Waste of the Day: Texas “Bait and Switch” Light Rail is Back on Track

Topline: A Texas judge threw out a lawsuit this December that would have prevented the City of Austin from building its new light rail line, which is 18 miles shorter and $2.3 billion more expensive than voters were led to believe.

Austin light rail project barely more than a third its original length

Key facts: In 2020, Austin voters approved a property tax increase to fund “Project Connect,” a $4.8 billion, 28-mile light rail transit system that extended to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Taxes were estimated to increase by $332 per year for the median homeowner.

In March 2023, the city pulled what critics called a “bait and switch.” 

The Austin Transit Partnership announced that because of “cost increases” and “rapid changes in market conditions,” the light rail would only be 10 miles long, and would not reach the airport unless more funding was secured.

The transit partnership also announced that its initial price estimate for the light rail did not account for inflation. The project will actually cost $7.1 billion by the time it is completed in 2033, the transit partnership said.

The change set off a flurry of legal battles.

A group of Austin residents filed a class-action lawsuit against the transit partnership and Austin City Council to stop tax dollars from being used on the light rail.

“The law does not allow property tax revenue approved by voters for one project to then be used for an inferior replacement project,” Attorney for the residents, Bill Aleshire, said in a press release. “Nor can Austin just ignore statutory and constitutional restrictions on use of property taxes.”

Travis County Judge Eric Sheppard dismissed the lawsuit on Dec. 20, ruling taxpayers lack standing to bring the lawsuit. Aleshire says his clients plan to appeal.

Other lawsuit moving through the courts

A separate lawsuit from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is still ongoing. Paxton believes the city’s changes to the voter-approved plans are “likely illegal,” but he failed to convince a lower court of appeals to stop the project. Now, Paxton is taking his case to the Texas Supreme Court.

The City of Austin still wants to spend even more on Project Connect by using bond funds, but state law dictates they need Paxton’s approval to do so. The city has filed a “bond validation” lawsuit, seeking a court order that would overrule Paxton.

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Summary: Delays and legal battles only increase the risk that inflation and inefficiency will affect a construction project’s price tag. It’s Austin taxpayers that will be on the hook for Project Connect’s bureaucratic mess.

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This article was originally published by RCI and made available via RealClearWire.