Leelanau County voters will be asked on the Aug. 6 primary election ballot to renew the Roads and Highways Maintenance and Repair Millage, a tax levy of $0.50 per $1,000 of a property’s assessed value, for another two years. The county Board of Commissioners approved the language of the request that will appear on the ballot during their regular session Tuesday night.
This same tax rate has been approved by county voters every two years since 1986. The exact amount that the millage would raise in 2024-25 would depend on property assessments by the county’s equalization department.
According to draft millage renewal proposal, the millage is estimated to raise over $1.8 million in its first of two years, which would be disbursed to the county road commission and the villages of Empire, Northport, and Suttons Bay if voters approve the proposal.
Not every county in Michigan levies taxes to maintain and repair roads and highways. About 30 of the 83 counties in Michigan have a millage for roads, according to the Michigan County Road Association (MCRA).
Road Commission Managing Director Brendan Mullane thinks that this millage has played an important role in keeping the county’s roads in above average condition for the state. Leelanau County’s roads being better than most Michigan roads is not just Mullane’s opinion; it was borne out in a Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating (PASER) of the county last year.
“I attribute that as a lot of the reason why our PASER ratings are so much higher than the state average,” Mullane told the county board at their March 12 executive session. “That millage has done a lot and has been in the county a long time, which is why we can focus that on more aggressive snow plowing than most places that don’t have a millage. The rest of it goes into the chip seal program.”
Last year’s PASER study found that 89% of Leelanau County’s primary roads were in good/fair condition, and 75% of its local roads were in good/fair condition. Mullane said that by the end of the year, they hope to reach an even 90% good/fair primary roads, which is the goal recommended by the MCRA.
Mullane said that most counties fall far shorter of the 90% mark. The MCRA reported last month that closer to 65% of Michigan’s primary roads were in good/fair condition. Meanwhile, the percentage of Leelanau County’s local roads in good/fair condition is far above the MCRA’s recommended goal of 60% good/fair local roads.
Mullane and road commission Chairman Bob Joyce also presented the road commission’s annual report to the county board of commissioners last week. During their presentation, Mullane briefly explained why the road commission plans to prioritize repairing roads in “fair” condition (rated five to seven out of 10) over roads in “poor” condition (four or less).
“Each dollar spent today on a ‘fair’ road prevents over $6 dollar spent on a ‘poor’ road later on. It’s six times more expensive to repair a poor road than a fair,” Mullane explained.
The PASER summary that Mullane shared at this meeting shows that despite just 11% of county primary roads being in poor condition, it is estimated that it would cost almost two and a half times as much money to repair them than the 89% of primary roads in good/fair condition.
Mullane also said that the road commission plans to accelerate their plans to acquire new vehicles because of new Environmental Protection Agency emissions standards to go into effective for model year 2027, which Mullane described as “aggressive,” citing estimates that it could add $40-100,000 to the cost of every truck.
“To avoid having to deal with that, the commissioners decided to buy four trucks a year for the next three years, and then take three years off. We’re still purchasing two new trucks a year on average – it just makes sense to buy them now,” Mullane said.
The Leelanau County Road Commission met Tuesday afternoon before the county board approved the millage renewal request. During this meeting, Mullane reported that the road commission formally implemented a new call-in work rule clarifying a “gray area” in their contract about how and when drivers need to be available for winter maintenance, especially on weekends.
Road commission Engineer Craig Brown also reported that work to strengthen the bridge on County Road 651 over Victoria Creek, just north of Cedar, is tentatively slated for April 1. A $109,700 contract for the project went to John Henry Excavation Inc. at the road commission’s last meeting on March 5.
The road commission also approved the plow truck equipment purchase and installation for 2025 for $479,120 from Schults Equipment, or $490,788 from Truck and Trailer Specialties if the purchase with the first vendor should fall through. They also approved an adjustment to the plow truck equipment purchase and installation for 2024, not to exceed $118,577.
