Жители Конверса проголосуют за отключение от системы общественного транспорта VIA ради перераспределения налогов

CONVERSE, Texas – City leaders in Converse are looking to voters to decide whether to get the city off the VIA bus. The City Council has ordered an election on whether VIA Metropolitan Transit should continue in Converse. If voters agree to stop VIA service, officials hope the 1/2 cent sales tax that funds VIA could be redirected toward city services like police, fire, streets and parks. However, it could be years before they’re able to actually tap into that money, and a plan to potentially replace the transit service within the city limits hasn’t been finalized. “It wasn’t an overnight decision. We’ve been looking at the radar for many years and for many factors,” Mayor Al Suarez told KSAT, including examples like the search for more revenue and comparing VIA ridership to the costs. “It’s not about getting rid of service; it’s about reorganizing and having a vision of doing it ourselves, for less,” he said. Every week there are 1,400 rides out of Converse and 1,500 into the city, according to VIA, and in FY 2025 there were more than 14,000 trips through the VIAtrans service for people with disabilities. If Converse voters decide to stop VIA service, VIA buses might still drive through the city, but wouldn’t stop at any of its 37 bus stops, according to a presentation at an Aug. 25 VIA Board of Trustees meeting, and VIAtrans rides wouldn’t be able to start or end in Converse either. Thomas Marks, VIA’s vice president of government relations and community engagement, told trustees the 1/2 cent sales tax brings in about $2.1 million a year for VIA. However, Converse officials say that is projected to grow to $2.4 million in 2027 and $3 million in 2030. “And we have other demands in the city, like more roads to pave, more public service from fire and police, and park improvements,” said Converse City Manager Stan Farmer. But pulling out of VIA services wouldn’t automatically free the tax up for Converse to spend on those things. Any future use of the 1/2 cent sales tax would need to be voter approved, too, and the tax would likely be tied up for several years first. Under state law, if a city pulls out a transit authority, it owes money to the authority based on its share of the authority’s total obligations and assets. Until that debt obligation is met, the tax would continue to be collected. As of April 2025, the city’s net financial obligation to VIA was about $12.9 million, Marks told trustees, but it is now probably closer to between $13 million and $14 million, which he said could take as many as seven years to pay off. “The worst part though, is the seven years of $2 million that they don’t get to — the citizens don’t get to receive any service for that, but it still ends up getting paid.” Farmer believes it would take closer to four or five years to cover whatever Converse ends up owing, based on the growth of the sales tax. The city is looking at providing a replacement service “for a lot cheaper amount and for free for the customers,” he said. The plans haven’t been finalized, he said, but the city feels “very confident” they’ll have it in place by the election. KSAT asked Farmer about funding the service while the tax would still be tied up and whether the city could avoid cutting into other services. “We have fund balance and other fund type allocations we can draw from,” he said. “So we don’t need a cut from the police or fire now for four years. That’s not our concern at all.” Sitting at a bus stop on Crestway Drive outside the Walmart in Converse, Darrell Brown said he uses VIA “a lot.” Though the recent transplant from Vegas has complaints about the service — such as what he says is drivers’ inability to help him with directions — Brown is wary of trading VIA for a new service. “Keep the dragon you know,” he told KSAT. During his interview with KSAT, Suarez said Converse is the “only city up here in the Northeast Metrocom” that still has VIA. A VIA spokesman said in an emailed statement that Converse had been part of the transit system since VIA’s inception. “While some cities have decided to leave the system, voters in others — such as Sandy Oaks and Castle Hills — have rejected ballot measures, opting to remain in a system that benefits all residents and businesses throughout the 1,210-square-mile service area,” he wrote. Read also: