LOCAL LEGISLATORS TAKE A STAND AGAINST GOV. WHITMER’S PROPOSED FUEL TAX INCREASE

By DEBRA HAIGHT

BCR Correspondent

ST. JOSEPH – Roads have been on the minds of county and state leaders as of late. Last week began with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer unveiling her proposed new budget which calls for a 45-cent a gallon fuel tax increase to fund road repairs. The week ended with Berrien County officials revealing their road repair plans for the next three years.

Whitmer’s proposal to fund road repairs by raising the gas tax by 45 cents a gallon was met with skepticism by many Republicans in Lansing including Berrien County State Representatives Brad Paquette and Pauline Wendzel. Both spoke out against the idea.

The governor’s fuel tax hike proposal was part of the new budget she presented to the legislature last week. Besides phasing in the 45 cent a gallon fuel tax increase over the next two years, she’s calling for an additional $507 million to boost K-12 public school funding. Her proposal would increase annual per pupil funding to between $8,051 and $8,529.

Fuel taxes were raised in 2015 to fund road repairs but critics have pointed out that much of the money raised went to other budget items like education and not to infrastructure improvements. If the proposed new hike is passed, Michigan would have another $2 billion a year to spend on roads but would also have one of the highest fuel taxes in the country.

Paquette represents the 78th state house district which covers central and southern Berrien County and parts of Cass County. He called the suggestion that Michigan drivers pay an additional 45 centers per gallon of gasoline “completely absurd.” He said burdening drivers with additional fees is not the answer.

“If implemented, our drivers will pay the highest gas taxes in the nation by a long shot,” he said. “We already pay the highest car insurance rates in the nation, now the governor wants Michigan families to pay the highest gas taxes in the country as well. We should focus on making our state number one in education, not burdening people with more driving costs.”

Wendzel is the 79th state house representative for the northern half of the county. She said she had hoped Whitmer would present a proposal and plan that would fix the roads while protecting taxpayers. She said she was disappointed that the governor’s proposal would raise taxes on 100,000 small businesses as well as Michigan drivers.

“Unfortunately, the governor’s proposal would raise taxes on Michigan motorists by $2.5 billion per year,” she said. “We would be paying the highest gas tax in the Midwest as well as the highest auto insurance rates in the nation. Michiganders would have to take out two loans just to operate their vehicles – one to purchase it, and the other to operate it.”

Both said they’re looking forward to working with other legislators and the governor to find a compromise solution. “I look forward to working with my colleagues and the governor to come up with a more practical solution for road improvement – one that doesn’t fall on the backs of Michigan families,” Paquette said.

As for the Berrien County road repair plan, it was unveiled late last week by Berrien County Road Department Manager Jason Latham. It calls for spending more than $21 million on roads over the next three years with the goal of bringing more roads in the county to good or fair shape 10 years from now.

The three year transportation plan presents both an evaluation of the roadway network under the road department’s jurisdiction and an outline of the road improvement and maintenance projects planned for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Latham said his department staff started the process by inspecting current road conditions and then combining engineering judgment with computer modeling to determine which roads were the best candidates for repairs. The plan unveiled last week presented the proposed schedule and estimated costs as well as the funding allocated for each township.

A total of 53 major road projects are scheduled for 2019, including $7 million spent on repairing primary and secondary roads and another $1 million set aside to help townships repair local roads. People can find the full asset management report at the department’s www.bcroad.org website.