DALLAS -- A Michigan infrastructure trade group has launched a campaign to help residents and lawmakers understand the scale of state underfunding for roads and transportation.
The FixMIState campaign led by Michigan Infrastructure & Transportation Association comes on top of the recent release of a report commissioned by Gov. Rick Snyder that shows Michigan is underinvesting in infrastructure by about $4 billion per year. Public and legislative support is needed for some of the proposed funding mechanisms laid out in the report, including the use tolls and tax increases.
"The campaign is not about blaming any one person or institution," said MITA Executive Vice President Mike Nystrom. "Michigan's infrastructure is a mess for one simple reason: because we've ignored what needs to be done to fix it for decades. If you want to place blame, blame decades of inaction. But blame gets us nowhere, other than in divisive debates. This campaign is about awareness and solutions."
Nystrom said his association began planning the campaign in August of 2015, when it became clear that Michigan's unmet infrastructure needs "were going to be generating headlines until we get some long-term solutions in place."
"The problems with the aging water lines and system in Flint started making national headlines last December," he said. "It was then that my members decided it was up to us to lead Michigan toward some solutions. What we have seen in Flint could happen in many places in Michigan, and the problems with our infrastructure extend well beyond drinking water systems."
The state's largest funding gap is in transportation and water infrastructure according to Snyder's 21st Century Infrastructure Commission.
One option the state may consider to bolster high-priority infrastructure needs is bond financing, given currently low interest rates, the state's favorable credit rating and financing capacity. Moody's rates Michigan Aa1. The report says the state may borrow up to $1 billion.
The report also recommends an increase in water infrastructure fees that could create an annual estimated revenue generation potential of $36 million.
Also on the menu of revenue generating options are: a 20% increase in vehicle registration fee that would generate an additional $200 million; tolling 5 cents per mile on 360 miles of US-23 to generate $138 million; and introducing a $40 county-wide registration fee or a 10 cent county wide gas tax to bring an additional $440 million in revenue.
