Press Release|Public Finance
KBRA Affirms AAA Rating for Dallas Area Rapid Transit Senior Lien Sales Tax Revenue Bonds
14 Oct 2025 | New York
KBRA affirms the long-term rating of AAA with a Stable Outlook for Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Texas, Senior Lien Sales Tax Revenue Bonds.
Key Credit Considerations
The rating was affirmed because of the following key credit considerations:
Credit Positives
- Gross pledge of sales tax coupled with its limited historical volatility and long-term growth trend provides a very strong source of repayment.
- Sizable, diverse, and growing service area comprised of the nation’s fourth largest metropolitan area.
- Conservative additional bonds test.
Credit Challenges
- Bonds are largely secured by sales taxes, collections of which may at times be adversely affected by economic factors.
- While strong safeguards protect DART’s ability to repay debt service, redirection of a significant share of sales tax collections to community general mobility programs or withdrawal of Participating Municipalities may lead to substantially diminished revenues for operations requiring significant system wide service reductions.
Rating Sensitivities
For Upgrade:
- Not applicable at AAA rating level.
For Downgrade:
- Sharp reductions in pledged sales tax revenue collections.
- Reduction to the 1% sales tax allocation.
To access ratings and relevant documents, click here.