Keep DART going with a higher Des Moines franchise fee

The gap between revenue and expenses at the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority has a thousand authors. They’ve all seen the trouble coming for years, but decision makers have not agreed on a sustainable path forward.

The result is likely to be a significant service reduction in central Iowa later this year, with the prospect of a more drastic cutback down the line. The surest outcome is that all changes will make things more difficult nearly every day for thousands of bus riders who have no realistic alternative for getting to where they need to go.

The original sin here is that all of the metro area has been built and rebuilt for the convenience of single-family vehicles. As a rule, central Iowans with means find driving to and parking anywhere they go vastly superior to DART. (This concession isn't made blithely — half of this editorial board's members rode DART from home to the office and back daily until they stopped working daytime hours downtown five days a week.) On the other hand, some disabled persons and other DART users for whom driving is absolutely impossible find riding the bus possible, enabling them to live their lives. The question becomes what responsibility taxpayers have to keep DART useful.

Here’s the start of an answer: This is not the moment to allow DART’s service levels to wither. The city of Des Moines should impose a 2.5% franchise fee on utility bills to give DART some stability for the next couple of years. And the next hard look at DART’s future must be the most productive to date, leading to a robust but efficient network for low-income residents, with local property owners shouldering less of the burden to pay for it.

ANOTHER VIEW: Public transit can work, even in Ankeny

How we got here

Property taxes make up the bulk of DART’s revenue. The formula that determines each local government’s contribution is in the middle of a multi-year transition after the previous formula required suburbs to pay a disproportionate amount relative to how much service they received and used. But Des Moines has already hit a legal cap for the property tax rate it can charge its residents, and West Des Moines is near it.

Ridership has been recovering since it tanked during the pandemic, but the advent of remote work means it’s not clear where demand might eventually settle. Federal COVID-19 relief is running out.

More: 'Exclude no one': Des Moines residents urge City Council to fund DART and avoid route cuts

DART says some expense categories, including for tires and insurance, are spiking year over year, on top of long-running increases in bus and fuel prices

The agency has advocated for diversified funding for years, as projections clearly showed this moment would arrive. State lawmakers did not advance a proposal to allow a higher hotel-motel tax for transit, a step this board supports, but have changed the law to allow only the city of Des Moines to put a 7.5% surcharge on utility bills, instead of 5%, with the difference going to public transit.

What DART is saying

At a Feb. 23 budget forum with DART employees and commissioners representing member governments, DART officials proposed cutting back on some services, such as trip-planning tools and wifi service on buses. But eliminating wifi would save only $60,000 in a $40 million-plus budget, suggesting that slashing frills won’t resolve DART’s gap.

With an extra contribution from Des Moines (but not a franchise fee increase), DART says it’s made plans for a service reduction to take effect later this year. Most routes would run less frequently.

More: DART asks Des Moines to 'compromise' with lower franchise fee to avoid service cuts

That would let DART save money by having fewer buses and fewer drivers. That also, however, would hamper DART’s ability to surge more buses onto the roads to help transport Des Moines Public Schools students between home and school and to tackle special projects such as getting park-and-ride users to the Iowa State Fairgrounds every August.

What elected officials are saying

The appeal of a franchise fee increase is that it would produce contributions from the many parcels in Des Moines owned by federal, state, county and city government and nonprofit entities that do not pay property tax. Of course, property tax payers would also be hit by the higher rate. Most homeowners would pay less than $100 a year extra, many far less. The city’s Transportation Safety Committee passed a resolution in favor of a 2.5% franchise fee increase this month.

The City Council would have to authorize an increase, and its six members are divided on the topic, with some for, some against and some noncommital. It’s possible that a March special election to fill the seat vacated when Connie Boesen was elected mayor will decide whether the fee is approved.

In fairness, local governments are rightfully wary about commitments from their own general funds as the effects of a property-tax reduction the Legislature approved last year become more apparent.

More: Des Moines bus riders could lose their 'lifeline' if DART cuts service to balance budget

What should happen now

Understandably, Des Moines officials may feel like they’re unfairly left holding the bag to keep DART afloat. “Regional” is right there in the name. But fair or not, they have the ability to stave off the worst repercussions of service cuts.

Further, Des Moines lobbied for the franchise fee tool. If the city doesn’t use it, state lawmakers who passed it would be justified in looking unfavorably on future requests for help in funding public transit in the region.

DART’s governing commission is meeting Tuesday and moving ahead on planning the next fiscal year’s budget. The agency should continue to prioritize moving people who don’t have cars while shedding services that don't fit that essential mission. In other words, make fairgrounds parking the Iowa State Fair’s problem and school transportation the school board's responsibility.

What should happen after that

Public transit in a place built for cars is a really difficult problem. DART and area businesses have made positive steps with sometimes-subsidized pilot projects to use smaller vehicles or ride-sharing for some trips. Those smaller-scale efforts should continue.

Maintaining something like the current frequency on the most-used bus routes has to be the primary goal. Lesser frequency is often more than an inconvenience. It can be the difference between being able to make it to appointments and errands in varying locales — or not.

The investment isn’t entirely altruistic. Russ Trimble, the West Des Moines mayor who chairs the DART Commission, said bus service makes possible billions of dollars in payroll and operations for businesses.

As leaders have said for years, the only way DART's budget will work long-term is with more revenue sources. If the franchise fee is fairer than property taxes, then a higher hotel tax is fairer than a franchise fee. More nonresidents will pay it, and residents and visitors to Des Moines alike benefit from local workers using the bus to get to work.

“I’m afraid we’re falling apart,” Bridget Carberry Montgomery, a member of the Urbandale City Council and the DART Commission, said at the Feb. 23 forum.

Leaders shouldn't let DART crumble. The bus benefits everybody. Paying for it is not as much fun as subsidizing a soccer stadium. But it’s necessary. For local elected officials, a narrow focus on their specific constituents’ pocketbooks should not obscure community benefits. For state legislators, collective apathy about Des Moines-focused issues should not rule out authorizing better tools, including more hotel-motel tax, to keep a vital service running.

Lucas Grundmeier, on behalf of the Register’s editorial board

This editorial is the opinion of the Des Moines Register's editorial board: Carol Hunter, executive editor; Lucas Grundmeier, opinion editor; and Richard Doak and Rox Laird, editorial board members.

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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines-area bus service requires higher franchise fee