Continuing with the “unofficial” theme this week, local officials have decided to strike while the iron is hot and use a tired old ploy to fix a problem that really should never have been a problem in the first place had elected officials done their jobs, looked at the problem as a whole and fixed the problem at the source rather than only reacting to the symptoms.

So what are they doing now?

{Details below the fold}

Following the radical temperature changes in February and March, which as well all know is caused by global warming, AGW, American Consumers selfishly driving the vehicles of their own choosing, aliens, The Sun, we don‘t honestly know the exact reason, global warming(?), pretty much every road in Southeastern Michigan spontaneously self-destructed and the road system devolved from a 21st Century transportation model to one more closely resembling the 19th.

Lansing, which as we all remember jammed a fuel tax and license fee hike not that long ago (while surreptitiously transferring over $400-million in current road appropriations OUT to the general fund to cancel out this newfound increase in revenue), finally got around to doling out some road money, unfortunately it was literally a band aid to cover up a far larger problem.

To give people an idea of just how bad it had become, I was going to post a clip from my dash-cam of a very recent trip up Mound Road through Warren and Sterling Heights. After hitting so many potholes, the dash-cam literally fell off of the windshield of my truck and onto the floor. I made a few comments that aren’t exactly SFW, which is why I decided against posting it.

A few weeks ago, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel announced an App to let Macomb County Residents learn about the current status of county roads after a recently conducted survey. As if this were really necessary (to say nothing about sensing an opportunity to get some media attention), the presentation quickly devolved into a dog-and-pony show where Exec. Hackel commented (correctly) on the state of Michigan Road Funding and then went off the reservation claiming that if he were in Lansing nothing would get accomplished until the matter of road funding was resolved.

He even thought that Macomb County Taxpayers would go for a new tax to pay for county roads (after we get hit up for a SMART renewal and RTA Tax simultaneously).

I HIGHLY doubt that the kingmakers in either political party would ever allow things in Lansing to grind to a halt. There are too many people with their financial interests riding on perpetuating the current road problem to actually want to fix it. Business is booming when you have to continually rebuild roads like we do here in Michigan.

Getting back on topic, there actually isn’t anything to fixing road funding…Right Michigan Readers came up with a solution right here years ago. But since that doesn’t involve ANY tax hikes, the politicians have no interest at all in it!

Fast forward to tonight’s Sterling Heights City Council Meeting. As part of the discussion of the 2018/19 Budget, the discussion will also include a “one time” 1 Mill tax hike.

As such, the proposed budget includes a one-time 1 mill increase that will raise nearly $4.2 million and will be dedicated to fund more road improvements. The additional roads that will be repaired as a result of this proposed funding include:

 * Schoenherr Road from Plumbrook to 19 Mile
* 15 Mile Road from Maple Lane to Schoenherr
* 17 Mile Road from Van Dyke to Utica Road (interesting since 17 Mile is already being rebuilt as you are reading this)
* 19 Mile Road from Hayes to Schoenherr Road
* Utica Road from Schoenherr to Van Dyke Avenue
* Metro Parkway Repairs

The total City tax rate will increase 1.0119 mills and will cost the average homeowner $7.67 per month for a total of $92. The 1 mill increase for road funding will be rolled back next year to limit the increase to one year only.

And if you believe that this tax hike is temporary (meaning that Mayor Taylor or someone else on CC won’t come up with the brilliant idea to extend it after claiming all that had been accomplished), I have some prime Florida real estate that you would be interested in purchasing.

*** I’ve been told by a reader that this would actually the SECOND road tax Sterling Heights enacts on its residents. The first being its “Safe Streets” initiative passed in 2013 (go see line four).

It’s also not the first time that it has rebuilt large sections of its roadways:

“Also, Macomb County plans to resurface Schoenherr Road from 15 Mile to north of Metro Parkway, including concrete repairs at Metro Parkway. Additional Schoenherr Road repairs north of Metro Parkway are scheduled for 2020.

Sterling Heights will continue to spend millions of dollars on residential roads over the next five years, funded largely by the Safe Streets 2.5-mill property plan (1.7 mills for police/fire, 0.8 mills for roads) passed by voters in 2013. The millage expires in 2019.”

Now, how interested Sterling Heights residents would be in paying more than twice for the same thing is anyone’s guess.

Again, stay tuned.***

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