TECUMSEH — Voters in Tecumseh are being asked to renew a millage that has helped the city resurface several local streets during the past 10 years.
The issues that originally led city officials to seek a millage to pay to resurface streets, namely the inadequacies of the state of Michigan’s road funding formula, have not been resolved by the state Legislature, city manager Dan Swallow said. The Tecumseh City Council this summer approved asking voters to renew the millage at 1.9238 mills for another five years. The proposal is on the Nov. 5 ballot.
“Tecumseh is not unique” in asking its voters for local roads funding, Swallow said. “It’s a statewide issue, and there are many local units of government, many cities and villages as well as townships, that are having to ask for local support for road funding.”
If approved, the owner of property with a taxable value of $100,000 would pay $192.38 for this millage if the city levies the full amount. Swallow has said the city has not needed to levy the full amount in past years due to the rising value of property in the city. This year, the city levied 1.4061 mills for the road millage.
The current proposal would allow the city to sell up to $3,380,000 in bonds to pay for work on three bridges and 6.5 miles of local streets. That is about 14% of the city’s local streets.
The funds the city receives through the gas tax are classified by the state for “major” and “local” streets. Each year, the city receives about $890,000 to pay for work on major streets, such as Maumee and Adrian streets, and $313,000 for local streets, Swallow told the council in July. That money is used to pay for maintenance work, such as snowplowing and crack sealing; buying salt and other supplies; renting equipment; and paying the associated labor costs. After the maintenance is paid for, the city has about $114,000 left over for resurfacing major streets. The $313,000 in local streets funding does not cover the $576,000 in annual maintenance costs, so the city has allocated money from its general fund and leftover money from the major streets fund just to cover maintenance.
One notable, recent resurfacing project was Adrian Street. A federal grant covered that $594,200 project which repaved 0.8 mile, or about $742,750 per mile.
When the city resurfaces streets, it uses a mill-and-fill process, where the top inch and a half or so of asphalt is scraped off the top of the street and fresh asphalt is laid down, Swallow said. The material that is removed can then be recycled as gravel or even returned to the asphalt plant to be reused.
Mill-and-fill repaving usually extends the life of a street surface by 10 to 12 years, Swallow said.
The city has ranked its streets from good to poor condition based on the rating system used to evaluate asphalt pavement and identified streets that would be repaved if the millage is approved:
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All streets in the Westhaven subdivision.
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All streets in the Herrick Park subdivision.
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Derby and Fedora drives and Stetson Street.
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Woodstock Lane.
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Seminole Drive.
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Nokomis Street going west from Ternes Street and around to North Union Street.
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Curtis and Wing courts.
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North Oneida Street.
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East Pottawatamie Street between South Maumee and Division streets.
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The 100 block of South Maiden Lane.
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Cairns Street between West Chicago Boulevard and Sunset Drive.
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Southwestern Drive.
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Huron Street.
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North Occidental Highway between Brown Street and the north city limits.
All of those streets are rated as poor to fair.
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The bridges that are included in the work are on North Evans at Red Mill Pond, North Maumee Street at Evans Creek and North Union Street by Brookside Cemetery. Swallow said the bridges need resurfacing and some structural rehabilitation, but the planned work should allow for another 20-25 years before they’ll need more work.
If the proposal is approved, the work would be done in the first couple of years, Swallow said. City officials told the council that bundling the streets together leads better pricing from the contractors that do the work. They also have found residents have appreciated seeing the work being done soon after the past millages were approved.
There is an informational meeting about the millage request scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 21, at the city council chambers at city hall, 309 E. Chicago Blvd. The meeting also will be livestreamed using Zoom. The link to the livestream is posted at tinyurl.com/Tec2024roadmillage.
— Contact reporter David Panian at dpanian@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @lenaweepanian.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Tecumseh roads millage renewal on Nov. 5 ballot
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