Total contributed to DART by Highland Park since joining in 1983
>$600 per ride
Effective cost per boarding — $8M annual contribution divided by 33 riders/day
only1
Bus route serving all of Highland Park — no light rail, no commuter rail
$8M
Paid in 2025. Projected to rise to $9M in 2026 — half of our entire local sales tax capacity
33
Average daily boardings on the single remaining Highland Park bus route
30¢
Services returned per dollar paid — per DART's own 2023 independent analysis
The Case for Withdrawal
Six Reasons Highland Park Residents Should Vote NO To DART
For over 40 years, Highland Park has faithfully funded DART. The return on that investment — in service, representation, and value — has steadily eroded. Here is the case for change.
01📊
A Fundamentally Unfair Financial Equation
Per a 2023 independent financial analysis commissioned by DART itself, Highland Park contributed approximately $6.3 million and received approximately $1.9 million in services — a return of roughly 30 cents on the dollar. Since joining in 1983, the town has paid over $114 million total. A separate 2026 DART study identifies 86% of DART's services as "regional" in nature — and does not list Highland Park as a location of any regional transit infrastructure.
Financial Inequity
02🚌
Declining Service — Nearly Nothing Left
Prior to 2014, four fixed-route bus services operated in Highland Park. Today, only one remains — a single route along Preston Road with approximately 12,000 annual boardings, averaging 33 riders per day. No light rail serves the town. Community survey data shows only 4–5% of residents report using DART even occasionally. The town also receives GoLink on-demand and paratransit service — modest additions that do not justify a $9 million annual contribution.
Service Failure
03🏛
No Real Voice in Governance
Highland Park has historically shared a single DART board seat with three other cities — Addison, Richardson, and University Park. DART's proposed new governance model gives the town its own dedicated seat, but with a weighted vote of just 0.44 — about 2% of the board's total voting power. We contribute nearly 1% of DART's total sales tax revenue yet hold a fractional voice over how it is spent. DART's proposed General Mobility Program would return approximately $4.4 million to Highland Park over six years — less than half of one year's contribution.
Governance Imbalance
04💰
Sales Tax Locked Away From Local Needs
State law capped property tax revenue growth at 3.5% in 2019, making sales tax the only meaningful flexible revenue for cities like ours. Dedicating half of our sales tax capacity to DART severely constrains the town's ability to fund public safety, emergency services, and aging infrastructure.
Budget Constraint
05🗺
A Structurally Broken Regional System
DART's model was designed in 1983 for a region that no longer exists. No new city has joined in over 40 years. Two original members withdrew. The current structure locks 13 cities into funding a system covering a region of millions, with no mechanism for genuine regional reform without state legislative action in 2027 at the earliest.
Systemic Failure
06🗳
Voters Deserve This Decision
The Town Council did not make this decision unilaterally — they placed it before the voters at the explicit direction of the Legislature. This election ensures the issue is decided openly, locally, and democratically by the residents who fund every dollar of the town's budget. A vote no is a vote for self-determination.
Official neutral information about the election, DART finances, service levels, governance, and withdrawal mechanics is published by the Town of Highland Park at
hptx.org/599/DART-Transportation-Information.
The Town is required by state law to remain neutral — that page is your objective reference.
A “No” vote means you want Highland Park to withdraw from DART membership. The ballot asks: “Shall Dallas Area Rapid Transit be continued in the Town of Highland Park?” Voting NO ends our membership. Voting Yes continues it.
DART would cease all service within town limits once the election results are certified. For Highland Park, that means the single Preston Road bus route (Route 237), GoLink on-demand, and paratransit service would end. The town has been working with Via Transportation since October 2025 and is prepared to stand up alternative providers — including on-demand microtransit and contracted paratransit — at a fraction of the current cost.
Yes, temporarily. Under Texas law, the Texas Comptroller will continue collecting Highland Park's 1% DART sales tax until the town's proportional share of outstanding obligations is satisfied — estimated at approximately $30–40 million over 4–5 years. During that window, the town would pay both the DART debt buydown and the cost of any replacement transit service. Once the debt is cleared, the 1% capacity does not automatically revert — the Town must pass a resolution and hold a new vote to reinstate the penny for a new local purpose.
Highland Park dedicates one cent (1%) of its local sales tax to DART — half of the Town's entire allowable sales-tax capacity. The annual contribution has grown from roughly $3.4 million in 2014 to approximately $8 million in 2025, with the 2026 projection at approximately $9 million. In return, DART's service investment within town limits was about $1.9 million in 2023 — primarily the Preston Road bus route averaging 33 riders per day. That's roughly 30 cents on the dollar.
