[Nfb-kzoo] Another Transit Article

[J.J. Meddaugh]

FYI,
Three local governments back transit tax
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Kalamazoo
BY GABRIELLE RUSSON
grusson at kalamazoogazette.com
(269) 388-8412
Three Kalamazoo County governments are endorsing a May 5 transit-tax request, but
many others are not taking a stance.
The Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners and Kalamazoo and Comstock townships
have passed resolutions supporting the 0.4-mill transit tax to fund public transportation
for the next four years.
But in Portage and the townships of Texas, Oshtemo, Richland, Schoolcraft, Ross and
Cooper, the local governments won't take a position on the tax, officials told the
Kalamazoo Gazette. Taking sides on ballot questions and countywide millage requests
isn't something their boards have done historically, officials in some of those townships
said.
The tax would fund bus lines outside the city of Kalamazoo and Metro Van and Care-A-Van,
which provide curb-to-curb pickup service for mostly senior citizens and the disabled.
It would cost the owner of a home with a market value of $100,000 and a taxable value
of $50,000 about $20 per year.
``It's not anything against the transit millage,'' Texas Township Supervisor Dave
Healy said. ``Let the citizens vote and determine it through the ballot box. If any
of the elected officials want to get involved personally, that's great -- but it's
on an individual level as opposed to the entire board.''
Healy is among several local politicians, including Portage Mayor Pete Strazdas and
Oshtemo Supervisor Libby Heiny-Cogswell, who are offering their support.
Public transportation ``is clearly an important part of the economic development
in the county,'' Healy said.
Other leaders in outlying areas said their boards haven't felt compelled to take
a stance on the transit tax because it doesn't appear to be on the front burner of
their constituents' concerns.
``No one has come out and yelled and screamed about it one way or the other,'' Ross
Township Supervisor Jeffrey Bither said.
Richland Township Supervisor Alan Bussema said, ``It would be brought (before the
board) if it was an issue here. ... We don't hear anything at all. I think it's best
we stay neutral on it and not comment on it.''
Several supervisors have said they don't expect voters in the outlying areas to support
the tax.
Bither pointed to the election in November, when 75 percent of Ross voters rejected
an earlier transit-tax proposal, which also was soundly defeated by county voters.
Most likely, people won't change their minds in May, Bither said. ``It's pretty rough
in these economic times to hit anybody up for anything,'' he said.
But Cooper Township Supervisor Jeff Sorensen said the request ``has a higher chance
of passing now'' because fewer people will be voting, compared to the presidential
election in November.
Also, Sorensen said having two separate millages -- those in the city of Kalamazoo
would pay a higher tax -- seemed more fair to people in the outlying areas. The city
of Kalamazoo is expected to ask city voters for an additional 0.6 mill in November
to fund buses routes within Kalamazoo.
``That's going to help it tremendously,'' Sorensen said. ``The outcounty people aren't
feeling like they're subsidizing the city.''
Correspondent Rebecca Bakken contributed to this report.
©2009
© 2009 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.

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