By Jim Newell

Oxford Leader Special Writer

When voters head to the polls for the Aug. 2 Primary Election, they will be asked to continue funding a local transportation system that assists senior citizens and people unable to drive due to health issues and/or financial constraints.

The North Oakland Transportation Authority’s (NOTA) is requesting a five-year millage renewal from voters in Orion, Oxford and Addison townships.

Orion voters will be asked to approve 0.2316 of one mill to be levied from 2024 through 2028. It’s estimated the tax, if approved, will generate $490,776 in its first year.

One mill is equal to $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s taxable value. So, for Orion residents with a home taxable value of $100,000, that’s $23.16 a year. About $1.93 per month.

Oxford voters will be asked to approve 0.2315 mill to be levied from 2024 through 2028. It’s estimated the tax, if approved, will generate $241,346 in its first year.

Addison voters will be asked to approve the expiring .25 mill (now rolled back to 0.2343 mill under the Headlee Amendment) in an amount not to exceed the 2024 rolled back value.

The NOTA millage in Addison Township will be levied from 2025 through 2029. It’s estimated the tax, if approved, will generate $105,458 in its first year.

“I believe the seniors, disabled and low income residents deserve this essential service because so many of our riders have no other options for transportation. They would be homebound. They don’t have friends or family to rely on. You don’t have to go to a third world country to see people in need. Those people are here in Orion, Oxford and Addison. Those neighbors in your community need your support so that they can remain independent and live an active life,” NOTA Executive Director Lynn Gustafson said.

NOTA provides low-cost, publicly-subsidized transportation for senior citizens, individuals with physical and/or developmental disabilities, and low-income residents of Oxford, Addison and Orion townships along with the villages of Oxford, Leonard and Lake Orion.

“Many people will say, ‘But I don’t use NOTA, why should I support it?’ There are many riders who used to drive, have jobs and did not need NOTA until circumstances in their life changed – accidents/illness, etc., and it could happen to anyone,” Gustafson said. “At any moment, you or your loved one could be in a position to need transportation and I hope NOTA will be there for you when you need it.”

Oxford Township Supervisor Jack Curtis sits on the NOTA Board of Directors.

“I realize NOTA is an integral part of our community, one of the last bastions of pure community resource that provides our residents a service that isn’t mired down in regional politics. It’s just Orion, Oxford, Addison, and it serves those residents well,” Curtis said.

“I support NOTA strongly because it provides a customized service to our residents,” Curtis said. “I want this (millage) out there now to ensure that NOTA is going to be around for more than one year, two years, three years.”

He believes that Gustafson, who is a Certified Public Accountant (C.P.A.), has done a “monumental” job of keeping the NOTA millage and operating costs low.

“She watches the numbers very closely. This is not an open the purse and watch money fly out (proposal). She ascertains grants to offset the costs to taxpayers. She gets ridership numbers up, and that helps offset some of the costs.

“A smart steward of our finances only goes after what we need,” Curtis said.

Due to the pandemic, NOTA began giving rides to its clients free of charge. That will likely change by the end of the year and rates will return to a $1 or $2 one-way fare.

NOTA currently has a millage that runs through 2023, but Gustafson said she wanted to get the proposal on the ballot before a request to approve a regional transportation authority. She also said the NOTA would have to pay election costs in 2023 if there wasn’t anything else on the ballot.

Last year, the local transportation service provided a total of 34,619 rides. Those numbers are up 28 percent from 2020, but down from pre-pandemic numbers when NOTA provided more than 40,000 rides in 2018 and 2019.

In the first five months of 2022, NOTA has given 15,338 rides. NOTA drivers also operate the trolley service between downtown Lake Orion and Oxford, providing another 2,277 rides to anyone who wants to use the service.

If all three millage renewals are approved, NOTA will receive an estimated $695,154 from the townships’ taxpayers in the first year of the levy. Gustafson indicated without the three millages, NOTA would probably have to cut its operations.

In Oxford Township, 48 percent of NOTA riders in 2022 through May were senior citizens and 37 percent were physically/developmentally disabled. In Addison, 52 percent of riders were seniors (45 percent were disabled) and 34 percent had physical/developmental disabilities.