city councils will consider calling off May elections at meetings Tuesday night, with the Irving City Council expected to follow on Thursday. City officials in University Park have publicly stated they still intend to proceed with the election, while a spokesperson for the Town of Highland Park told the Observer that officials would issue a statement later this week.
Before city council members voted on the ordinance to cancel the election, Bryant said he views his work as unfinished.
“It’s not perfect, but it is progress, and hopefully this council sees value in that work that we’ve done together… The hard work, in my opinion, is over, but the real work still lies ahead of us,” said Bryant.
