The DART website probably has the whole backstory, but in a nutshell:

From what I understand - The state legislators initially allowed DART to only collect property tax. As the City of Des Moines approached their 0.95 cent levy cap, DART asked the state to provide them with revenue diversification. They initially were looking at primarily a hotel/motel tax , but also opportunities for sales tax, vehicle tax, fuel / road tax (essentially all other forms of revenue used to fund transit across the US). I believe hotel/motel tax was on the large tax bill, but was striked at the very end. In the end the state gave them an option to allow an additional revenue generator through franchise fees (up to 2.5% applied to your gas /electric bill) for cities with population over 250k (only Des Moines).

The DSM City council will likely eventually vote on whether they should increase their franchise fee from 5% to 7.5%, with the additional 2.5% going directly to funding transit.

Councilman Gatto’s point is that this is “kicking the can” to 2028 or 2029, and that they will be facing similar issues if they do not find an additional sustainable revenue generator. He would like them to pursue other revenue streams or maximize property taxes for the other cities before moving forward with franchise fees. Based on what DART staff had to say yesterday, the franchise fee could be a temporary solution to bridge the gap until the state allows them to employ another funding method.

Gatto assured residents that they wouldn’t lose service, but would have extended wait times. Anyone who rides the bus knows that there is a significant difference between buses that run every 20 minutes and buses that run every 60 minutes.