[Special Called Transportation and Infrastructure on March 05, 2025.] [00:00:03] GOOD MORNING EVERYONE. THE TIME IS 8:33AM. AND I NOW CALL TO ORDER THE SPECIAL CALLED MEETING OF THE TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE MARCH 5TH, 2025. WE HAVE ONE ITEM OF BUSINESS. IT'S A BRIEFING AND ACTION ITEM. IT'S TO CONSIDER RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL TO AUTHORIZE A RESOLUTION TO EXPRESS ITS SUPPORT FOR THE FULL FUNDING OF DART AT THE CURRENT 1% SALES TAX LEVEL. THIS ITEM WAS BRIEFED AT THE SPECIAL, CALLED JOINT TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE MEETING WITH THE DART BOARD ON FEBRUARY 18TH, 2025. AND SO IT HAS MY NAME ON AS PRESENTING IT. BUT WE GOT STAFF HELPED US WRITE IT. THERE'S NOTHING ON THERE WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SAYING WE FULLY WANT TO WE WANT TO FULLY FUND DART. AND THIS WAS ASKED FOR BY OUR DART BOARD MEMBERS SAYING THAT, COULD WE DO THIS FOR THEM? IT IS IN OUR LEGISLATIVE AD HOC, I MEAN, A LEGISLATIVE PRIORITY AGENDA AND BUT THEY ASKED THAT WE DO THIS. UNFORTUNATELY, WE CAN'T PASS THIS TO THE COUNCIL TILL THE 26, BUT I WANTED TO GET THIS TO THEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO THAT AT LEAST THEY SEE THAT WE'RE WORKING ON SOMETHING AND THEY HAVE IT DOWN IN AUSTIN, THE LEGISLATURE THAT THEY CAN SAY DALLAS HAS DECIDED TO GO AHEAD AND DO A RESOLUTION AND ALSO WILL SHOW THE REST OF OUR CITIES THAT ARE IN FAVOR OF THE 1%, WHICH IS MORE THAN HALF OF THE BOARD AND AT DART THAT THEY SEE THAT WE ARE LEADING ON THIS AND MAYBE GIVE THEM SOME COVER AS WELL TO DO THE SAME THING. AT THIS TIME, I'LL OPEN THE FLOOR FOR ANY QUESTIONS. MR. ATKINS, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR. MAYOR PRO TEM ATKINS, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR. DO WE HAVE ANYBODY FROM STAFF? WHICH STAFF? LEGISLATOR? JAKE IS COMING UP. GOOD MORNING. GOOD MORNING. HEY, JAY. WITH THIS RESOLUTION. AND RIGHT NOW, I JUST GOT BACK FROM AUSTIN, AND THEY'RE GOING AROUND WHAT THEY BUILD AND TRYING TO PASS. SO WE'RE NOT GOING TO VOTE ON THIS TO UNTIL MARCH 26TH, IS THAT CORRECT? SO I WANT TO KNOW WHERE WE ARE IN POSITION WITH THIS RESOLUTION. HOW DOES THIS RESOLUTION HELP US AND HOW DO WE RESOLVE THIS RESOLUTION? BECAUSE THEY ALREADY HAD A BILL ON THE FLOOR. SO CAN YOU GIVE US SOME BACKGROUND SO WE KNOW WHAT OUR POSITION IS? YES, SIR. GOOD MORNING, JAKE ANDERSON, INTERIM DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS. BACK IN, I BELIEVE IT WAS OCTOBER, THE CITY COUNCIL ADOPTED ITS LEGISLATIVE AGENDA FOR THE 89TH TEXAS LEGISLATIVE SESSION AND AS PART OF THAT AGENDA, YOU ALL ADOPTED A POSITION THAT SAID, SUPPORT FULL FUNDING FOR DART AND SO UNDER THAT LANGUAGE, WE'VE ALREADY EVALUATED THE BILLS SB 1557 AND HB 3187, WHICH ARE IDENTICAL COMPANION BILLS IN BOTH CHAMBERS. WE'VE ALREADY ANALYZED THOSE BILLS, COME BACK AND SAID WE ARE GOING TO BE OPPOSING THOSE BILLS BASED ON THE LANGUAGE THAT YOU ALL HAVE ADOPTED. SO AS WE PROGRESS, YOU KNOW, THROUGH MARCH 26TH, WE ALREADY HAVE THE OPPOSED POSITION AS PART OF OUR LEGISLATIVE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING IN