Ann Arbor voters favor street and sidewalk millage proposals
The city of Ann Arbor asked voters on Tuesday to approve a tax increase to pay for future sidewalk repairs, and residents responded with support.
With all precincts reporting, the sidewalk millage passed 8,010 to 5,314 (60.1 percent).
Ann Arbor voters favored renewal of the city's 2-mill street millage for another five years. With all precincts reporting, the street millage passed 10,345 to 3,038 (77.3 percent)
According to city officials, the 0.125-mill sidewalk millage translates to $13.37 a year in new taxes for the average homeowner. The continuation of the 2-mill street millage amounts to about $214 a year in taxes for the average homeowner.
Sidewalks in Ann Arbor will see more improvements after city voters approved a new sidewalk millage.
Jeff Sainlar | AnnArbor.com
Ann Arbor's city code currently requires property owners to maintain the sidewalks adjacent to their properties. With the $560,000-plus a year the sidewalk millage will raise, city officials plan to shift that responsibility away from individual property owners to the city.
But opponents saw it as a double tax.
In recent years, a large number of residents have been forced by the city to fix their sidewalks — 47,000 slabs throughout the city from 2005 to 2011, to be exact — and some have argued a sidewalk millage doesn't seem fair to those who've already shelled out big bucks.
But city officials believe the $13 a year the average resident will pay — about one-tenth the cost of a single slab — is a good insurance policy against potentially larger costs.
City officials maintain this election was the perfect time to put the sidewalk millage question before voters, following completion of a five-year sidewalk inspection program.
In 2005, the city began an aggressive program of inspection and enforcement in order to bring all sidewalks up to a uniform level of quality and safety.
Over the course of five years, one-fifth of the city's sidewalks were inspected each year, and homeowners with faulty sidewalks were ordered to pay to fix them.
That program is now complete and the city's inspectors have combed through every neighborhood in the city. City officials stress that all faulty sidewalks either have been repaired or — in the case of those that aren't yet fixed — the city will complete the needed repairs by the end of 2011 and assess the costs to the property owners who failed to comply.
City officials say passage of the millage marks a shift away from an admittedly unpopular program that's placed a heavy burden on individuals.
They contend sidewalks are a public good used by all, and so spreading out the maintenance costs across all property owners is a more fair and reasonable approach.
Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's e-mail newsletters.
Comments
LB
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 9:36 p.m.
Does that mean I get a rebate for the $600 I paid a few years ago?
Greg
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 8:55 p.m.
Nice that both measures passed. But, we need to ask why funding for public art keeps getting added into these measures. Most likely because the majority would not pass funding for the "art" if it was a measure by itself. Sneaky and underhanded way for those who want public art to get it. Ethical - NOT.
Joseph Stevens
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 7:40 p.m.
"And when one is not able to pay the property taxes the government confiscates your home to settle back taxes. Remember you don't own your home the government does." And when you stop making mortgage paying the bank will take away your house too. And to the other people out there who bitch about students, considering only approximately 13,300 people cast votes for the two millages I highly doubt that students made a significant contribution.
Jack
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 6:47 p.m.
I actually preferred paying for my own. That way it at least got done. It took the City six years to remove a diseased tree from the extension. Limbs were falling down on cars, etc. Was told it was in the hopper. Six years. I imagine the sidewalks will be the same. That is why I voted against it. Mine are already fixed.
Bertha Venation
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 6:17 p.m.
It seems kind of unfair to me that those of us without sidewalks, and do not WANT sidewalks, have to pay for other people's sidewalks. Just sayin'
Bababooey
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 8:16 p.m.
Bertha...you don't ever use sidewalks?
Mike
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 11:48 a.m.
The private sector can do this work much cheaper than the government. You should at least be proud that one or more government jobs with better benefits than you get will be created from this millage
Ed Kimball
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 1:37 p.m.
Why do you assume that the private sector won't do the actual work? I'll bet the city will contract it out, just as it does with most of the road work. And the city should be able to get a better deal than in individual homeowner through volume purchasing.
Stuart Brown
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 6:40 a.m.
David Frye said, "Ann Arbor voters tend to love living in Ann Arbor. Paying our taxes is how we support our city, and supporting our city is what makes it worth living here. The average reader of this web site seems to feel differently." That about sums it up--the voters prove that they are willing to put their money where the mouths are--good intentions, bad outcome. Giving more money to the Hieftje machine for sidewalks probably will not result in more or better sidewalks. With over $28 million in the Streets millage fund, residents should get sidewalks without a tax increase. The 2-mills going into an over-funded Streets fund could in theory pay for more safety services if the voters had been asked.
David Wizard
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 4:54 p.m.
If that is the priority of voters, why don't they swarm every City Council meeting until it gets done?
golfer
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 4:53 a.m.
ok how do we get them fixed. call the city or do they check them out every so many years. i just had 21 slabs fixed a couple years ago. this is now a double tax. whey do you think they put it on the ballot now. because they are all fixed. i plan on calling them and saying i want my sidewalk fixed when it needs it. lets see how quick they come. smart move, use the tax money to draw intrest since you will not be spending very much since they are already fixed.welcome to washington.
justcurious
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 9:29 p.m.
