AUSTIN, Texas — A number of transportation experts believe railway transit is the future of public transportation. Nearly four years ago, Austin voters approved a $7.1 billion bond that included bringing light rail to the capital city.
But the city's plans of how to build out Project Connect have been contentious.
Texas State Rep. and former Austin City Councilmember Ellen Troxclair (R) is one of those critics. The city and other stakeholders decided to create an independent organization called the Austin Transit Partnership (ATP) to oversee the project, which has drawn Troxclair's ire.
"I think if voters truly understood that the stunt that the city pulled was them writing a blank check to the city with no cap on how much could be spent, they would be appalled," Troxclair said. "Public infrastructure in the state of Texas has always been funded using bonds and that is important because bonds ensure that taxpayers know exactly what the money is going to be spent on and how much is going to be spent. And yet that's not what the city of Austin did in this case."
Last month, leaders with ATP filed a petition with the court to move forward with financing, asking the court to approve its financing plan.
Last week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton responded to that petition, saying nonprofit corporations like ATP can't legally issue bonds and that the city of Austin cannot funnel bond dollars to pay for Project Connect to ATP.
Paxton called the funding plan "void" and is asking the judge to reject the city's plans.
"Austinites know what we want, we don't need Ken Paxton telling us what to do," Bill McCamley, the executive director of Transit Forward, a nonprofit designed to educate Austinites about transit, said. "Transit is better for affordability, it's better for reducing greenhouse gases, it's better for making a safer community for all of us."
Several businesses and groups have sued ATP and the city over Project Connect. Their lawsuit is consolidated into the bond validation that the ATP board filed. The trial on the case is set for May 28-30.