Washtenaw County Road Commission considers tax to pay for roadwork
Following a Tuesday morning work session, the Washtenaw County Road Commission today will vote on whether to seek a countywide 0.6 mill tax levy for road and bridge improvements throughout the county.
County road engineer Roy Townsend unveiled a plan that would raise $8.7 million in the first year and be used for projects such as 30 miles of seal coating, 20 miles of paving, 2 and a half miles of gravel road improvements as well as bridge and culvert projects.
If approved by the road commission, the plan would move to the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners for discussion as early as next month.
The meeting begins at 1 p.m. at the Road Commission boardroom, 555 N. Zeeb Road in Scio Township. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Comments
mojo
Wed, Aug 24, 2011 : 2:22 p.m.
Some one at the AAnews should review the last audit of the Road Commission to find out exactly what Wa$tenaw County pays per mile of maintenance and per mile of road in total - - and then compare that to other counties and other standards for road construction.
Dog Guy
Wed, Aug 17, 2011 : 4:50 a.m.
What's orange and sleeps three? . . . A Washtenaw County Road Commission Truck.
free
Wed, Aug 17, 2011 : 1:01 a.m.
Somebody figured out that this law from 1909 that hasn't been used since 1970 could still be used because the Headlee Amendment didn't apply. One tax loophole for the bad guys I guess.
TinyArtist
Wed, Aug 17, 2011 : 12:36 a.m.
Alas -- if you want it, you have to pay for it.
swcornell
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 9:13 p.m.
I thought the huge taxes paid for with our gasoline purchases were used for road repair? How is the government using those taxes if not for road repair?
outdoor6709
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 9:08 p.m.
2 1/2 miles of gravel road improvement? I would have to assume someone politically connected lives on a dirt road.
Gizmo
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 8:24 p.m.
So now we need to increase our property taxes to repair the roads? Isn't that what the 40.8 cents per gallon in state taxes we're paying at the pump is for? I thought the whole idea behind the fuel tax was that it put the burden of maintaining the roadways on those who were actually using the infrastructure.
breadman
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 8:10 p.m.
Michigan needs to add two more accounts for road repairs!!! 1) mother nature of snow.. 2) mother nature of rain.... Reminder of all the rain in the pass and snow from winter the freeze and thaws screws up the roads... And now the tax payers did not pay enough for the pass repairs need now!!! Good job just in time for winter again.......
DAN
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 8:09 p.m.
What would the millage cost the average homeowner?
Ignatz
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 8:01 p.m.
Seems obvious to me that more money is needed for the roads. Hopefully the specs can be increased so the roads will last a bit longer. There's waste in any human endevour and so those voids must be filled, as well. To cast aspursions on those who do the work is not fair, unless one has bothered to pull to the side of the road and ask the 4/5 of the work force present just why they are standing. Maybe they're taking a break or maybe they're waiting for someone to finish up so their phase of the work can start. I've gone by plenty of projects where everyone is busting it in the 95 degree sun.
Cash
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 7:47 p.m.
So funny how we can only deal with what we SEE....do you think the legislature in Lansing works all day with no breaks, no chats, no long martini lunches? REALLY? Do you think A2 city execs don't break? don't have "executive meetings with food and drink"? Do you think that county commissioners and the road commissioners don't take breaks, don't talk to each other, don't take martini lunches? Good grief. Let a blue collar worker take a break or have a cup of coffee or take a lunch and he's a good-for-nothing and time waster? Blue collar workers aren't costing you nearly what the time wasters in Ann Arbor, Lansing and Washington DC are.
Mike
Wed, Aug 17, 2011 : 10:28 p.m.
I don't agree with Cash on many things but most of the people standing around are required inspectors and bureaucrats not workers. I speak from many years of experience. There are some union work rules that pay guys to stand around but that is also tied to laws such as davis-bacon requiring this type of behavior. Contractors have no choice as as long as taxpayers remain uninformed and don't even know the laws and their costs to society roads and government services in general will be over priced and inefficient. If the government got out of the way and let the private sector loose the public would get more roads for it's dollars.
cinnabar7071
Wed, Aug 17, 2011 : 11:08 a.m.
Cash you're going to defend these workers by comparing them to congress? This country is so screwed!
Cash
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 11:45 p.m.
