Voters Will Decide Fate of Transportation Tax Hike

METRO DETROIT, MI — In the Nov. 8 election, voters in Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne counties will vote on a tax that would fund new transportation between the four counties.

The Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan is seeking funding to implement various transportation services in and between these counties. The services would be designed to supplement current bus service.

The initiative, which was added to the ballot in August, is facing some opposition.

When you walk into the voting booth, this is the language you will see on your ballot.

According to the Regional Master Transit Plan, new transportation efforts would include:

• Regional Rail: rail lines intended to connect riders to and from work.
• Bus Rapid Transit: busses operating in key regional areas. They're essentially busses with added benefits like transit signal priority, limited stops and bus-only lanes.
• Commuter Express: weekday rush-hour busses connecting workers to employment centers.
• Cross-County Connectors: "regional bus services which will allow people to easily travel through the region." Unlike Bus Rapid Transit, these busses travel in mixed traffic and would be "more reliable than local bus service."
• Airport Express: busses connecting residents to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
• Streetcar: a modern, hybrid-electrified rail service connecting downtown Detroit, Midtown and New Center

The tax increase would also fund special transportation services for disabled citizens.

Cost
Property taxpayers in the four counties will pay $1.20 per every $1,000 of taxable value for 20 years beginning in 2016 and ending in 2035. If your house has a taxable value of $100,000, you'll pay $120 extra per year in property taxes. The opposition, led by the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance and Wayne County Tax Payers Association, has posted a tax calculator on their website.

Rationale
"Until 2012 Southeast Michigan lacked a central agency to coordinate transit throughout the region." the introduction to the plan says.
Following various outreach and engagement efforts, the RTA identified suggested areas to improve transportation and created the plans outlined in the proposal to do so.

The proposal faced initial backlash in late July from Oakland and Macomb county's executives Brooks Patterson and Mark Hackel, respectively, according to Michigan Public Radio. Both were concerned about taxes from their counties disproportionately helping counties that aren't their own.

“I cannot in good conscience support the current plan which spends over $1.3 billion of Oakland County taxpayers’ dollars over 20 years but only gives our businesses, workforce, and residents a fraction of that back in transit services,” Patterson said.

However, following a meeting discussing the controversy, a compromise was reached and the Southeast Michigan Regional Transit Authority board unanimously approved the proposal.

"I am satisfied that the accord we reached today not only offers something for our 40 communities and over half a million residents previously left out of the transit plan, but also incorporates the necessary protections we were seeking for Oakland County taxpayers," Patterson said in a statement.

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