The Manchester Enterprise
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
SWWCOG takes road director on bumpy ride
Township officials decry cuts in Road Commission services
By Edward Freundl, Heritage Newspapers
PUBLISHED: January 25, 2007
A Washtenaw County Road Commission official found himself playing to a tough crowd in trying to explain service cutbacks and budget constraints to members of the Southwest Washtenaw Council of Governments.
Advertisement
Road Commission Managing Director Steve Puuri led off SWWCOG's Jan. 10 meeting by illustrating the difficult financial position in which his agency finds itself after years of dwindling state revenue.
But the local township and village officials, who are contending with their own budget problems, seemed to be less than sympathetic.
Puuri explained that his agency's budget crunch is a result, in large part, to other state departments such as Treasury, Department of Environmental Quality, Secretary of State and the Office of Management and Budget dipping into the Michigan Department of Transportation's revenue stream for non-transportation projects, leaving fewer dollars to pass on for local roads.
The amount taken from the state transportation fund was almost $105 million in 2004, Puuri said, but that also includes about $43 million in interest payments.
"MDOT borrowed a lot of money to pay for past projects, resulting in $43 million a year just in debt service for those obligations," he said.
About 1 cent of the 4 cent-per-gallon gas tax collected goes exclusively to pay that interest obligation, Puuri noted.
In addition, he detailed a number of cutbacks in service and other cost-saving measures the Road Commission Board approved in November.
Some of the SWWCOG board members, whose constituents are being asked to take up that slack and live with diminished services, were apparently unconvinced by Puuri's justifications.
"Maybe the county could take a better look at how it spends its money," said Pat Vailliencourt. SWWCOG chairwoman and Manchester village president.
"Along with jails, maybe roads should be part of that (spending priority) rather than building enhancements and new furniture," she said, alluding to improvements being made at various county facilities.
Vailliencourt also took issue with the Road Commission's recent decision to eliminate overtime for snow-plowing crews.
"We have had a lot of complaints about the plowing, and we'd like you to clarify your policy," she said.
Puuri said three factors would determine when plows would be sent out during non-business hours: more than 3 inches of snowfall, significant snow drifting causing road blockages and icy conditions.
"Otherwise, we will come out on the next normal workday," Puuri said. "The objective is to maintain safe roads in the most cost-effective manner we can."
Puuri detailed other measures the Road Commission has taken to trim expenses and live within a stagnant 2007 budget. For example, the agency recently resurrected a policy of requiring a 50 percent match from local townships for all bridge repairs, which generated a chorus of complaints among township officials.
"The federal government funds 95 percent of the cost, leaving 5 percent plus the design and engineering costs to be split," he said.
The Road Commission also has ordered a 50 percent reduction in equipment purchases, instituted a hiring freeze except for critical positions, reduced the surface maintenance program to $400,000 annually and reduced the reliance on contracted design services, instead doing that work with staff personnel.
"We'll either do it in-house or we'll put it off," Puuri said.
Not all stories are guaranteed to appear
online. The Web edition contains a reasonable
sampling of the print edition stories.
For the most complete news coverage, we invite you to
subscribe
to the print edition of the paper.
TOP JOBS
