TRAVERSE CITY -- The manager of Grand Traverse County's Road Commission wants property owners to chip in $4.2 million a year through a new tax to fix crumbling roads.
A county board committee heard a plan created by road commission Manager Mary Gillis that calls for a 10-year, 1 mill property tax levy. A citizens committee that Gillis formed endorsed the tax proposal, but it has yet to be reviewed by the road commission.
Gillis did not attend the county board meeting at which her plan was presented. She and another road commission employee are spending four days in Las Vegas at local taxpayer expense to attend a construction equipment exposition.
Taxpayer costs for that trip weren't immediately available.
County officials offered mixed reactions to a proposal that would cost a homeowner with a taxable value of $75,000 about $75 more a year in property taxes.
"There is no way in the economic climate you have right now you can ask people to pay more taxes," said county Commissioner Margaret Underwood. "I'm like a lot of people; I'm to a point where I can't pay any more taxes."
Commissioner Herb Lemcool said he "totally believes" the road commission needs more funding, but he's undecided if a millage is the best approach.
Lemcool said the federal government is considering a five cents per gallon increase in the gas tax, and the state is looking at a three cents a gallon bump.
"I think it may need to be a mixture of all three, but I have not made a decision yet," Lemcool said.
Traverse City would gain about $700,000 a year from the tax for its roads, said city Manager Richard Lewis.
"That would do a lot of pavement inside the city," Lewis said.
Unlike the city, the county road commission is completely funded by state and federal gas taxes that do not go up with the price of gasoline. Higher gas prices and more fuel efficient vehicles instead reduce gas tax revenues.
This year the state cut funding to county road commissions by 4 percent and projects another 4 percent reduction in 2009, road commission officials said.
Gillis in a letter to the county board said the likelihood of a state gas tax increase is "very slim."
"This state of affairs has led the road commission to the conclusion that pursuing local revenue is our only hope to maintain the current level of service and improve road conditions that are on the verge of complete deterioration," Gillis wrote.
Road board Chairman Walter "Jay" Hooper said the road commission has discussed the need for more local funding in general, but has not endorsed the new tax plan.
A recent survey of road conditions showed about 95 percent of all county primary and local roads are in fair-to-poor condition. A one mill levy for 10 years would boost 70 percent of county primary roads and 45 percent of local roads to good condition status, while the remainder would be in poor condition, the road commission reported.
"This is good information, but we have to take a hard look before we move forward," Hooper said. "This is not something we are going to rush into."
Print this story
E-mail this story
