Proposed I-Ride millage will 'maintain the current service levels'
Isabella County voters will see a millage renewal proposal on the Aug. 2 ballot to continue the level of funding for the Isabella County Transportation Commission as approved by voters in 2012.
I-Ride, the largest rural public transit agency in a single county in the nation, is asking for continued financial support at the same level previously approved by voters in 2012. The ballot states, "shall the Constitutional limitation upon the total amount of taxes which may be assessed in one year upon all property within the County of Isabella, Michigan, previously increased by up to 0.9929 of one mill ($0.9929 per $1,000 of Taxable Value) be continued and renewed for a period of four years, 2016-2019, inclusive?"
If approved and levied in full, the millage will raise an estimated $1.7 million for the county-wide public transportation service in the first calendar year of the levy.
I-Ride General Manager Rick Collins said the cost for a household valued at $100,000 would be less than $50 per year.
I-Ride receives the majority of its funding through local, state and federal sources Collins said.
"If we were not to receive local monies, we would not have money to put towards bus operating and we therefor would not be able to leverage the additional monies from state and federal sources — which would shrink the size of our service dramatically," he said.
In accordance with State law, a small portion of the millage may also be disbursed to the Downtown Development Authorities of the Cities of Mount Pleasant, and Union Township and Clare; the Tax Increment Finance Authorities of the City of Mount Pleasant; and the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority of the City of Mount Pleasant.
Collins said the millage "is not to increase revenues, it’s just to maintain current service levels.”
I-Ride provided 617, 779 rides last year. Collins said 22 percent of last year's riders were people with disabilities and about 7 percent were senior citizens.
"We have a robust transit system here that allows people to conduct life as everybody wants to," Collins said. "Over 65 percent of the trips we give are taking people to or from work or school. Without public transit, they may or may not be able to continue doing those types of things.”
