Just seven months ago, Dallas Area Rapid Transit officials were warning of an impending financial catastrophe if state lawmakers significantly reduced the sales taxes cities contribute to fund the transit system.
That effort faltered and some cities are now considering pulling out altogether, potentially siphoning away nearly a third of the roughly $850 million DART receives annually in sales taxes from 13 member cities.
Four of those North Texas city councils chose this week to let voters decide next spring if they would exit DART, a move that could jeopardize the state’s largest public transportation system with a potentially fatal funding cut. The cuts could imperil an agency that is already fraught with budget and service concerns after its attempts to appease dissatisfied suburban member cities failed…