As Texas’ population continues to grow, there is an ever demanding need for an efficient, well-maintained transportation system. Nowhere is this more evident than the Dallas metropolitan area and Irving. Currently, Senate Bill 855, which is designed to meet the increased funding needs for these roadways and mobility projects, is working its way through the House of Representatives. This bill can potentially lead Irving residents to face burdening high costs and even double-taxation.
Senate Bill 855 is a local option funding bill that allows for individual counties to implement a new county motor fuels tax to create funds for mobility improvement projects. The original bill in the 80th legislature was designed to provide a tool for individual cities that were at the sales tax cap to fund transit in their cities. SB 855 would bind all municipalities within a county that chooses to implement the tax to pay a ballot-approved motor fuel tax. In other words, the counties that comprise the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) who may or may not be a member of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) would hold elections on whether or not to implement the tax in its county. As stated in SB 855, the new motor fuel tax will be set at a rate of 10 cents per gallon on the sale of gasoline and diesel fuel sold within the county.
Though the county may seem justified in levying new fees and taxes with the approval of a county-wide ballot, the approving vote may be a bit deceiving. As the bill is written, the City of Dallas makes up a large percentage of the Dallas County population, which means local option funding may pass even if Irving and other cities in the county vote against it. A committee will be assembled to choose the transportation projects throughout each metropolitan planning organization’s district that the revenue from the new motor fuel tax will fund. The transportation projects chosen may not actually lie in Irving, which would result in a double taxation on the city while it receives no additional use of road or railways.
Under current arrangements, Irving already contributes to DART through a sales tax, which it has optioned in to do so. What ballot approval will mean for Irving, in essence, is a double taxation. Irving would be forced to pay a larger part of the bill for services rendered to other parts of the county while we continue to wait for future phases of construction to be carried out and services provided to Irving.
