Local transportation officials have come up with a fresh menu of options to pay for expanded rail transit. They should continue their exploration – with urgency. 

Various combinations of these revenue sources could well break a stubborn political logjam on funding. It's a good sign that significant business interests remain engaged in the search for solutions, an effort being coordinated by the Regional Transportation Council.

The sales tax remains under discussion, although not at the previous "up to a penny on the dollar" level. Lowering that levy could work if rail proponents can combine it with other needed revenue. The important thing is finding enough money to build out the RTC plan for nearly 250 additional miles of rail.

Providing more commuters with this option must remain a top priority for the North Texas delegation in next year's Legislature. Lawmakers have failed their constituents by not approving new funding methods, despite local elected officials' calls to do so these past four years.

Expanded rail use can help ease traffic congestion and clean the air – both vital to the economy and quality of life in North Texas.

New ideas on the table include one radically different funding concept: allowing new transportation taxes to be used for either rail or roads. The two have always had separate sources of revenue; dissolving the barrier would give local communities flexibility and could overcome political obstacles.

Under the plan, new revenue raised in transit cities (such as DART members Dallas, Plano and Richardson) could be funneled to nonrail transportation projects, such as streets, highways or bridges. New revenue in nontransit cities (such as Duncanville, McKinney and Mesquite) would be used to hook into DART's rail network.

This new approach – hatched by Michael Morris, transportation director of the North Central Texas Council of Governments – is the type of creative thinking that could sway state lawmakers, who would have to pass legislation for most of the funding proposals.

Last year lawmakers blocked a widely supported plan for local-option elections that would allow nontransit cities to levy a sales tax of up to one cent for rail service. DART cities could boost taxes for non-transportation purposes, like economic development. Though supported by much of the business community, the plan encountered opposition by certain other business opponents (including Texas Instruments, J.C. Penney and Lockheed Martin), and lawmakers rejected the plan.

This time, The Dallas Morning News calls on sales-tax opponents to remain open to compromise. It's clear that rail can't be built on the cheap. It's clear that some kind of consumption tax – be it the sales tax or a new levy on fuel – needs to be in the mix.

Newly proposed gasoline taxes include a straight per-gallon levy as well as a more intriguing fuel sales tax that would increase along with price. Seeking legislative approval for a locally raised fuel tax may do the trick. Lawmakers have not mustered the political courage to raise the gas tax statewide, causing cancellation of many new highway projects.

Perhaps lawmakers will respect the willingness of North Texans to fend for ourselves. We take seriously the harm from traffic gridlock, even if Austin does not.

Local and business representatives must work quickly to fashion a package to take to the North Texas legislative delegation, which will need to assess it and work out strategy to get it through the lawmaking mill next year.

Bill filing begins in eight months. The distraction of fall election campaigning begins in six months. Summer vacation season begins in three months.

Time is short.

Options for rail funding

Local sales tax – up to a half-cent on sales of all taxable items and services*

Local fuel taxes – a traditional fuel tax, boosted 10 cents per gallon, or a 3-cent-on-the-dollar sales tax on gasoline and diesel

Local vehicle sales tax – 1 cent added to the 6.25 percent state sales tax on cars and small trucks

Local vehicle registration fee – $10 increase on current fees, which now vary by county

New resident impact fee – $100 fee to register vehicles of new residents of North Texas, added to a $90 statewide assessment

County bonds – county transportation funds backed by higher property taxes

Assessment per vehicle mile – fee on miles driven, a long shot now but considered the long-term model for transportation funding

Other – selling development rights around train stations; other public-private partnerships; raising fares; charging for parking at rail stations

Transit-Funding Area

All or part of nine counties – Dallas, Collin, Denton, Rockwall, Tarrant, Ellis, Kaufman, Parker and Johnson counties