Tax District Dashboard
Welcome to the Tax District Dashboard
This dashboard provides a comprehensive overview of the Triangle Tax District’s finances, including revenues, expenses, capital projects, reserves, and multi‑year financial plans. It is designed to help users quickly explore financial data for the regional transit plans across the Wake, Durham, and Orange Transit Plans.
Each section of the dashboard offers interactive tools, filters, and detailed summaries that support budget review, performance tracking, and long‑range planning. Users can navigate across high‑level districtwide views, transit plan ‑specific financial summaries, and detailed operating and capital program information.
This guide explains the purpose of each page, how to use the available slicers and toggles, and what information can be found in each visual. Use it as a reference to better understand the structure of the dashboard and how to explore the financial data most effectively.
What to Know
Tax District Administration oversees the financial management of the County Transit Plans, including budgeting, fund balance monitoring, debt issuance, and reporting. It works with ILA partners to support the transit plan and keep the information aligned with applicable requirements. TDA is responsible for creating and maintaining this dashboard.
Interactive dropdowns or selection tools that allow you to filter the data shown on the dashboard.
- Slicers appear on multiple pages.
- Changing a slicer updates the associated visuals.
- Some slicers apply only to specific visuals, which is noted in each section.
A clickable option (often a button or checkbox) that changes how data is displayed.
Examples include:
- Switching between “Type” and “Transit Plan” classifications
- Expanding “Other” categories to show detailed breakdowns
- Sorting projects by type or organization
A circular chart representing proportions of a whole, commonly used in this dashboard for revenue, expense, and fund allocation summaries. Users can hover over each segment to view exact values, percentages, or additional detail.
Most visuals include hover‑enabled tooltips that reveal specific numbers, percentages, or descriptive labels. This feature helps provide additional context without cluttering the dashboard with text.
- Budgeted represents planned or approved spending.
- Actual represents what has been spent during the fiscal year.
Comparing the two helps monitor performance and spending accuracy.
- Appropriated represents funding authorized for a project.
- Expended represents funding that has actually been spent.
Percent Spent: Measures progress toward completing the project financially.
Navigation
This page helps you move quickly between major areas of the dashboard and access important external resources.
The large tiles serve as quick‑access navigation buttons.
Select a tile to open the corresponding dashboard section.
- Tax District Administration Triangle Finances
Opens the main financial overview for the Triangle Tax District. - Operations / Multi‑Year Operating Program
Shows transit operating programs and multi‑year funding allocations. - Capital Projects / Capital Improvement Plan
Displays capital budgets, and the capital improvement plan. - Transit Plan Tiles (Wake, Durham, Orange)
Each transit Plan Tile brings you to the same dashboard view as “Tax District Administration Triangle Finances”, prefiltered for the selected transit plan.
The Key Links panel on the right provides direct access to related regional transit tools, trackers, and documents.
These links include:
- Regional and transit plan ‑level transit trackers
- Transit planning committee homepages
- Annual Work Plans for each transit plan
- Other project or reporting resources relevant to the Triangle Tax District
Use these links to explore detailed project information, live system maps, and supporting documentation outside the dashboard.
TDA Triangle Finance & TDA Transit Plans
This is the main dashboard view, containing a summary of the Tax District Administration’s finances.
The slicers at the top of the dashboard let you customize the data displayed.
- Fiscal Year – Select the reporting year you want to view.
- Transit Plan – Filter by plan type or view all plans.
These slicers update every chart and metric in the dashboard (except for the Revenue Trends graph which is only updated by the transit plan slicer).
This area shows multi‑year revenue patterns by source.
- View overall growth or decline across fiscal years.
- Compare Half‑Cent Sales Tax, Vehicle Registration taxes , Investment Earnings, and other revenue sources.
- Has an option to view the details of the other category, by selecting “Other Detailed” in the checkbox to the left of the graph.
These visuals display the composition of revenues for the selected period.
- Revenues Total – Combined receipts across all sources.
- Half‑Cent Sales Tax – Primary revenue stream for transit investments.
