Vote NO on the Lapeer County Road Millage Nov. 4

[William Gavette]

   While we do understand that many of our roads are in need of repair, there are several problems with this road millage as proposed. There are numerous reasons we we should NOT support this ballot initiative, but here are some of the biggest. 

1. Our  Governor and Legislative leaders have stated a willingmess to raise State Road taxes in the upcoming Lame Duck session of the Legislature,

2. Our County Road workers are in the middle of a big budget contract that goes through 2015,

3. Retiree costs will cost Lapeer County tax payers millions more in the upcoming years than today and no one has any idea how to deal with those costs,

4. This millage is for a full 6 year term, not something that can be stopped whenever we feel like it. If passed, it MUST run for the full term.

  The Governor and our Legislative leaders have stated that there is a willingness to pass some type of gas tax in the upcoming lame duck session of our Legislature AFTER the election. Since we do not know what our Legislature will pass in the way of a road tax increase, we do not know exactly what our funding levels will look like in the upcoming years. We could possibly get hit with a billion dollar plus road tax from the state, and an additional 1.8 mills from the County. While we were told at a recent Tea Party meeting  (VIDEO HERE) that our Road Commissioners do have the authority to roll back any millage rates as needed if the state taxes are increased, have you ever heard of ANY government agency voluntarily rolling back your tax rates??  Neither have we.

  Something that is not widely known is that in the near future, our retiree costs for our Road Commission employees will top more than $4 million dollars more than they are today. How this will be dealt with has not even been talked about or discussed. We believe that before you come to the taxpayers for a bailout your pension system, that you figure out how the best way to manage the probem, and THEN ask the taxpayers  for help if it is still needed.

  Currently, our county road employees are in the middle of a very healthy contract. Retirement, Health Insurance, and many other costs have not even been discussed and will not  be until the end of the current contract in 2015. Again, why would we as taxpayers support a tax increase when we have not squeezed out as much savings as possible and do not even know what our costs will be?

  It would make much more sense see what our Legislature is going to do as far as passing more money for the roads, and to wait until we know what our costs for labor will be when the current contract expires. At that point, maybe it would make more sense to pass some type of millage, but at this point, there are to many unprectables to even discuss a road millage. With all the current uncertainties and unknowns,

  Until the Road Commission gets it house in order, voting NO on the County Road Millage November 4th is the only vote you should make.