Oakland County pushes back on Wayne County's new transit plan

DETROIT, MI — Wayne County Executive Warren Evans has announced his plans for a new, multi-county transit plan called “Connect Southeast Michigan” and Oakland County officials are pushing back on the idea. The plan would levy a 1.5 mill tax on all residents of Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties after a similar regional transit plan failed before voters in 2016. Seeking this new route is seen as “betrayal” to some, like Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, who spoke out against taxing his communities for regional transit and calling it leadership.

Oakland County released a statement on the new plan, calling it “nothing more than the plan voters rejected in November 2016.”

“It’s a pie-in-the-sky proposal that allows the RTA to reach deep into the pockets of Oakland County taxpayers who will pay 40% of the regional transit tab but receive far less than 40% of the regional transit services in return,” the statement said. “Oakland County taxpayers already contribute the most funding to SMART bus … Detroit has paid nothing into SMART yet still receives some services.”

According to Oakland County, taxpayers have paid $352 million to support public transit provided by SMART since voters approved the first millage 21 years ago, which is $37 million more than Macomb County and $107 million more than Wayne County.

Patterson has his own proposal, modeled off other regions’ transportation systems, like Denver, Portland and Seattle. If approved by voters, it would raise $1.2 billion over 20 years from the 24 Oakland County communities that have opted in to the Act 196 taxing authority supporting SMART bus. In this model, taxpayers in those cities vote on the plan only in those areas that will receive services relatively commensurate with their tax payments. Detroit, along with Wayne and Washtenaw counties, rejected Patterson’s proposal.

Read more on Patterson’s proposal here.

The Connect Southeast Michigan plan would raise $5.4 billion over a 20-year period to fund expanding regional transit service, including a proposed 15 bus routes with 15-minute rush-hour frequency, expanding commuter rail service between Detroit and Ann Arbor, and connecting the airport with the four counties in the area. Read more about the new plan's features here.

Read Evans’ full transit plan here.

Since the average house in the Regional Transit Authority region is worth $157,504, it would cost the average homeowner about $118 a year, or less than $10 per month, WDIV reported. If the RTA adopts the plan, it will go before voters this year.

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