Macomb Countyvoters have three countywide proposals on the Nov. 3 ballot.
If they say yes to one of them − the public transportation millage, which they have approved since 1995 − it will mark the first time that metro Detroit's three counties wouldbe fully all-in on public transportation for at least the next five years.
New this time, the ballot language in Macomb County tells communities what they will be getting, not just giving − 12.5% of the money collected will go back to the county's 27 communities, which are identified by name in the proposal. Each community can use the funds they receive for public transportation services for older adults, those with disabilities and the general public.
The proposal would authorize a new 0.94-mill tax
to replace the previously approved, but expiring, millage of 0.95 for the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation, or SMART. It would be for 2027 through, and including, 2031 and bring in more than $39 million in the first year, if approved.
Oakland County voters went all-in on transit, with all of its communities paying in and none opting out anymore, when it approved a 10-year public transportation millage in 2022. The same happened in Wayne County in August, when voters approved a similar 10-year millage with all of its communities in, none opting out like before, for the SMART system.
Macomb County voters can seal the deal on public transportation in every community in the tri-county region for the next half-decade if they approve the measure in two weeks. The county has always been an all-in county for its public transportation millages.
"They're really catering to the communities that are supporting them," New Baltimore Mayor Tom Semaan said of SMART, "I think they're gonna gain momentum."
Tiffany Gunter, SMART's general manager and CEO, said SMART, which offers fixed route, mainline buses; paratransit, and microtransit shuttle services, has been more responsive to communities in recent years and ridership has grown across all of its services in the county, according to data provided by SMART.
If the Macomb County proposal passes, she said, 12.5% of the funds are guaranteed to go back to the communities to provide more local control of the funds levied for public transportation needs in those municipalities. That will be more money than the communities currently receive.
Gunter said if the proposal passes, SMART plans to provide shorter wait times on key corridors and more frequency; better-placed shelters and stop amenities that are safer and more comfortable; and grow its Flex or microtransit service, which generally offers $2-$8 rides that can be requested seven days a week on certain routes in the region, with current Macomb County routes along Hall Road and other areas.
SMART said approval would also keep fixed-route rides for students, from K-12 and college, free with valid ID; continue its existing services, including the FAST Gratiot bus, the highest ridership route in Macomb County with about 75,000 riders a month from downtown Detroit to 23 Mile Road in Chesterfield Township; and continue to improve bus stops. It said it has improved more than 300 bus stops systemwide since 2025, with new concrete walkways, benches and shelters, and more improvements are planned over the next several years.
Gunter said the millage would cost taxpayers with a typical $250,000 home about $10 a month.
If the proposal does not pass in Macomb County, Gunter said that would be "a huge step in the backwards direction." There would be reductions over time, she said, with some reserve money to hobble on until another question could be placed on the ballot after learning what issues need to be addressed.
Gunter, who said she rides the buses at least once a week, said 30,000 people a day use SMART systemwide, whether they are seniors and the disabled being shuttled to and from medical appointments or other locations or people going to and from work or school on buses.
"You may not rely on public transit, but many of the people you rely on rely on public transit," she said.
In northern Macomb County, Richmond Lenox EMSpartners with SMART to offer free, scheduled shuttle service six days a week to residents in a dozen communities there to get to shopping and other errands, medical appointments and a drop-off and pickup service to Detroit Metro Airport.
Gunter said all three counties being all-in on public transportation brings other advantages, such as being able to leverage additional federal and state dollars; strengthening its ability to compete, and building the system into something people see in other metropolitan areas.
She said SMART recently received notice that it is to receive $25 million in federal funding to make improvements and enhancements on the Gratiot route from St. Antoine in Detroit to 23 Mile, which could bring increased frequency, shelters with lighting and other amenities and the potential for rapid transit along Gratiot.
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, announced in August $25 million for the Gratiot SMART SPACES Implementation Project, which is to support road improvements along the Gratiot corridor to prevent crashes, create safer pedestrian crossings and enable more reliable and efficient bus service, according to a release.
Leon Drolet, Macomb Township treasurer and former chair of the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance, who has been a critic of public transportation millages, said he doesn't support the millage, but "I am supportive of the changes included in the SMART millage proposal."