How many people do you see working in congress??? How many weeks per year do they work for their money? Compare the salaries.....think about it. You don't know what those 5 guys might have just done or be doing two minutes after you pass them. You can't make a accurate judgement based on a drive-by.
cinnabar7071
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 9:14 p.m.
Cash all I asking for is to see people working, breaks are fine. But 9 out of 10 times I drive past a project only 1 guy is working while no less then 5 people watch. Whats up with that? No way in heck is it break time everytime I pass. Anybody else see the same thing as me.
Bertha Venation
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 8:45 p.m.
Good point, Cash!
AESeaman
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 7:39 p.m.
First let the road commission get it's benefits in order. Employees pay nothing for their health care, have no copay on prescriptions, and have a defined benefit (pension) plan with a 2.25 multiplier. This means an employee with 30 years service can retire with 67.5% of their salary. Not a dime in taxes until they get these legacy costs under control.
bctoo
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 7:31 p.m.
I too would be willing to pay more but would like assurance that roads are being built to quality standards. In traveling to several other nearby states their roads seem *much* better in quality than ours do. My conclusion is that the Michigan pavement standards are subpar, that the construction inspection and approval process is lacking, or that there is graft ingrained in the Michigan pavement contracting process or a combination thereof... time to make all of this transparent to the public. Ann Arbor.com would be a great place to start that process.
Mike
Wed, Aug 17, 2011 : 10:23 p.m.
How muchh are you willing to pay the contractor for the guarantee? That solution will get you even less for yopur road money on top of all of the bureaucratic red tape costs.
A2comments
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 7:43 p.m.
I think you're correct. And we don't hold the contractor responsible to guarantee their work for some period.
Terry Star21
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 7:25 p.m.
@ a2huron, your joking right ? You really think paying more taxes will get more repair of the roads. The more money will go to higher administrative wages, in house utilities and bills, equipment etc. in addition to adding a couple other supervisors standing and drinking coffee with four others while one contractor works. Come on, they can't even make a dent in roadwork now with the high taxes we already pay - let's get serious here. Bring back Bob and Earl, eliminate 65% of the administration that sits all day doing nothing and we'll have the best roads in Michigan.
thinker
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 7:20 p.m.
Michigan's roads are so much worse than adjoining states because we have a much larger load limit that those huge 18 or 36-wheelers can carry on Michigan roads than other states do. Get the state to change the Michigan load limits first, then it would make sense to repair the roads. Why repair them, to have the huge 18-wheelers tear them down again? I doubt their diesel tax load is high enough to pay for the damage they cause.
Mike
Wed, Aug 17, 2011 : 10:22 p.m.
I pay over $2500 for a license plate on a dump truck that eats up fuel at the rate of $1.00/mile. I drive minimally so the road taxes are way out of line as far as I am concerned. There are many larger trucks out there on the roads so just multiply the number of trucks by that kind of road tax/plate and you can see why prices for everything are going up. There are also seasonal load restrictions placed on many roads with huge fines attached to keep the roads from getting damaged. The roads without load limits are designed to handle the weight
zip the cat
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 7:20 p.m.
And while I am at it least not forget the guy in the new gray chevy pickup with the county roads sticker on the door dropping off his video at the video store last month. I wasent aware of the county owning a video store.
applehazar
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 7:11 p.m.
Fine - but who makes sure the money is put to the intended use? no one - how about this - no taxes - come door to door and ask for donations
zip the cat
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 7:11 p.m.
When they QUIT letting all the big shooters drive all those pickups home on taxpayers dime and stop having 3-5 people setting in there trucks all day at county run projects. Then and only then will I even consider paying more
M1687
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 9:18 p.m.
I agree with you Zip. We need a time study done. Freedom Township is already paying for a road millage that was passed last year. Now they want more?
81wolverine
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 6:58 p.m.
The reality is that the roads are not going to be fixed unless someone (us, the County, the State, or Federal government) comes up with the money. And with falling property tax revenue and declining budgets, the County doesn't have the money IMO. But before I'd be in favor of paying more, I'd want to see the state bureaucrats fund the roads appropriately instead of underfunding like they've done for years and years. That's why the roads are in such horrible shape. Lansing politicians have continually shirked their responsibility to come up with a logical way to fund the minimum level of road budget that would keep our roads driveable. Instead, Michigan has an embarrassment of a road system that is a butt of jokes around the country. The Feds aren't innocent either. Too little money is being invested in infrastructure, and way too much into foreign wars that we can't afford, interest on debt we owe to foreign countries, entitlement fraud, etc.
