County-wide road millage renewal successful

LAWRENCE – The county-wide Road Millage renewal was successfully passed by voters in Van Buren County at Tuesday’s Aug. 6 Primary Election. The vote represented a renewal of a previous millage, not a request for additional revenue. The renewal will be in effect for another four years.
“A big thank you to the community and families for supporting this important millage,” said Road Commission Managing Director, Bret Witkowski. “The funds have been and will continue to be a very important part of the road improvement program in Van Buren County.”
One hundred percent of revenues generated by the county-wide Road Millage will be invested in the road network in Van Buren County ensuring that the benefits are felt directly by the motoring public. These dedicated funds will only be spent on actual road improvements, and not on equipment, building improvements, or routine maintenance activities such as pothole patching, roadside mowing or snow plowing.
Witkowski added, “Passing the millage renewal was critical to ensure that the Road Commission can continue to provide a safe and reliable transportation system. We will continue to utilize established principles to develop our annual Road Plan: Pavement and Surface Evaluation Rating (PASER) and Inventory Based Rating (IBR), traffic counts, connectivity routes, and available funding and budget to prioritize project selections.”
For information about the millage, current and future projects, maintenance operations, and more, visit the Road Commission’s website at www.vbcrc.org or call 269-674-8011.
According to a press release from the County Road Association, “an extraordinary number of road millages appeared on the ballot (Tuesday, Aug. 6) perhaps a testament to local communities feeling the pressure of increased construction costs amid deteriorating roads and state funds that are not keeping up.” Voters in local elections across Michigan expressed support for road millages during the August Primary Election by passing 97 percent of road millage renewals and 78 percent of road millage increases on the ballot, according to data provided by Lansing-based Gongwer News Service.
“Michigan residents made it clear that better roads are a priority for their communities,” said Denise Donohue, CEO of the County Road Association (CRA) of Michigan. “Especially at this time – with less gas being sold over the last 25 years due to vehicle fuel efficiency – county road agencies appreciate voters showing their support for roads at the ballot box.”
Total road millage renewals on the ballot were 172 and total road millage increases 68, the most road-related millages in one election in Michigan since CRA began tracking this information in 2016. A total of 61 millages were restorations due to the Headlee Amendment.
Those numbers include countywide road millage renewals or increases in Allegan, Arenac, Charlevoix, Crawford, Huron, Kalkaska, Keweenaw, Leelanau, Menominee, Midland, Montmorency, Ottawa, Saginaw, St. Clair, St. Joseph, Van Buren and Washtenaw counties. Across the state, 100 percent of countywide millages passed.
All election results, including millages, are unofficial until certified by the State Bureau of Elections.
The 83 members of the County Road Association of Michigan represent the unified voice for a safe and efficient county transportation infrastructure system in Michigan, including appropriate stewardship of the public’s right-of-way in rural and urban Michigan. Collectively, Michigan’s county road agencies manage 75 percent of all roads in the state, including 90,500 miles of roads and 5,900 bridges. County road agencies also maintain the state’s highway system in 63 counties. Michigan has the nation’s fourth-largest local road system.