THAT WITH THAT WITH THE BILL PRESENTED, WOULD THAT GIVE US FINANCIAL HARDSHIP WITHOUT THE SENSE THAT HOW DO THEY CAME ABOUT? HOW WOULD WE GET REFUND TO THE CITY OF THE OTHER 13 CITIES? SO AS I WAS KIND OF TALKING TO PEOPLE IN AUSTIN THAT MY CONCERN IS, NUMBER ONE, IF THIS BILL PASS, IT GOING TO BE HARDSHIP TO THE CITY OF DALLAS, ESPECIALLY TO THE WRITERS OF IN MY DISTRICT INTO THE SOUTHERN PART OF DALLAS. THE BUS RIDERS. SO I UNDERSTAND WHAT REVENUE THAT DO HAVE. BUT I THINK THE REVENUE TRYING TO GET MONEY BACK, LIKE HIGHLAND HILLS, I MEAN, HIGHLAND HAMILTON, THE UNIVERSAL PARK, I BELIEVE. I'M NOT FOR SURE THAT THE MONEY THAT WE'RE GOING TO GET BACK, IF WE DO GET BACK, BECAUSE THE AUTHOR. BUT THE POINT IS THAT IT'S GOING TO KILL US COMPLETELY. THE CITY OF DALLAS, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW VERSUS OTHER CITY, BUT HOW ARE THEY GOING TO HOW DOES IT BE WRITTEN THAT EVERY ALL 13 CITIES GOT A DIFFERENT EXPENSE BUDGET AND DIFFERENT NEEDS LISTED THERE? SO DO WE DO A SUBSTITUTE BILL OR WHAT? WHAT DO WE DO. WELL THAT'S CORRECT. MAYOR PRO TEM SO THE WAY WE READ THIS BILL IS THAT EVERY CITY MUST ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH DART. IT SAYS MAY OR SHALL ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH DART THAT WOULD ALLOW THEM TO CLAW BACK 25% OF THEIR SALES TAX CONTRIBUTION. EVEN IF THE, YOU KNOW, THE CITY OF DALLAS SAID, WELL, WE DON'T WANT TO TAKE BACK OUR 25%, WE WANT TO LEAVE THAT WITH DART. ANY OTHER CITIES WHO ARE MAKING THAT DECISION TO TAKE BACK SOME MONEY WOULD BE TAKING THAT MONEY OUT OF THE THE ENTIRE SYSTEM. [00:05:06] RIGHT AND SO THAT WOULD AFFECT THE SERVICES WITHIN THE CITY OF DALLAS. IT WOULD AFFECT THE SERVICES ACROSS THE REGION RATHER THAN JUST IN ANY INDIVIDUAL CITY THAT'S TAKING BACK MONEY. SO THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS THAT WE OPPOSE THIS IS WE SEE THAT ANY CITY TAKING MONEY BACK WOULD BE AFFECTING EVERY CITY THAT'S WITHIN DART. WITH THAT SAID, I KNOW THAT WE ARE MEETING WITH LEGISLATORS. I KNOW THAT THE CHAIR PLANS TO MEET WITH SOME OF THE LEGISLATORS AS SOON AS WELL. ON HIS ADVOCACY ISSUE WITH DART. AND WE ARE WORKING ON WHAT TO DO, AND WE ARE MEETING WITH THEM TO KIND OF DISCUSS AND NEGOTIATE SOME DIFFERENT PATHS FORWARD, BECAUSE WE BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A REGIONAL ISSUE. THIS IS A PROBLEM THAT NEEDS TO BE SOLVED HERE LOCALLY AMONGST THE CITIES WITH THE DART BOARD AND WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO PUSH FOR THAT RATHER THAN ANY SORT OF CHANGES AT THE LEGISLATURE AND JUST LAST QUESTION. I BELIEVE THIS IS A LOCAL ISSUE, NOT A STATE ISSUE. WE WERE THERE LAST YEAR AS A CHAIRMAN OF THE LEGISLATURE. WE WENT THROUGH THE SAME SCENARIO. WE FEEL LIKE TO SELL IT AT HOME. I DON'T THINK WE NEED TO SELL IT IN AUSTIN. SO, MR. CHAIRMAN, I GUESS BEFORE THE 26TH WHEN WE VOTE THIS CURRENTLY THAT WE NEED SOME FEEDBACK WITH FINANCE. HOW ARE THEY GOING TO HURT US? AND HOW DO WE SAY THIS IS A LOCAL ISSUE ISSUE, NOT A STATE ISSUE? THANK YOU SIR. THANK YOU, COUNCILMEMBER SCHULTZ, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. AND I APOLOGIZE FOR MY