Route 237 along Preston Road is our only DART bus line, averaging about 33 riders per day against an $8 million annual contribution — which works out to over $600 per ride. Using DART's own published cost data, Highland Park could contract equivalent Preston Road service for approximately $270,000 per year — a fraction of what we pay DART today.
Since 1983, Highland Park has sent more than $114 million to DART. After withdrawal, we will repay approximately $30–40 million in remaining debt obligations over 4–5 years, bringing our total contribution to roughly $150 million. By comparison, Dallas currently receives about 169% return on its contribution while Highland Park receives roughly 30%. A 2026 study commissioned by DART itself describes approximately 86% of the agency's services as “regional” in nature — yet Highland Park is not listed in that report as a location of any regional transit infrastructure. We have more than paid for the system our community uses.
No. For decades, Highland Park has shared a single DART board seat with three other small cities (Addison, Richardson, and University Park). Meanwhile, Dallas holds eight of the fifteen board seats. DART's proposed “fix” would give Highland Park its own seat — with a weighted vote of approximately 2%. Any such governance change requires state legislative action, which cannot happen before the 2027 legislative session at the earliest. Combined with the fact that no new city has joined DART in more than 40 years, the current regional model is broken.
DART is in crisis. Its board recently fired the CEO. It is planning a 14% service reduction — the largest in its history. Farebox revenue covers just 3–4% of its $1.7 billion annual budget, and total debt sits at approximately $3.8 billion. DART's paratransit program drew nearly 2,000 complaints in a recent three-month period, including hours-long waits and missed trips for elderly and disabled riders. In 1983, voters were promised an agency with 25–35 employees and 450,000 daily riders. Today DART has roughly 3,800 employees, and farebox revenue covers less than 10% of salaries alone.
DART's proposed General Mobility Program has been pitched as the compromise that keeps member cities whole. In practice, it would return approximately $4.4 million to Highland Park over six years — less than half of a single year's contribution. The program starts at a 5% rebate of sales-tax revenue, growing to 10% by 2031, with a portion funded by the Regional Transportation Council. DART's own CEO acknowledged that service cuts may be needed to fund the GMP commitments. The program was enough to persuade Plano, Irving, and Farmers Branch to cancel their withdrawal elections — but Highland Park, University Park, and Addison are still proceeding to a vote. The GMP does not address the underlying structural imbalance between what Highland Park pays and what it receives.
Under Texas law, member cities can only vote to withdraw from DART once every six years. 2026 is an eligible “out” year. If Highland Park does not exit now, the next opportunity is 2032. Combined with a 4–5 year debt buydown after withdrawal, waiting another cycle means paying tens of millions more. And with DART planning approximately $2 billion in additional debt, a future buydown could stretch to 6–7 years instead of 4–5 — meaning the next realistic opportunity to reclaim the penny could be 12–13 years away. It is effectively now or never.
Property tax rates are capped by state law, so sales tax is Highland Park's only flexible funding source. Our DART contribution has grown to $8 million and is projected to reach $9 million and keep climbing. Without reclaiming our sales tax penny, the town projects public safety staffing cuts within 6–7 years. Reclaiming the penny funds police, fire, infrastructure, and modern transit designed for Highland Park.
Elderly and disabled residents will continue to have door-to-door service — either through contracted paratransit or through Via, at an estimated $40–$50 per ride. For context, DART's own paratransit costs approximately $57 per ride. The Town has been working with Via Transportation since October 2025 on an on-demand microtransit service offering point-to-point rides within Highland Park and connections to DART rail at Mockingbird Station. University Park's City Council has also formally adopted a resolution committing to provide paratransit services after any withdrawal. No resident who depends on paratransit will be left without options.
Mass transit is vital to the region's long-term success — and that's precisely the problem. DART's funding model relies almost entirely on just 13 member cities while serving a region of millions, with no new members in over 40 years and two original members already withdrawn. In FY2023, Dallas received services worth 169% of its sales-tax contribution — a $283 million surplus subsidized by “donor” cities like Highland Park, which received just 30%. Mayor Beecherl and the Town Council have called on the Legislature to create a fully restructured regional transit authority with an equitable, region-wide funding model. Voting No sends that message clearly.
The municipal election is Saturday, May 2, 2026. Early voting runs April 20–28. Check with Dallas County Elections at dallascountyvotes.org for polling locations and registration deadlines. You must be a registered voter in Highland Park.
This campaign is organized by the Highland Park Community League, a nonpartisan civic organization dedicated to self-governance and preserving superior municipal services for Highland Park residents since its founding. Pol. Ad. Paid for by the Highland Park Community League, Ralph Perry-Miller, Treasurer.
