Transit or Road Improvements

[eastland]

Would Tri-County taxpayers pick public transit or road improvements if they had a choice on how to spend a $100 annual millage they were assessed?

[professorscott]

Would Tri-County taxpayers pick public transit or road improvements if they had a choice on how to spend a $100 annual millage they were assessed?

I love softballs! Here's the correct answer: some would pick one and some would pick the other.

I would pick, assess me $200 and work on both. But that's just me.

[archfan]

C. Their heads would explode at the thought of paying additional taxes for any reason whatsoever.

This has been the driving force behind Michigan politics for 20 years.

[sirrealone]

I think the sole reason that we have this 'no raising taxes' mentality is because the last two times taxes were hiked in this state, things didn't get better. Blanchard and Granholm both signed huge tax hikes, and yet we still fell behind in infrastructure, employment, and other key areas during their tenure.

I'm conservative, but I will say that I would be delighted to pay more taxes IF they went to providing better and long lasting roads, more transportation options, and better schools for my kids. Had these things been delivered when promised in the past, I think many would be much less reluctant to accept new taxes.

[drjeff]

The infrastructure in Michigan went to hell during the Engler administration.

[sirrealone]

The infrastructure in Michigan went to hell during the Engler administration.

Gas taxes were raised in 1997, the midpoint of Engler's time as governor, and improvements to the roads were evident within a few years. By the mid-2000's the roads were actually in pretty good shape, but all the progress was undone when costs went up, people started leaving the state due to the early start to the recession, fuel economy went up, meaning that what was enough in the mid-90's was now only about half of what was needed to keep up the roads.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

I'm a conservative, too. And I am willing to pay more in taxes for both better roads and for more/better transit. My willingness to support such things is contingent upon a few things, though:

1) Separating the two. Roads and transit systems are different things with different requirements, time frames to build, costs to maintain, etc. We don't link buying library books to maintaining fire station equipment.

2) For both roads and transit, proposals need to be SPECIFIC about what they will fund. Vague dollar allocations will lead to waste and poor planning. Ask voters for XYZ dollars for a specific plan, in a specific time frame.

3) For transit projects, plan for operational funding after construction. Announce the amounts and sources of the subsidies all transit systems require.

If these steps are followed [[all responsible planning steps), I can fully get behind a tax hike for roads and transit. As a matter of personal preference, I would support a sales tax increase before I would support a millage.

[Warrenite84]

I would agree with paying a reasonable amount for transit and roads but not when the state government digs into the road funding for every other pet social program, or anything else.

If people vote for separate road and transit funding and the government cannot shuffle it around, I'm sure many more people would support it too. It's a matter of trust, really.

[ABetterDetroit]

The fundamental problem in this state is the complete and total opposition to NEW tax vehicles.

Nobody remembers the "Now they want to charge sales tax to online sales! They want to tax everything even what you buy on the internet! Can you believe it?!" How did that stupidity work out?

Thank God Amazon folded to suits in other states or the morons in Lansing would still be on that hill fighting that battle.

[wazootyman]

Based upon what's most visible right now, I'd suspect road improvements. That's where my head is at, anyhow.

I bought a new vehicle in December 2016. A few months into owning it, I replaced a tire and wheel [[insisted upon a factory new replacement) for > $1,000. Last month, I replaced the same tire [[blew out the sidewall) and had to pay for a tow. Another $300 gone.

In both cases, the cause was clearly the impact from hitting a pothole.

I've generally leaned towards the conservative side [[fiscally, anyway), but I can tell you I was bad-mouthing every tax-cutting politician alive in both cases. If there was any sort of guarantee that it would make a meaningful difference, I'd happy pay $100+ right now to improve the roads. It'd be cheaper than replacing yet another tire and/or wheel, that's for sure.

I live in Livonia, and I saw the other day that Wayne County has only one [[relatively small) project planned within city limits this year. That's a disgrace - there are so many roads [[maintained by the county) that desperately need attention. I know a similar situation exists in other counties, states, and heck, the nation. Our continued neglect of infrastructure really gets me fired up.

[Junjie]

Would Tri-County taxpayers pick public transit or road improvements if they had a choice on how to spend a $100 annual millage they were assessed?

whynotboth.gif

That's how other regions do it. Seattle, LA, etc. Package transportation together as one thing, since cars can't do what transit can [[serve high-density urban areas without destroying them for parking) and transit can't do what cars can [[provide on demand personal mobility to any point in the region).

But since Michigan and metro Detroit continually set up a false choice of "roads or transit," they will only ever get roads [[if that).