TARDINESS. IS? I DART HAS BEEN DOING, I THINK, A TERRIFIC JOB OF HELPING US ALL UNDERSTAND THE FINANCIAL IMPACT. WHAT I HAVEN'T SEEN MUCH OF IS THE IMPACT ON THE DEBT OF THIS AND HOW MUCH THAT WILL BE, YOU KNOW, WHAT HAPPENS OR DO YOU HAVE ANY OR CAN WE GET THAT BEFORE THE 26TH? I DO NOT HAVE THAT CURRENTLY, BUT IT IS SOMETHING WE CAN WORK ON GETTING FOR THE 26TH PRIOR TO THE 26TH. OKAY, THAT'S WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, VICE CHAIR GRACEY, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? NO QUESTIONS AT THIS TIME. THANK YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH. WE HAVE A GUEST WITH US TODAY. DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TEM BAZALDUA, DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? I JUST WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU TO YOU, MR. CHAIR, FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP AND BRINGING THIS FORWARD AND KEEPING THIS A PRIORITY. I ALSO WANT TO THANK DART FOR THIS FACT SHEET. I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT, AND IT NEEDS TO BE IN FRONT OF AS MANY CONSTITUENTS AS POSSIBLE. THE PUBLIC NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPLICATIONS OF WHAT IS BEING PROPOSED AND HOW THAT'S GOING TO IMPACT THE COMMUNITIES THAT WE SERVE AND SO I WOULD ENCOURAGE THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE. WITH THIS BEING AN OFFICIAL STANCE FROM THE CITY TO BRING IN SOME ROBUST COMMUNICATIONS AND HELP US DISSEMINATE THIS INFORMATION OUT TO THE PUBLIC AS WIDESPREAD AS POSSIBLE, BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO NEED ADVOCACY FROM THE PUBLIC IN ADDITION TO THE WEIGHT BEHIND OUR BULLY PULPITS AS ELECTEDS. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. THANK YOU. I SEE THAT I'M OUR ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER. DAVE RASTOGI WROTE THIS DOWN, SO SHE'LL GET THAT TO OUR CITY MANAGER. MAKE SURE THAT WE WORK ON THAT. I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S SOMETHING WE CAN DO SINCE LIKE, SINCE THAT'S NOT ON HERE AS FAR AS, LIKE TRYING TO TAKE A VOTE OR SOMETHING. BUT WE CAN ALL RECOMMEND TO THE CITY MANAGER AS WELL. BUT SO THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THAT UP BECAUSE THAT IS IMPORTANT. WITH THAT, IF THERE'S NO OTHER QUESTIONS I'D LIKE TO ENTERTAIN A MOTION IF THERE'S ONE MOTION TO MOVE FORWARD. YEAH. SO MOVED. THERE'S A PROPER MOTION ON THE FLOOR BY MAYOR PRO TEM ATKINS AND A SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER SCHULTZ. IS THERE ANY OTHER DISCUSSION? ANY DISCUSSION? ANY DISCUSSION? HEARING NONE. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE. AYE. ALL THOSE OPPOSED SIGNIFY BY SAYING NO. NO. RIGHT? NO, NO'S. THE AYES HAVE IT. IT PASSES UNANIMOUSLY BY THE MEMBERS THAT ARE PRESENT. WITH THAT BEING DONE, WE HAVE NO MORE BUSINESS ON OUR AGENDA. THE TIME IS NOW 8:42AM, AND I NOW CALL TO CLOSE THE SPECIAL CALLED MEETING OF THE TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE MEETING ON MARCH 5TH, 2025. THANK YOU EVERYBODY. SEE YOU IN A FEW MINUTES FOR CITY COUNCIL BRIEFING. * This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.