Royal Oak To Consider Road Repair Tax

If your constituents said they are willing to pay for fixing roads, what would you do?

The city of Royal Oak, Michigan, is considering a road tax to repair some of its 200+ miles of roads. Why? Because the roads there are in desperate need of repair and when asked in a recent city-wide survey if residents would support a modest tax increase dedicated to maintain and reconstruct local roads, the response was "yes". To be exact, 57% yes. So, City Manager Don Johnson, in a letter to city commissioners, recommended a ballot proposal asking voters to approve a 2.5-mills tax hike for roads for a period of 10 years. Good for you Mr. Johnson. You are doing you job admirably. And so it looks like a tax proposal will be on the ballot in Royal Oak for the people to decide.

|The city manager (of Royal Oak) said he doesn’t expect the state Legislature to offer any relief for local road funding.|

What about Michigan roads? When a poll commissioned by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce showed Michigan motorists are willing to pay the price of fixing the state’s crumbling roads, it seemed like a 'no brainer' for Lansing lawmakers. Right. Did I say 'no brainer' and Lansing lawmakers in the same sentence? Well you get my drift don't you? In spite of what the people in Michigan said they wanted the hired help in Lansing to do, nothing was done. No vote on road taxes, no roads repaired and a multi-billion road repair situation unaddressed and getting worse every day.

Well good for you Royal Oak by choosing to take matters into your own hands and asking voters in November to support a 10-year tax increase of 2.5 mills to repair the rough road terrain around Royal Oak. Let the voters do what Lansing will not do for you. And just a suggestion: How about the following sign...

 

Hey Lansing - Get It?

Look, doing your job is not always easy, just ask any parent etc. Even the question of raising money to fix Michigan roads is hard to raise. But if Royal Oak has the balls to raise the question and put it to voters, why can't our employees in Lansing do it? Guess they are just afraid of the voters. Wait 'till we fire them in November. Just say'n.


Drive Careful,
Will