Published: July 03, 2009 07:20 am      

East Bay, Acme to discuss road tax

Townships looking to voters for millage

TRAVERSE CITY -- Two area townships won't wait for Grand Traverse County to decide if it needs a road millage to fix its crumbling infrastructure.

East Bay and Acme townships will consider asking voters in November to support a property tax for road maintenance. Discussions were prompted by a citizens group that was formed to fix Holiday Road.

"I don't want to pay higher taxes," said Ron Hardin, an Acme Township trustee. "But I also don't like potholes that wreck my car and driving down paved roads that are crumbling and going backwards into gravel."

The citizens group formed in the expansive Holiday Hills area and quickly changed from Fix Holiday Road Committee to Fix Our Roads Committee. The group recently polled 171 residents outside two township stores to gauge support for a millage.

"We had 71 percent of the people say 'yes,'" said committee representative Danna Widmar. "There are a lot of people that are really hopeful that we can do something to fix the roads."

The group also lobbied the townships to rate the roads so residents know what they can expect from a road millage.

East Bay continues to work on its ranking, but Acme Township's board will review a ranking complied by township Manager Sharon Vreeland when it meets July 7 at 6:30 p.m.

Collector roads that serve several subdivisions received priority listings and were ranked based on their average road condition, as determined by the county road commission, Vreeland said.

Holiday Road topped Vreeland's what-to-fix-first list with a 3.2 on a one-to-10 scale, with 10 representing a new road.

Bunker Hill, Brackett, Greenwood, Bartlett, and Lautner roads came next.

"These are the roads you have a reasonable chance everyone in the community will get some benefit from," Vreeland said.

The county road commission also wants voters to consider a countywide road millage in 2010.

Both groups are looking at 1-mill levies, a tax that would cost the owner of a home with a $75,000 taxable value $75 a year.

Residents could net more control with a township millage, said East Bay Supervisor Glen Lile.

"I don't have a problem with putting a township millage on the ballot," Lile said.

The Fix Our Roads Committee proposes the townships rescind the local ordinance if voters approve a countywide millage in 2010, and is researching how that would work, Widmar said.

Widmar said group members plan to formally ask both townships to approve a ballot question in August.