- Registration Taxes – Motor vehicle fee revenues.
- Other Revenue – Has an option to view the details of the other category by selecting “Type” in the checkbox to the right of the graph.
Hover over each chart to see exact amounts and percent shares.
This section is split between operational and capital spending.
- Actual Operations Expenses - Displays spending on transit operations, administration, and community funding.
- Actual Capital Expenses - Shows capital investments such as infrastructure, bus acquisition, and planning.
Each donut chart shows both total amounts and spending by subtype. Hover over each chart to see exact amounts and percent shares.
Provides an overview of available cash and investment balances for the selected fiscal year. Hover over each chart to see exact amounts and percent shares.
This table outlines required financial reserves per policy.
- Includes capital, operating, and other designated reserves.
- Summarizes totals for each transit plan for the selected fiscal year.
- Help ensure compliance with statutory and financial policy requirements.
Operations / Multi Year Operating Plan
This section provides a detailed view of annual operating budgets and long‑range operating commitments across the transit plan.
Use the slicer and toggle at the top of the page to refine the data displayed across all visuals. The slicer to the left of the Operations matrix only filters the operations matrix, not the MYOP.
- Transit Plan – Filter the table by plan type or view all plans at once.
- Sort By – Choose how to order the list of operating projects by type or by organization
- Fiscal Year – Select the year of operations data you want to analyze.
Shows budgeted vs. actual spending for each operating category. Use this section to track projects and compare planned spending to actual spending within a single fiscal year.
This table displays projected operating costs across multiple future fiscal years. Shows expected funding needs for each operating category from the current fiscal year through FY40. Allows you to see how operating commitments grow or shift over time.
Capital Projects / Capital Improvement Plan
This section provides insight into both historical capital spending and long‑range capital allocations across the transit plans.
Use the slicer and toggle at the top of the page to refine the data displayed across all visuals. The slicer to the left of the Operations matrix only filters the operations matrix, not the MYOP.
- Transit Plan – Filter the table by plan type or view all plans at once.
- Sort By – Choose how to order the list of operating projects by type or by organization
- Fiscal Year – Select the year of operations data you want to analyze.
This table summarizes all capital appropriations and expenditures from 2018 to date.
- Total Appropriated – The cumulative amount of funding authorized for each capital project type.
- Total Expended – The amount spent so far within each category.
- Percent Spent – Shows the share of appropriated funds that have been used.
This section helps you understand spending progress for areas such as Transit Infrastructure, Bus Rapid Transit, Capital Planning, and Commuter Rail.
This table displays long‑range capital funding allocations across future fiscal years. Shows planned capital investments for each project through FY40. Useful for examining upcoming capital commitments, project timing, and long‑term funding needs.
FAQs
A “Tax District” was created by the North Carolina General Assembly to levy, after voter ballot referendum approval, a Half-Cent Sales and Use Tax for Public Transportation (North Carolina General Statutes 105-509). The statute assigned the Regional Public Transit Authority (GoTriangle) to collect and administer this tax revenue.
- On Nov 6, 2016, 52.65% of Wake County voters approved it.
- On Nov 6, 2012, 58.88% of Orange County voters approved it.
- On Nov 8, 2011, 60.14% of Durham County voters approved it.
In addition to the Half-Cent Sales Tax, each Board of County Commissioners approved and authorized the Department of Motor Vehicles to levy a $7.00 County Vehicle Registration Tax and a $3.00 Regional Transit Authority (GoTriangle) Registration Tax. The County Commissioners assigned the Regional Public Transit Authority (GoTriangle) Tax District to collect and administer these two taxes.
There are 25 stakeholder agencies — including staff from 3 counties, 17 municipalities, 2 Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Research Triangle Foundation, North Carolina State University, and GoTriangle — that meet monthly to work collaboratively and vote on the best uses for the Transit Tax revenues. These stakeholders decide on both long-term Vision Plans and Annual Work Plans that are in the best interest of regional transit.