His tone has changed a little over recent years as he and other officials in Macomb County have been sitting at the table with SMART, including Gunter and her team, to talk about what residents need and how SMART can provide those services.
Drolet said the biggest need in much of Macomb County, including Macomb Township, is van or shuttle services that pick up residents at their homes and take them to medical appointments and other places they need to go. He said there is a waitlist and the need for such services is growing, but the funds for them have not.
Drolet said the township gives $5 million a year to SMART through taxes, but only gets a small percentage back for shuttle bus services.
He said the 12.5% return to communities, if the millage passes, would help some municipalities upgrade, clean and maintain bus stops while others could improve services for seniors or those who can't drive or don't have a vehicle or have more shuttles to help eliminate waitlists.
"This is a step that helps improve our ability to serve those residents. This is a step in the right direction," he said.
Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel said he doesn't see many challenges to any of the countywide proposals, including SMART. Four years ago, the SMART millage passed with 65.5% of the vote. But in 2018, it squeaked by with merely 39 votes.
But it's different now since SMARTand local leaders began bridging the gap from years' worth of disconnection.
In New Baltimore, Semaan said SMART provides the community with reports on users and that the transportation is being used by the community it is serving.
In August, he said there were 213 users in New Baltimore, where he said SMART extended bus service to the city's industrial district businesses, which needed workers, with the service that he said was "vital." He said the city also has residents on fixed incomes who don't own vehicles and SMART helps get them to doctor's appointments and other essential locations, such as the grocery store, via its concierge-type service.
Hackel put the enhancement efforts more simply: "SMART got smarter."
"For voters in Macomb County, if they see the value in it, I think they'll support it," Hackel said of the millages. "I think there's a very positive outlook from the public, from what I'm hearing from the general public."
The millages are, essentially, renewals. While the cost may be small to homeowners, together, they make a big impact on the entities receiving the funding. Hackel said a failed millage may not be a major savings for people, but it would be a major impact on the entity not receiving the funding.
Veterans' millage renewal would help 40K+ residents
The request for the veterans millage is to renew 0.0690 mills and restore the remaining 0.0017 mills that were reduced due to required rollback, for a total authorized rate of 0.0690 mills, from 2027 through, and including, 2030, according to the ballot language.
The current millage expires this year. The prior four-year millage renewal passed with 80% of the vote in 2022. It first went on the ballot in 2008 and has been approved by voters each time, according to information about the millage on the county Board of Commissioners website.
If approved, the millage would continue to fund financial aid and services for veterans and support the county's Department of Veteran Affairs and Veterans Affairs Commission, according to the proposal.
Hackel said the veterans millage, if approved, would continue to provide services to more than 40,000 veterans in the county. Those services include casework to help get them education or job opportunities or other schooling needs, medical or other health care needs and navigating any state or federal issues they may have.
The millage would raise more than $2.8 million in the first year and cost a property with a residential market value of $100,000 (estimated taxable value of $50,000) $3.45 annually, according to the proposal.
Animals also on the ballot in renewal of Detroit Zoo millage
Renewal of the 10-year zoological authority millage to support the Detroit Zoo also will be on the ballot, as it will be in Wayne and Oakland counties.
The proposal seeks to renew and restore the millage to the originally voter-approved rate of 0.10 mill. It would renew the millage at 0.0922 mill and restore the remaining 0.0078 mill that was reduced due to required rollback, for a total authorized rate of 0.10 mill, according to the Macomb County ballot proposal.
It said that if approved, the millage rate would be unchanged from those approved by voters in 2008 and 2016. More than $3.8 million would be collected in the first year, according to the Macomb County proposal. The proposal passed in Macomb County with nearly 59% of the vote in 2016 and 66.5% of the vote in 2008.
The zoo, located in Royal Oak in Oakland County, cares for more than 2,000 animalsand 200 species, according to the proposal. The millage, first passed in 2008, supports their care as well as educational and senior programs and facility maintenance.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.
Support local journalism. Subscribe to the Free Press.
Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Transit, veterans, zoo millages on tap for voters in this Michigan county
