For each penny of gas or diesel tax, Michigan gets about $45 million for transportation funding needs that include roads. There are lots of road cost variables, but that $45 million might buy, for example, 23 more lane miles of reconstructed roads or 75 additional lane miles of repaired roads. Or, it could enable the […]
What does an additional penny of gas tax buy?
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan's current fuel taxes place it in the national top 10
Michigan last raised its fuel taxes in 1997, moving it from 15 cents to 19 cents (technically 18.715) for gasoline. In the interim, the buying power of those 19 cents — for asphalt, steel and the other elements of road construction and repair — has eroded. The nonpartisan Citizens Research Council noted in a 2011 […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Inflation takes bite out of road repairs
Michigan citizens know the pocketbook pressures of rising prices for such everyday items as bread, milk and even the occasional beer. But less evident are the increased costs of the materials needed to build and repair the roads on which they drive. That means that the pennies of tax placed on each gallon of Michigan […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
* The Capitol news service MIRS is paywall protected, but I wanted to share some basic data it collected on salaries for top political appointees in Michigan. “Salaries of the department directors as of Jan. 10, 2013: – John Nixon, Department of Technology, Management and Budget: $250,000 – Mike Flanagan, Department of Education: $189,515 – Andy Dillon, […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Who's to blame for Michigan's road woes?
There is no shortage of fancy electronic charts, graphs and statistics to document the crumbling state of Michigan’s streets and highways. Grand Rapids auto repair shop owner Jay Ziomkowski, though, charts it by the customers who walk through his door. He recalled a recent winter, when “the roads were just horrific. Certain sections were like […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
In West Michigan, evidence mounts of statewide road crisis
A few weeks ago, Grand Rapids TV station WZZM posted a request on its Facebook page: Tell us about about the worst roads in West Michigan. Comments poured in. An Ottawa County resident described James Street, a road near Holland, as “horrible, has been for a long time. Not only filled with potholes but way […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Bad roads throw up barriers to farmers, auto firms, tourists
Better than most, Cass County resident Cliff Poehlman understands how bad roads raise the cost of doing business. Poehlman farms about 2,000 acres of corn, wheat and alfalfa in southwestern Michigan. He is also a 22-year veteran of the Cass County Road Commission. In recent years, Poehlman said, the commission has been forced to issue […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Michigan politicians starve the engines of economic growth: universities
While we consider Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget message – to be delivered Thursday — we might want to look at some facts underlying our economy. The (persistently) bad news: Since 2008, Michigan has slashed state support for public colleges and universities by 21.5 percent. The (sort-of) good news: We rank only 11th among states in […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
* Another hospital in Michigan says it won’t hire smokers. McLaren Greater Lansing calls the policy change a “‘no-brainer’ given McLaren’s mission to promote healthy lifestyles and save lives.” And, dear smoker, lest you think you’ll just go work for yourself and get your own insurance plan, comes the news that, “The Affordable Care Act — […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Make every vote count
By Dan Brown The result of gerrymandering is the antithesis of representative government. As Phil Power recently noted, when the 2012 election gives one party 54 percent of the seats in the Michigan House of Representatives while receiving only 45 percent of the vote, the concept of representative government is negated. But, is it only […]