DART eyes budget reductions amid talk of revenue cuts

Dallas Area Rapid Transit is considering potential spending cuts in 2025 to reduce how much its budget will grow as some member cities push to cut revenue to the transportation agency.
Appointees disagreed on how to approach spending next fiscal year during committee meetings this week. While some Committee of the Whole members Tuesday advocated for moving forward with the original budget staff put forward in July, others pointed to the benefits of proactive spending reductions in light of member cities’ desire to reduce sales tax contributions to DART by a quarter.
The original budget proposal represents a 1.6% increase over last year, including a 5.5% increase in the operating budget. At board members’ request, staff put forward several budget alternatives for discussion. Those included a reduction in the operating budget to 3% growth year over year, a no-growth reduction equal to the total 2024 operating budget and changes to the capital improvement program.
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Capping 2025′s operating budget at 3% over last year would mean eliminating four underperforming routes, four routes with higher passenger subsidies and popular but duplicative shuttle and GoLink services, according to the initial exercise put forward by staff. New and improved bus routes and service and increased weekend light rail frequency baked into the original budget proposal would be halted.
A 3% reduction would also lead to cuts to pension contributions, eliminate options for one-time special projects or studies, cut department budgets by 1.5% and eliminate 15 vacant positions.
Appointees at both meetings largely spoke against service cuts even if they supported other reductions to the operating budget.
“Companies cut their budgets all the time, they look for efficiencies all the time, but they don’t shrink their operations unless they’re in trouble,” said board member Enrique MacGregor, who represents Cockrell Hill and Dallas. “You’ll see those examples when a company already has financial problems to start, and DART is not that example.”
Reducing the operating budget would go against DART’s goals to increase service frequencies, MacGregor said.
After hours of discussion Tuesday, the committee voted to send a draft of the original budget to member cities for consideration, along with a letter from DART CEO Nadine Lee explaining that discussions are ongoing and the budget may change. DART is beholden to statutory guidelines that require they send the budget to cities at least 30 days before a board vote on the proposal Sept. 24.
In a subsequent meeting of the finance committee Wednesday, committee members asked staff to bring back a plan that reduced growth without service cuts and potentially included further reductions to administrative costs like department budgets.
The total budget includes $19.3 million in reductions from 2024. A 3% cap on operating growth would require another $17.3 million in cuts, while a 0% cap would mean a total of $38 million in cuts from the original budget.
The budget as first proposed includes a new contract for improved paratransit and GoLink service, permanent funding for cleaning teams and more money for security guards. It also includes replacements for aging bus and light rail fleets and upgrades to bus stop amenities.
Some committee members Tuesday opposed any further reductions to the proposed 2025 budget.
“We should not be contemplating whether we should shoot off two toes or four toes for no good reason because we have growing revenue,” board member Patrick Kennedy, who represents Dallas, said. “I think we’re on the right track and I don’t think it’s appropriate now to go backward.”
Keeping the operating budget flat would mean steeper cuts to paratransit and GoLink, systemwide frequency reductions and further bus route eliminations that would pose a “high risk to ridership and passenger revenue.” It would also mean agencywide layoffs and halting of planned preventative maintenance.
Members of the finance committee declined to proceed with discussions of 0% growth Wednesday, though they supported an overall reduction in spending growth.
Several committee members pointed to similar tough choices that local governments have to make about where to spend limited dollars.
“The idea that an agency of our size has a reduction in our budget of 2% not only doesn’t seem draconian, it seems manageable,” board vice chair Rodney Schlosser said. “I think this is being dramatized or characterized in a much more draconian way than is fair.”
Members of the public spoke against any cuts during Tuesday’s board of directors meeting, which took place after DART’s committee meeting.
Plano resident Warren Pena said any cuts to light rail frequency, security or cleanliness would harm riders.
“I feel like this would be a significant reduction in our services, it would be a big step back for the cities and I would urge you all to act against this 3% revenue cap,” Pena said. Pena, a member of the recently formed transit advocacy group Dallas Area Transit Alliance, said he commutes into Dallas for work using DART.
The list of potential cuts for a 3% or 0% growth in the operating budget over last year is a list of services the agency is “willing to live without,” but not changes the staff recommends, Lee said. The original staff-recommended budget already included “self-imposed” reductions, according to Lee.
“Do we prefer to live without those things? Absolutely not because I do not want our budget to be incongruent with goals that we’re trying to achieve as an agency,” Lee said. “If the board feels we need to make a statement and do something, we’re at the board’s mercy with that.”
The board will review the staff’s revised recommendations at the Committee of the Whole meeting Sept. 10.