East Lansing Budget Process Update

As East Lansing begins our FY16 budget planning process, you’re going to be hearing a great deal about the need for infrastructure reinvestment. You’re also going to be hearing a great deal about how the success or failure of the May sales tax ballot measure will impact our City budget and our ability to reinvest in critical community priorities. Let’s start with roads.

Does Michigan/East Lansing need more revenue for roads? Yes. The data on this issue clearly speaks for itself. Michigan funds our roads primarily through fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees allocated through Act 51. Michigan’s 19¢ gas tax has not been adjusted in nearly 20 years. What does that mean for East Lansing?

The chart above shows Act 51 revenue for East Lansing since FY04. As you can see, Act 51 revenue has not kept pace with inflation. Without the approval of the May road funding ballot measure, East Lansing is projecting that in FY16 we will receive the same level of funding as in FY05. Adjusted for inflation, that’s over $912,000 less available to fund our infrastructure this upcoming year than a decade ago. The result of this underfunding by the state is that 62% of our local streets and 57% of our major streets are currently rated as “poor” on the PASER scale. We can’t improve those ratings and the road conditions they represent without more resources.

A yes vote on the May ballot measure will ultimately result in an additional $1.8 million annually for East Lansing roads. A no vote will leave us, and all Michigan communities, with revenue inadequate to the infrastructure challenge we face.

#eastlansing #taxes