Mike
Wed, Aug 17, 2011 : 10:16 p.m.
Become a right to work state and you'll get more miles of road for your tax dollars.
Forever27
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 6:40 p.m.
A lot of these road repairs could be avoided if we would just PLOW THE DANG SNOW in the winter.
kozykat
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 6:28 p.m.
I would pay more to have nice roads, the problem is the money we give for the roads does not end up there. How about making those that pave the roads be responsible for their work? It would be nice to see the roads repaved so my house doesn't shake when the cars go by and run over all the patch work that has been done for the past 3 years. Also, let's train those that grade the roads and plow the snow in the winter so they know what they are doing. They place those plows so close to the pavement, that they themselves tear up the roads. I know, you are going to say they need to or there will be more accidents. All you have to do is learn how to drive in the snow. If we keep doing as we are doing, we will never learn.
cinnabar7071
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 6:19 p.m.
When I drive around town and see road work being done, its still one guy working and at least 5 standing around. When I no longer see waste I'll think about a new tax, until then live with what you got!
Mike
Wed, Aug 17, 2011 : 10:14 p.m.
The guys standing around are testing technicicians, supervisors, grading inspectors, EPA inspectors, utility employees, OSHA inspectors, and yes of course there are a few guys working. People just don't seem to get it that all of the rules and regulations required to build ANYTHING require a lot of bureaucrats with an average wage and benefit package that would blow away what the people who pay them get. Oh, and the workers get "prevailing" wage i.e. union scale even if most peopel really don't get paid that much to do the same job.
cinnabar7071
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 6:16 p.m.
grimmk do you really believe if you give them more money the roads would get fixed? I used to feel this way about the schools system only to have pay for private school for my kid.
grimmk
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 6:06 p.m.
I'm sorry, but yes, I'd be willing to shell out a bit more tax money to get the roads fixed. It'll save my car in the long run and thus lower the chances of some major problems that will cost me $$$$. I'm sick of seeing Carpenter between Washtenaw and Packard just patched over. That creates MORE bumps. If Rome can make roads that lasted, surely we can too. And before you say, They didn't have ice or tractor trailers, shush. They made roads to fit their needs and to compensate for weather. We have computers and more engineering knowledge. Yet we still can't make a material or a road to fit our needs.
Bertha Venation
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 8:41 p.m.
and Dexter Ave. between Huron and Maple is a real mess!
a2huron
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 5:40 p.m.
I actually think this makes some sense. Our roads are trashed and we can't expect an extra dime from the state or the feds. At some point we as a county need to take care of it ourselves. That or start riding horseback.
Townie
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 5:37 p.m.
Just a heads up folks -- this is 'trickle down economics' at work. The state (Rick and his friends) that it no longer wants to pay for things that it paid for in the past so it's just cut that funding and told the counties, towns, etc. to become more 'efficient' (e.g. cut at your end too). Of course the $1.7 billion given to businesses so they will 'create' jobs (with zero accountability or any tracking of any job creation) is coming out of our roads, schools, etc. Nice that Rick could pass the job of delivering the bad news to the locals. But then again Rick's got that helicopter...
L. C. Burgundy
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 9:13 p.m.
Oh, and the first budget Snyder had any say in doesn't take effect for another month and a half, so to the extent there has been any shortfall up to that point, it's literally nonsensical to lay it on Rick's doorstep.
L. C. Burgundy
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 9:10 p.m.
The county road commission's money woes go back several years now. Snyder has little or nothing to do with it. Of course, hammer, nail, etc.
average joe
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 5:42 p.m.
So is this the first time the county has tried this? This is ALL because of Snyder?
cinnabar7071
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 5:26 p.m.
LOL! They want more money? Whoa this is starting to amuse me.
Bertha Venation
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 8:39 p.m.
Ya? Well it's starting to scare me!
bruceae
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 5:22 p.m.
Could we put this milage, the school computer milage and other milages these out of touch elected officals come up with all in one proposal so we can just vote NO once. Everybody wants their little piece of the action but the problem is all of these together add up to a lot of money people just don't have.
free
Wed, Aug 17, 2011 : 12:57 a.m.
You don't get to vote on this one. Fiat by decree. So let it be written, so let it be done.
Alan Goldsmith
Tue, Aug 16, 2011 : 4:51 p.m.
When Conan Smith pays what he owes the taxpayers, I'll think about it.