Bill increases percent of state road funding to cities
LANSING, MI — State Rep. Andy Schor (D-Lansing) introduced a bill today that would direct more road funding towards Lansing and other cities in Michigan.
“Cities receive the smallest percentage of road funding dollars from the state formula, compared to counties and the Michigan Department of Transportation,” said Schor. “This lack of fairness in state investment is very evident in the deterioration of the roads that we drive on every day.”
Currently, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) receives 39.1 percent of the funding for repair and maintenance of state roads, county road commissions receive 39.1 percent of the funding, and cities and villages receive 21.8 percent. Rep. Schor’s House Bill 4492 would swap the MDOT and cities/villages percentages for five years for any additional money over the level set in 2017 state road funding and adjusted for inflation. Any increases in available funding above the rate of inflation would be subject to the funding percentage flip between state roads and cities/villages. This way state road funding would not decrease.
Schor continued, “City roads are in much worse condition than state roads, and cities don’t have the general fund dollars to address these needs due to revenue sharing cuts for the last 15 years totaling almost $7 billion less in our local budgets. We see the results of this underfunding as we drive city roads every day.”
Lansing resident, Chynessia Evans said that her first experience with a pothole was on March 11, 2014. Over three years later, she still keeps a copy handy to remind her of the damage the pothole caused not only to her car but to her pocket book. She also hit a pothole on January 24th and January 28th of this year.
Over the last 3 years, Evans has spent an excess of $700 in out of pocket expenses on new tires, alignments and wheel repairs after hitting potholes. She said while watching a news broadcast about the potholes, she decided to call the City of Lansing number to request for reimbursement.
Evans said, “I provided photos, the towing and tire replacement bill in hopes of receiving reimbursement of at least a portion of my expenses to the City of Lansing only to be denied. I was told that since there had been no previous reports in that area that they could not assist me. I strongly approve of the new bill being introduced by Representative Andy Schor. It will make life less frustrating for working families.”
“Numbers generated from the Michigan Transportation Asset Management Council dashboard support this showing that, of road miles also eligible for federal funding, 46 percent of city and village roads rate as in poor condition, while only 22 percent of state trunk line miles rate as poor.
“Changing the road funding formula for five years would give us a much needed temporary boost to help fix our city roads, which we need to attract and retain both residents and businesses,” said Rep. Schor.
You can report a pothole to the City of Lansing at 517-483-4161. According to the City of Lansing’s website, if you come across a pothole, please report it using Lansing Connect, a mobile and online service request system for the City of Lansing. You may upload a photo or video of the pothole and mark the geographic location on a map. Your request can then be tracked for follow up information.
For more information about potholes in Lansing, go to http://lansingmi.gov/1530/Potholes
Printed in the April 30, 2017 – May 13, 2017 edition