Each transit plan's tax revenue is invested according to each long-range Vision Plan, like Wake County's 2035 Wake Transit Plan, a roughly $3 billion, 10-year investment strategy, and then carried out year by year through that county's Annual Work Plan or Work Program (the Wake Transit Work Plan, the Durham Transit Work Program, and the Orange Transit Work Program). Together, these plans guide investment across four broad areas:
- Expanding and improving bus service — adding new routes, increasing frequency, extending service hours, and building out higher-capacity options like Bus Rapid Transit and regional transit options across all three counties.
- Building and upgrading transit infrastructure — capital projects such as the Raleigh Union Station Bus Facility, renovation of the Downtown Durham Bus Facility, new transit centers, park-and-ride lots, and accessibility upgrades to bus stops throughout the region.
- Growing and modernizing the vehicle fleet — purchasing new buses, vans, and support vehicles, and replacing aging fleet to keep service reliable.
- Supporting the people who deliver the service — funding staff across the region, including bus drivers, maintenance crews, transit planners, and administrative personnel who plan, operate, and report on these investments.
Ultimately, these investments are aimed at making it easier for residents throughout the Triangle to get to jobs, education, healthcare, and other opportunities - connecting communities within each county and linking Wake, Durham, and Orange counties together as one regional transit network.
GoTriangle plays two distinct roles in the region's transit system. Transit Operations is the delivery side — it runs the regional bus service that riders see every day. Tax District Administration (TDA) is the stewardship side — it safeguards and manages the tax revenue that funds transit across Wake, Durham, and Orange counties. In plain terms: Transit Operations puts the money to work on service; TDA makes sure that money is properly accounted for and spent only on what was approved.
Across the region, TDA functions as the single grantor for all three Annual Work Plans— it holds and distributes Wake, Durham and Orange Transit Plan dollars on behalf of every partner involved. Every other agency delivering transit service or building transit infrastructure — GoTriangle's own Transit Operations division, the cities and counties, and the other transit operators across the three counties — sits on the grantee side: each receives funding for its portion of the work, spends it on approved projects, and reports back to TDA. That single-grantor structure is what lets TDA track the same dollar consistently no matter which of the 25+ partner agencies ultimately spends it.
For Wake Transit specifically, this group operates as the Transit Planning Advisory Committee, or TPAC. Durham and Orange each have their own version, called a Staff Working Group (SWG). These committees review and recommend the Work Plan, but none of them have final sign-off — every plan still has to go to that county's governing boards for approval before any money moves. For Wake, that's the CAMPO Executive Board and the GoTriangle Board of Trustees; for Durham and Orange, it's their respective County Board of Commissioners along with the GoTriangle Board of Trustees.
What's the step-by-step process for approving an Annual Work Plan?
It follows seven steps each year:
Partner agencies submit project requests.
- The lead agency consolidates them into a draft plan.
- The committee (TPAC or SWG) reviews it.
- The governing boards approve it, with a public comment period.
- A formal funding agreement is signed for each project.
- The project sponsor implements the work.
- The lead agency/Tax District reports back on progress.
There's also a quarterly process for smaller mid-year amendments, so plans aren't locked in for a full 12 months if priorities shift.
No. Once collected, the revenue is legally segregated and can only be spent on the approved Transit Plan for that county, in accordance with its adopted Financial Plan. The revenue sources carry their own added restrictions in that the Half-Cent Sales Tax and the regional vehicle registration fee must supplement and not supplant or replace existing transit funding.
GoTriangle presents audited financial statements annually, along with quarterly (non-GAAP) financial reports and quarterly project status updates to the TPAC and SWG. Each tax district's finances are reported separately from GoTriangle's other funds, so Wake, Durham, and Orange transit plan dollars can each be traced independently. Tax District Administration also created this dashboard to give partners and the public that same transparency and historical context in an ongoing, accessible way.
Every project needs a signed Capital Funding Agreement or Operating Agreement before any money is released. These agreements spell out the project scope, timeline, budget by year, reporting requirements and what happens if the project doesn't move forward as planned.