Other North Texas cities, including Plano and Farmers Branch, will consider similar special elections.
HIGHLAND PARK, Texas — The town of Highland Park approved calling a special election Tuesday to allow voters to determine whether or not the town will continue to be a Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) member.
The special election was called for May 2, 2026, according to a press release.
The news makes Highland Park among the first Dallas-area municipalities to call a special election on DART membership. Plano and Farmers Branch are also set to consider similar special elections on DART membership.
“Highland Park taxpayers have invested in the regional system for more than 40 years,” Highland Park Mayor Will Beecherl said in a statement on the vote. “This election ensures that our residents — who fund this contribution — have a say in whether the return on that investment meets the needs of our community today.”
Each of DART’s 13 member cities — Addison, Carrollton, Cockrell Hill, Dallas, Farmers Branch, Garland, Glenn Heights, Highland Park, Irving, Plano, Richardson, Rowlett and University Park — contribute a penny of sales tax to the transit agency. However, some member cities, like Plano and Highland Park, have argued that the amount they contribute to DART has dwarfed the value of the services they receive.
Highland Park officials said in a statement that the town has contributed more than $107 million to DART since becoming a member of the transit agency in 1983.
“Despite these substantial contributions, the Town receives minimal direct transit service, with no light rail operations within its boundaries and only a single bus route along Preston Road,” town officials said in a press release. “An independent analysis found that in 2023, Highland Park contributed approximately $6.3 million to DART, while DART spent only $1.9 million within the Town, primarily to operate the Preston Road bus route, which averages about 60 riders per day.”
In a press conference after Plano, Highland Park and Farmers Branch announced their intent to consider special elections on DART membership, DART CEO Nadine Lee called the announcements “heartbreaking” and said losing member cities would “severely impact” DART’s ability to serve riders during the World Cup next year.
“It’s really devastating and frustrating to understand that they would do this not only on the heels of a wonderful and successful opening of the Silver Line last week, but on the eve of the World Cup,” Lee said.
Some member cities considering withdrawing from DART comes after DART proposed a “general mobility program” to reimburse cities up to 5% of the sales tax money, but later attached strings to any deal that would have, among other restrictions, limited cities from lobbying against DART in Austin.
The decisions on whether to put withdrawals on the ballot in May will affect DART riders beyond the member cities, DART officials said. Losing the roughly $110 million Plano alone contributes to the system will likely cause service impacts across the remaining cities, too, Lee previously said.
