By Mark Bashore, WKAR News
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LANSING, MI –
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This Tuesday, Lansing area voters will determine funding for the Capital Area Transportation Authority.
AUDIO:
CATA officials call the measure a millage renewal for its core operations, but it gets a little complicated. The agency wants to extend and combine its two primary operating millages that property owners are already paying. No increase there. But it's also asking the owner of A $100,000 home to pay $1.81 more each year to compensate for the Headlee Act. That's the controversial tax cap measure that essentially cut about a million dollars from CATA's 2006 funding levels. Executive Director Sandy Draggoo says the service is critical in a struggling economy.
"The people that are getting to school. That are getting to jobs. That are getting to the doctor's offices. 350,000 of them are seniors and persons with disabilities. How are they going to get to those places?," she asks.
But opponents of the millage say the slumping economy should instead prompt CATA to downsize. Jack Dudley of Lansing plans to vote no.
"I don't think it's worth it," he says. "Our city is shrinking. They should foot their own bill. This is not a time for growing, everybody has to cut back. I'm having to cut back."
Dudley also says he sees too many buses with too few passengers.
Voters will also decide another measure involving the agency. An Ingham County proposal seeks to increase transportation funding for the elderly and disabled to return it to 2006 levels, before home values plummeted. The county contracts with CATA to provide the service.
Millages provide the biggest portion of CATA's operating revenue, but the tab doesn't fall exclusively to property owners. CATA also plans a fare increase in 2012.
Ingells:
And WKAR's Mark Bashore joins me now with more about the millage proposals on the ballot next Tuesday. Hi Mark.
Bashore: Good morning, Melissa.
Ingells: It's interesting that both sides in the CATA millage issue invoke the economy to support their case.
Bashore: That's right. On one side, CATA's more important than ever because so many people are hurting, and transportation is critical for those people. And on the other side, property owners whose home values are way down, say governments, schools, and private companies--virtually everybody's gotten a haircut in the past few years. They say CATA should be no different. Looking ahead, I think what's interesting will be how long supporters of a larger, more comprehensive transit system will be able to refer to spending levels from 2004 or 2006, without some number of people simply saying, 'look, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then, maybe it's time to reconsider.' Especially if we were hit with a double-dip recession.
Ingells: So that's the CATA millage, and there is also the CADL millage, short for the Capital Area District Library. What's up with CADL?
Bashore: The Capital Area District Library is asking for a renewal of its 1.56 mills for four years. Extremely unscientific chats with passersby in downtown Lansing suggest it will pass. This is CADL's core funding, and without it, the system comes to an end. You do encounter the occasional person who says that in the age of the home computer, the library is obsolete. But CADL's Executive Director, Lance Werner, says computers are a big reason people use the library:
"(In) 2009, we had people use our computer terminals, or internet terminals for
a grand total of 284,000 hours," he says. "So, that's 32 years, in 2009. And we expect to be more busy this year."
Bashore: He specifically mentions job seekers, small business people, and students. And I might point out that even some of the more zealous anti-tax types I spoke with suggest they're ok with it.
Ingells: Thank you, Mark.
Bashore: Thank you, Melissa.
Election 2010 - WKAR
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