That's what you get for thinking and figuring things out! Your not supposed to do that you know...
Mike
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 11:51 a.m.
They'll check them and when money is low they'll ask for a higher millage saying they miscalculated or look the other way since they can't afford to fix them. It will cost a few hundred thousand to administer the program plus you have to pay for a permit then you can start repairing some walks..........
pbehjatnia
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 4:39 a.m.
Yay! Ann Arbor voted as always..... more money for art we cannot afford and sidewalks after most property owners have had to pay out of pocket for repairs already.... and let us not forget street repairs to our supposedly great road system for which we already have a load of dineros on the bank but which our dear mayor and council seem to have earmarked for anything but street repairs. yay! more art included in the deal so we can support foreign artists. Ann Arbor voters: you get what you pay for. keep that in mind next time you feel like whining.
David Wizard
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 4:52 p.m.
Who voted for public art? That wasn't on the ballot, unless you count a vote for Rapundalo as a vote for public art, and he was voted out of office.
Val
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 4:08 a.m.
The polls showed that the millage for sidewalk repair would go down in flames. Ooop! Did the poll take into account the student vote, a vote by people who have no responsiblity to pay the tax. This true for all the millage being passed in Ann Arbor. People who don't pay any of the millage taxes have the right to vote on it and continue to pass it. Why do you think that home owners want to raise their tax bill? I certainly don't and so do a lot of other people I talk with. Why is the home owner the only one paying for things that is the responsibility of everyone that lives in Ann Arbor not just the home owner. And when one is not able to pay the property taxes the government confiscates your home to settle back taxes. Remember you don't own your home the government does. So much of a Castle.
David Wizard
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 4:51 p.m.
If $13 a year is such a burden on a person's household, how in the world can they afford to own a home in Ann Arbor?
Peregrine
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 4:28 a.m.
Many homeowners have obviously voted for the proposal knowing that it would raise their taxes. It may be a mystery to you, but not to others. Sidewalks are useful infrastructure that we'd like to support. You don't want to use property taxes to support this type of infrastructure. So what do you propose? A city-wide income tax? A city-wide sales tax? Toll booths on the sidewalks?
David Frye
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 3:18 a.m.
Curious that the annarbor.com "poll" about the sidewalk millage went 2-to-1 against the proposal, when the actual voting goes exactly the opposite direction. Why do you suppose that would be?
sigdiamond
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 2:20 p.m.
Because about 90% of the people who post on this site don't live in Ann Arbor and are just angry, conservative senior citizens from Wayne County? I thought this was fairly obvious.
A2anon
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 12:14 p.m.
Yes, exactly. AA.com posters are WAY more conservative than the population of AA. I suspect very few of the very vocal "fund nothing, hate everything" posters here actually LIVE here.
David Frye
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 3:58 a.m.
Ann Arbor voters tend to love living in Ann Arbor. Paying our taxes is how we support our city, and supporting our city is what makes it worth living here. The average reader of this web site seems to feel differently.
Tony Livingston
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 3:41 a.m.
Ann Arbor voters will pass any tax. That is why city taxes go higher and higher. Green space, sidewalks, you name it. They will vote for it.
Tom Teague
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 3:37 a.m.
Other reasons: You do not have to be a registered voter, legal voting age or even a local resident to respond to the aa.com poll. Self selecting polls, such as those aa.com uses, are notoriously inaccurate and unscientific.
MyOpinion
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 3:26 a.m.
You can vote in the AnnArbor.com poll from your basement. To vote in the election you actually have to get out and vote. Pollsters have quite a bit of trouble predicting ballot measures. There is definitely nothing nefarious going on.
MyOpinion
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 3:09 a.m.
"In 2005, the city began an aggressive program of inspection and enforcement in order to bring all sidewalks up to a uniform level of quality and safety." And, yet notice the sidewalk in the photo accompanying with this article. Is this an example of a sidewalk that is up to a uniform level of quality? My bet is that this tax will not be enough. My guesses: (1) The city does not have a census of its sidewalk slabs. Remember Recyclebank? The city ended up with fewer housing units eligible for pick-up. (2)When citizens aren't responsible for paying for the slabs anymore, who will be happy getting a single out-of-alignment slab replaced? We'll push for the pockmarked, cracked, etc. slabs to be included. And, look for the squeaky wheel neighborhoods to get the most "repairs." (3)Keep an eye on overhead. There shouldn't be any 25% charge to city personnel for several years, but there will be.
EyeHeartA2
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 2:13 a.m.
"City officials were confident heading into the election the street millage — which brings in about $9.1 million a year and is essential to paying for streets and bridges in Ann Arbor" ....as well as funding $91K worth of "art" - how much does a teacher make a year? - how much does a cop make a year? - how much does a firefighter make a year?
Jack
Wed, Nov 9, 2011 : 6:41 p.m.
The $91K would not cover the salary and benefits of any of of the professions you list in Ann Arbor.