SMART takes another shot at getting millage proposal on ballot in Macomb County

SMART is taking another shot at getting a millage proposal on Macomb County ballots in November with a revised proposal after the first one failed when it didn't get enough votes by county commissioners.

The revised proposal from the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation calls for a 0.95 millage rate, a reduction from the previously suggested 0.9615 millage rate, and a term of five years instead of four years (2022 through 2026).

If approved by Macomb County voters, the millage would raise about $31.1 million in the first year, according to information in a committee meeting packet Wednesday for county commissioners.

First, the proposal has to get seven affirmative votes from the committee Wednesday, then another seven affirmative votes by the full county board Thursday for the language to appear on the Nov. 8 ballot.

More: Questions swirl around SMART bus millage renewal in Macomb County despite board vote

More: Auburn Hills wants to leave SMART bus system — but judge's ruling becomes major hurdle

Macomb County voters have approved a millage to support SMART since 1995, though the last approval of 1 mill squeaked by in 2018 with just 39 votes out of almost 155,000 cast.

Even if a proposal makes its way to ballots countywide in Macomb, there are questions about whether voters there will pass it.

Last month, language for a renewal ballot proposal appeared to pass in a 6-5 commission vote. But the county's top attorney and clerk said it didn't because a majority of commissioners, not just those present at the meeting, would have needed to vote in favor.

Two commissioners — Democrats Mai Xiong of Warren and Antoinette Wallace of Mount Clemens — were absent from the June meeting and did not vote.

Xiong said in a recent Facebook post that she plans to vote yes to place the proposal on the ballot. Last month, she said she attended the senior executives in state and local government certificate program at Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, near Boston, where she inexpensively rode the subway. She said she did not have time to return for the prior board vote.

In her post, Xiong said she supports public transportation and as a college student took the SMART bus from Warren to downtown Detroit and back every day. She said that she believes voters should decide if a millage rate should be considered for SMART.

The county board has until Aug. 16 to approve language for the November ballot.

More: Advocate blasts U.S. pedestrian safety efforts, says 'no places' can be considered safe here

While SMART is proposing a slightly smaller millage than before, it will "look for improved efficiencies and productivity within the current system of services in order to adjust for the shortfall," spokesperson Beth Gibbons told the Free Press in an email Tuesday.

She said the suggested length of the proposed millage expanding from four years to five years "will allow for a one-year overlap of funding between millage votes."

SMART General Manager Dwight Ferrell told the Free Press in a statement after last month's vote that it was SMART's objective to work with the county board "and ensure the voters of Macomb County can have their voice heard on the future of transit.”

More: SMART bus system leader pledges new direction; millage renewal to be sought in November

County Board Chairman Don Brown said he is expecting all of the commissioners to attend both meetings this week. He said he was not surprised SMART came back with another proposal.

County Corporation Counsel John Schapka said under their board rules, the commissioners have the authority to consider an issue based on significant new information that was unknown to them when they took the other vote in June. That would be the new millage amount and new length of time for the millage.

SMART has not yet approached transportation officials in Wayne and Oakland counties about a millage. Unlike Macomb County, those counties have transportation authorities. Gibbons said those authorities are responsible for getting the millage placed on the ballot in communities in those counties.

Macomb County is the only county in metro Detroit that is “all in” on the SMART millage, and the recent split board vote highlights the challenges facing SMART in a region where the very concept of public transportation has become controversial, perhaps more so than in any other comparable metropolitan area in the country.

SMART provides bus and transportation services in communities in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties and operates the limited-stop, express FAST buses seen on Woodward, Gratiot and Michigan avenues that travel into and out of the heart of Detroit. The Detroit Department of Transportation provides transportation services in the city of Detroit.

SMART also coordinates with other transit services in the region, such as Richmond/Lenox Emergency Medical Services.

The EMS provides shuttle services for residents in 10 communities, including New Baltimore, New Haven and Macomb and Chesterfield townships. Macomb Township trustees, during a board meeting in June, voted to continue the township's transit service arrangement with Richmond/Lenox EMS.

The township earlier this year passed a resolution asking the county to provide individual communities with a SMART opt-out option. Township Treasurer Leon Drolet, a longtime critic of regional transit efforts, was among those who questioned the value of SMART service to the community. The resolution noted that township taxpayers paid more than $3.8 million in property taxes to SMART in 2021.

EMS Chief Jeff White said the arrangement with Macomb Township allows SMART to direct what are known as community and municipal credits toward local transit service.

The deal agreed to in June means about $224,000 from SMART, which is supported by the countywide millage that township property taxes help cover. It will pay for shuttle services this fiscal year for Macomb Township residents from their homes and back to medical appointments, jobs, grocery shopping and even Detroit Metro Airport. The shuttles don't charge users a fee, although users must live in the 10 communities.

More: Some people think of cheese when they think of southeast Michigan's public transportation

White noted that the airport shuttle is popular with those who have used it.

"People who use it once use it again,” White said, noting the benefits of not having to pay for parking at the airport. The airport shuttle does not operate around the clock, but it does include early-morning and late-night runs to accommodate a wider range of flight schedules, White said.

Shuttle users for all services are asked to schedule rides three days in advance at 844-666-5652 because of the demand.

White said the EMS shuttles currently operate with 11 vehicles total, about eight each day, and 15 drivers, but the organization is planning to add a bus for same-day service as early as mid-August.

More: SMART bus service's next leader ran Cincinnati's transit system

The shuttle service handles about 25,000 rides per year for all of the communities and is expected to provide about 6,000 rides for Macomb Township residents this year, White said.

He said the EMS also has provided other kinds of services when called upon. During a 90-day period in the winter and spring of 2021, the service provided transportation to accommodate 16,000 COVID-19 vaccinations for those who needed them, White said.

He said the SMART does more than provide the funding credits to the EMS, it also provides the vehicles. He said that even if communities want to pursue other options for transit service at this time, doing so would be a challenge because acquiring vehicles could take years.

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter. Contact Eric D. Lawrence: ericlawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to the Free Press.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Here is SMART's revised millage proposal for Macomb County ballot