A proposal to place a three-year, 0.50-mill tax request to fund a countywide public bus service on the August 2010 ballot is expected to go before the Oakland County Board of Commissioners at its 9:30 am. Thursday, Sept. 24 meeting.
During this meeting, the 25 commissioners will decide which committees to send the tax proposal to for review, discussion and recommendations. Commissioners will not be voting this week on whether to put it on the ballot.
However, Commissioner Brad Jacobsen (R-Oxford) already knows how he plans to vote when it returns to the full board ? ‘definitely no.?
‘We don’t need a countywide millage for transportation,? he said. ‘The benefits to anybody north of the city of Pontiac, and maybe some areas of Auburn Hills, are going to be negligible.?
Jacobsen’s colleague, Commissioner Steven Schwartz, the Democrat representing Farmington and Farmington Hills who drafted the proposal, disagreed. He believes a countywide bus service funded by a countywide millage is a necessity.
‘Right now, we have a hodgepodge system where each individual community decides whether it wants to be in or out of SMART’s bus system,? he said. ‘What we want to do (with this tax) is have this service available countywide, expand the service.?
SMART stands for Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation. Currently, 23 of the 61 communities in Oakland County pay a 0.59-mill tax to receive its public bus services.
Since 1995, the county policy has been to let the individual municipalities decide whether or not to place SMART millages on the ballot for local voters to decide.
Thirty-eight communities in the county, including Oxford and Addison townships, chose to opt-out of SMART. But Schwartz doesn’t believe public transportation is a service local communities should have the ability to opt in or out of.
‘You just can’t set a system up logically when one community’s in and its neighbor’s out. It doesn’t make any sense,? he said. ‘You have the absurdity of Lathrup Village, this little enclave which opted out (of SMART), surrounded by Southfield, which opted in.?
Schwartz? countywide millage proposal would eliminate local communities? ability to choose when it comes to SMART service.
‘Either the whole county would be in or the whole county would be out,? he said.
Right now, Schwartz said ‘the majority of the population and the tax base of the county is actually in (SMART).?
‘Some of these (communities) are so small, that’s why 38 sounds big,? he explained. ‘Lake Angelus, the smallest community in Michigan, is an opt-out.?
Schwartz indicated his proposal has ‘three prongs? ? 1) Provide more service by adding new fixed bus routes; 2) Expand some existing fixed bus routes; and 3) Provide smaller vehicles to pick up people on a scheduled basis ‘in smaller communities where there isn’t the population to support a fixed route line.?
With regard to prong #3, Oxford, Addison and Orion townships are already served by a local dial-a-ride service called the North Oakland Transportation Authority (see related story on page 1).
When asked how NOTA would fit into this, Schwartz said, ‘We still need to work out some of the details as to whether SMART would be doing that (locally) or the communities would decide (to keep their) independent little system. Maybe they can use the money to support that system . . . That still isn’t sorted out. Typically, communities like to have some control in that type of thing.?
Megan Owens, director of Transportation Riders United, a Detroit-based regional transportation advocacy group, supports what Schwartz is proposing.
‘Having a true countywide system would be a much more efficient use of resources, instead of having pockets where there is service and pockets where there isn’t,? she said. ‘And it ensures that everyone has that option for transit, even if they don’t need it today.?
In the end, Schwartz indicated the ultimate decision would be made by county voters, not the board of commissioners or any local municipalities. ‘I think people ought to be able to decide what level of service they want and what tax level they have,? Schwartz said. ‘That’s just basic democracy.?
But the idea of municipalities losing their individual voice and their individual choice doesn’t set well with Jacobsen.
‘I like the option that each community has its ability to have the service or not,? he said.
Jacobsen’s seen what happened in Macomb County, where 70 percent of voters approved a countywide 0.59-mill SMART tax in 2006, and he doesn’t like it. He said northern Macomb has virtually no bus service, yet it’s paying for all the buses in Mt. Clemens.
‘They’re paying for it, but they’re not getting any benefit from it,? Jacobsen said. ‘If you’re not getting benefit from the services, why should you pay for it??
Jacobsen’s afraid that could easily happen in Oakland County, which is divided between its northern end, a predominantly rural and more sparsely populated area, and its southern end, a highly urbanized and densely populated area.
‘We could be paying a half-a-mill to help run buses through the southern end of the county and maybe once a day, we’ll have a bus come up and down M-24,? he said. ‘It would certainly not be to the benefit of our community to have that service. It would not be cost effective for the majority of the people.?
Because the county’s southern end outweighs the northern end in terms of population, Jacobsen fears the north could be outvoted at the ballot box and the south could have more control over the funds via the board of commissioners.
