With the prospect of a mass transit tax proposal potentially making its way to the ballot again, Addison Township Supervisor Bruce Pearson traveled to Lansing last week to let state legislators know exactly how he feels about it.

“It’s not a good deal for the people in Addison Township or Oxford or Orion,” he told this reporter. “It’s not a good deal for any of us because they’ve left us out of the equation (when it comes to providing services). They just want the money.”

Pearson was one of four township supervisors from north Oakland County who testified before the Michigan House Tax Policy Committee on legislation (House Bill 5870) that would allow townships, villages and cities to opt out of the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan (RTA).

The other supervisors were Chris Barnett from Orion Township, Pat Kittle from Independence Township and George Kullis from Holly Township.

RTA officials are considering placing a 20-year, 1.5-mill property tax request on the ballot in Oakland, Macomb, Wayne and Washtenaw counties to fund the development and operation of a regional transit system. If the RTA board votes to send the proposal to the electorate and it gets approved, the millage is expected to generate a total of $5.4 billion over two decades.

HB 5870 would give townships, villages and cities something they currently don’t have when it comes to the RTA, the power to choose whether they want to be in or out.

The proposed legislation states, “A municipality that is located within a public transit region and is located within a county that is a participant in an authority may withdraw from the authority, subject to approval by resolution of the governing body of that municipality.”

Allowing communities to opt out of transit authorities is not without precedent. Fifty-three municipalities – 36 of which are located in Oakland County – have opted out of the SMART bus service.

Following his appearance before the committee, Pearson, who favors the opt-out legislation, relayed to this reporter what he told legislators. “Everybody else had prepared statements, and you know I don’t do that. I shoot from the hip,” he said.

Pearson argued that although the RTA wants Addison residents to pay more in taxes to fund its plans, it doesn’t want to provide them with services in return because “the closest bus route is 17 miles away.”

“I think the RTA has already opted me out,” he said. “They’ve already told me that they’re not going to give me any service whatsoever. There’s not a single bus route or train route (leading to Addison), but they want my money.”

The supervisor noted RTA officials think “it’s all about us going down to Detroit,” but what about giving folks from the city an opportunity to visit northern Oakland County?

“I want the people from Detroit to be able to come out and enjoy my town – pick apples, go to the Strawberry Festival, enjoy our lakes,” he said. “But they’ve denied that to the people of Detroit because the closest bus route is 17 miles away from my northern border.”

Pearson said he wants people to visit Addison and “help my community flourish,” but the RTA has “denied me that right, so why should I be paying if there’s no route to my area?”

In the supervisor’s mind, the RTA has “already determined the status of my township.”

“They already told me it wasn’t worth anything,” he said.

To be fair, the RTA’s proposed plan, which is entitled Connect Southeast Michigan, calls for providing annual funding to the 60 communities not served by fixed transit routes.

Fixed transit routes involve a vehicle, such as a bus, that’s operated along a prescribed route based on a fixed schedule.

Oxford, Addison and Orion townships are among these 60 communities.

This funding would be provided under what’s being called the Hometown Service program. The purpose of this, according to the plan, is to give these 60 communities “the opportunity to design and implement local services that best meet the specific mobility needs of their residents.”

Hometown Service would provide $30 million annually to the 60 communities to do things such as support existing transportation services, develop new programs, extend routes, provide commuter shuttles and establish local circulator services where a vehicle, such as a bus or rubber-tire trolley, makes frequent trips around a small geographic area with numerous stops along a designated route.

Of that $30 million, approximately $17 million annually would go to communities in Oakland County, including Addison, Oxford and Orion townships. The townships could use that money to stabilize, enhance and increase services currently provided by the North Oakland Transportation Authority (NOTA), an entity they all fund and help govern.

NOTA provides low-cost, publicly-subsidized transportation for senior citizens, individuals with physical and/or developmental disabilities, and low-income folks living in Oxford, Addison and Orion townships along with the villages of Oxford, Leonard and Lake Orion. Last year, NOTA provided a total of 38,877 rides and travelled 484,149 miles within its 223-square-mile service area.

But Pearson isn’t too keen on the proposed Hometown Service program. He doesn’t believe it’s needed.

“NOTA is running smoothly,” he said. “I think we’re doing pretty good already. Why would we want to be beholden to (the RTA)?”

Pearson indicated he wouldn’t want any additional funds if they’re “tied” to the RTA being “satisfied” with the job NOTA is doing.

Instead of giving the communities in north Oakland County part of the RTA tax, should voters pass it, Pearson suggested returning all of it.

“Give us that 1.5 mills and we’ll put it to better use,” the supervisor said. “It won’t go through all the bureaucracy (in) downtown (Detroit). We’ll enhance the service ourselves. We’ve proven we can give great service for a great value.”

RTA proponents claim the lack of a genuinely regional transit system is hurting southeast Michigan economically. They argue a larger, more well-connected system on par with those of other metropolitan areas is desperately needed to help spur growth by attracting new companies, connecting people with jobs and helping ensure young talent not only comes to the region, but stays here.

The last time the RTA had a millage request on the ballot, it failed by 18,317 votes. Among the four counties, 912,395 people voted ‘no’ and 894,078 voted ‘yes’ in November 2016.

Local voters failed it by a wider margin.

Oxford voters thrashed the RTA millage request 6,783 to 3,366 while Addison voters thumped it 2,372 to 983.

Local voters weren’t the only ones who expressed opposition to the last RTA millage.

The Oxford and Addison township boards, along with the Oxford and Leonard village councils, all passed resolutions opposing it because they felt it would have led to north Oakland County residents receiving little or no benefit in return for their tax dollars.