Oakland County commissioners OK countywide transit millage for ballot
Debate was heated at times Wednesday, but after almost three hours, Oakland County commissioners opted to place a countywide transit millage on the ballot on Nov. 8 by a 13-7 vote.
Now voters will have the final say on a 10-year millage expected to raise $66.2 million in its first year.
The measure would fund current transit operations for the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation along with the North Oakland and West Oakland transportation authorities and the Older Persons' Commission Transportation and add $20.4 million for new services, according to information from county documents.
An attempt to insert an opt-out provision for communities failed, meaning that if voters approve the millage, taxpayers across the county will fund it, unlike the current system that supports SMART.
Although the approval was expected, that did not dampen the intensity of the debate as speaker after speaker from across the county rose to share their stories, sometimes in spite of repeated interruptions from others in the audience.
Concerns about the burden of the 0.95-mill measure on taxpayers shared a platform with those who said they can’t afford to drive or aren’t able to do so and need public transit.
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Many of those in opposition said the rural parts of the county wouldn’t benefit enough from the millage to justify the expense, while others in support described the challenges of a public transportation system that needs to go more places more frequently. One man described a three-hour bus trip just to get to the meeting.
Arguments in favor spoke to the benefits of having transit options beyond personal vehicles and ensuring access to jobs in the midst of a worker shortage, along with worries about global warming. More standard arguments against public transportation, that it doesn’t pay for itself or that not enough people use it, also shared space with worries about globalism and the World Economic Forum.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Oakland County voters to decide transit millage fate