‘That’s always possible,? he said. ‘If you look at where the dollars come from, and depending on how the oversight is done, if the board of commissioners has control over how the funds are spent, there are more commissioners in the southern part of the county.?
Schwartz indicated having a countywide public transportation system should be no different than any of the other services the county provides such as roads, sewers, parks, courts and the sheriff’s department.
Owens agreed.
‘There are an awful lot of people in this county that have no transportation options,? she said. ‘If someone breaks a leg or a senior is no longer able to see good enough to drive safely or if someone gets in a car wreck, then they are stuck without options.?
‘Having public transit ensures that everyone can be active parts of our society,? Owens noted. ‘Far too much of our county doesn’t currently have that choice.?
When asked if he’s aware of any demand for public transportation among his constituency, which includes Oxford, Addison, Brandon and Groveland, Jacobsen said no.
‘Occasionally, we will run across somebody who waxes poetic about the good old days when there used to be a rail line down Woodward Ave and you could get on it and go to downtown Detroit for 15 cents,? he said.
But for the most part, people want to keep driving their own vehicles everywhere.
‘Americans don’t want to give up their mobility, their transportation, their right to get in their car and go whereever they want, whenever they want,? Jacobsen said. ‘Nobody’s interested in riding the bus and it’s very unreliable.?
Owens noted as the population of senior citizens continues to grow, the need for public transportation is going to rapidly increase.
‘In the next decade, we’re going to have a higher percentage of senior citizens than Florida does,? she said. ‘We better make sure we have a solution.?
But Jacobsen argued seniors in Oxford, Addison and Orion townships are well-served by NOTA. ‘I think NOTA does a terrific job with getting the seniors around,? he said. ‘I rarely hear any negatives.?
‘We’re asking the county leaders to give the voters the option.?
But the idea of municipalities losing their individual voice and their individual choice doesn’t set well with Jacobsen.
‘I like the option that each community has its ability to have the service or not,? he said.
Jacobsen’s seen what happened in Macomb County, where 70 percent of voters approved a countywide 0.59-mill SMART tax in 2006, and he doesn’t like it. He said northern Macomb has virtually no bus service, yet it’s paying for all the buses in Mt. Clemens.
‘They’re paying for it, but they’re not getting any benefit from it,? Jacobsen said. ‘If you’re not getting benefit from the services, why should you pay for it??
Jacobsen’s afraid that could easily happen in Oakland County, which is divided between its northern end, a predominantly rural and more sparsely populated area, and its southern end, a highly urbanized and densely populated area.
‘We could be paying a half-a-mill to help run buses through the southern end of the county and maybe once a day we’ll have a bus come up and down M-24,? he said. ‘It would certainly not be to the benefit of our community to have that service. It would not be cost effective for the majority of the people.?
Because the county’s southern end outweighs the northern end in terms of population, Jacobsen fears the north could be outvoted at the ballot box and the south could have more control over the funds via the board of commissioners.
‘That’s always possible,? he said. ‘If you look at where the dollars come from, and depending on how the oversight is done, if the board of commissioners has control over how the funds are spent, there are more commissioners in the southern part of the county.?
Schwartz indicated having a countywide public transportation system should be no different than any of the other services the county provides such as roads, sewers, parks, courts and the sheriff’s department.
Owens agreed.
‘There are an awful lot of people in this county that have no transportation options,? she said. ‘If someone breaks a leg or a senior is no longer able to see good enough to drive safely or if someone gets in a car wreck, then they are stuck without options.?
‘Having public transit ensures that everyone can be active parts of our society,? Owens noted. ‘Far too much of our county doesn’t currently have that choice.?
When asked if he’s aware of any demand for public transportation among his constituents, which includes Oxford, Addison, Brandon, Groveland, Rose and Holly townships, Jacobsen said no.
‘Occasionally, we will run across somebody who waxes poetic about the good old days when there used to be a rail line down Woodward Ave and you could get on it and go to downtown Det. for 15 cents,? he said.
But for the most part, people want to keep driving their own vehicles everywhere.
‘Americans don’t want to give up their mobility, their transportation, their right to get in their car and go whereever they want, whenever they want,? Jacobsen said. ‘Nobody’s interested in riding the bus and it’s very unreliable.?
Owens noted as the population of senior citizens continues to grow, the need for public transportation is going to rapidly increase.
‘In the next decade, we’re going to have a higher percentage of senior citizens than Florida does,? she said. ‘We better make sure we have a solution.?
But Jacobsen argued seniors in Oxford, Addison and Orion townships are well-served by the dial-a-ride service provided by the locally-controlled and operated North Oakland Transportation Authority (see sidebar story on page 00).
‘I think NOTA does a teriffic job with getting the seniors around,? he said. ‘I rarely here any negatives.?