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Of the 150 municipalities reviewed by SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, over 60 percent of cities, villages, and townships have supplemented road funding in the amount of $120 million for the current year.
SEMCOG's new Quick Facts report summarizes a budget review of 150 municipalities to analyze road funding practices. SEMCOG studied 96 cities and villages who are direct recipients of state transportation funds under Public Act 51 and 54 townships who are not responsible for maintaining public roadways under state law.
Of the 96 cities and villages studied, 60 are supplementing the revenue they receive from Public Act 51 with either a dedicated property tax or revenues from their general funds. Likewise, 32 of the 54 townships are providing funds for road projects in their community.
In the budgets reviewed for the current year, SEMCOG identified $120 million being budgeted for road projects from local revenue sources.
“Despite very limited revenues, our analysis shows many local governments are making it a priority to fund their roads,” notes Kathleen Lomako, Executive Director of SEMCOG. "The activities of these communities further illustrate that the needs of local roads are increasing along with major roads," said Lomako.
Forty-eight cities, villages, and townships are currently levying a property tax in some form that is dedicated to supplementing road expenditures. SEMCOG’s review identified 19 cities and villages that are shifting funds from their general funds into their road budgets and 25 townships that are appropriating funds for road projects.
Of the major roads under city and village road jurisdiction, 54 percent were evaluated as being in “poor” condition last year; this is up from 32 percent a decade ago. The situation is no better on roads under county jurisdiction; 55 percent of the main county roads in the seven-county SEMCOG region are evaluated as being in poor condition, up from 48 percent a decade ago.
Specific pavement conditions are available in this interactive map.
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SEMCOG is the only organization in Southeast Michigan that brings together all governments to solve regional challenges and enhance the quality of live for the seven-county region’s 4.7 million people.
Learn more about what SEMCOG does.
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