Proposal 1 benefits, costs outlined by road director

Editor’s note: This is the first part of a series on Proposal 1, which will appear on Michigan’s spring ballot Tuesday.

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Voters across Michigan will decide Tuesday whether to approve a ballot proposal that could pump an additional $1.2 billion into local budgets for roads and bridges.

Proposal 1 is a complicated ballot issue, but the bottom line is it would result in a great deal of extra money for road and bridge work.

Darren Pionk, Gogebic County Road Commission Director-Engineer, said Wednesday if the proposal is approved, it will mean an additional $1.6 million to $1.8 million for Gogebic County.

Also, the cities of Wakefield, Bessemer and Ironwood would receive a combined additional amount of $800,000 to $1 million annually, on top of the county’s added amount.

“It would mean we could get stuff done,” Pionk said.

The proposal, which will be outlined in more detail in another article before the Tuesday election, would basically raise the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent. Taxes paid on gasoline would increase from 3 to 10 cents per gallon from the present costs at the pump.

Pionk said it’s been estimated a motorist who drives 12,000 miles a year would pay an additional $18 to $60 in gas taxes at the pump and a typical family would spend around $150 a more per year in sales taxes, depending on its purchases throughout the year.

Not only would that generate the $1.2 billion for roads and bridges, but it would mean around $300 million more for local school aid and around $100 million in aid to local governments in what is called revenue sharing.

There has been unanimous support for the proposal from U.P. road commission directors, Pionk said.

With a formula based on mileage and population, Pionk said the U.P. would be “guaranteed” to get its fair share under the new funding formula. “It wouldn’t all go to lower Michigan,” he said.

“Without this, there is no plan B and our roads won’t be improved,” Pionk said. “This would benefit the whole county, from Watersmeet to Ironwood,” he added.