By David Fleet
Editor
Groveland Twp. — Michigan Sen. Ruth Johnson, (R-Groveland Twp.) says the upcoming Oakland County Public Transportation Millage vote on the Nov. 8 ballot “will strip local control.”
Johnson is just one of several state and local leaders who will address the public in a “truth about transit” town hall meeting during the last week of October. A date and time will soon be announced.
“The public transit millage before Oakland County voters is a huge property tax expansion which would raise double the current budget for SMART in Oakland County,” said Johnson, who represents Atlas, Brandon and Groveland townships within The Citizen readership area.
At issue is a transportation proposal that if approved, would authorize Oakland County to levy .95 mills for 10 years, $95 per $100,000 of taxable value, for the purpose of funding public transportation services. It would replace an expiring millage levied by the OCPTA that supports the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) and fund replacement of other local public transportation millage.
If approved and levied, the revenue would be distributed to Oakland County, SMART, the North Oakland Transportation Authority, and the Older Persons’ Commission and the Western Oakland Transportation Authority. Expenditures would be subject to oversight by the Oakland County Board of Commissioners.
“This proposal strips local control,” she said. “Working on this issue many years ago as a County Commissioner we reached a fair compromise that communities could chose if they wanted to participate in SMART line haul services. The millage before voters would take away this right by imposing a county-wide millage, even in areas with little or no services provided in exchange.”
Don’t believe the scare tactics and misleading ads, the county has the funding, and a resolution has already been drafted to protect existing bus services, she added.
“Ridership on SMART buses in 2021 was a third of what it was in 2008. Rider fares pay for only 1.1 percent of SMART’s budget. It does not make sense to double taxes to support far fewer services being provided,” she said.
Neil Greenberg, Oakland County Transit advisor explained the need for the transportation ballot proposal. On Oct. 11, Greenberg attended the Groveland Township Board of Trustee meeting
“Currently, 582,176 county residents are in areas without transit open to the general public, of which 62,584 are over the age of 65 years old,” said Greenberg. “The key goals of the plan are access, connection and independence. If approved, there will be a constant community engagement with all 62 cities, villages and townships in the county.”
More than 30 percent of the funding would be used to expand the current service, he said.
The new options in non-urban areas like Groveland, would be community-based and micro-transit service; point-to-point using small vehicles; one -seat ride within designated zones and transfers for longer trips.
Groveland Township Supervisor Bob DePalma responded to the proposal during the meeting.
“We are going to be taxed, a new tax for $252,000 per year out of my pocket and everyone that lives out here’s pocket for a system that we might be able to get something out of in about four years. That was the best answer I could get.”
“There’s nothing on that proposal that any of our residents are going to get anything out of,” he said.