Wayne County Sneaked a Millage Onto the August Ballot

Lansing, MI – Next week, Wayne County voters will have the option to approve a new millage that has a whopping $570 million price tag. Due to changes made by Governor Gretchen Whitmer and her Lansing allies during the Democrat trifecta, communities that could previously opt out of the millage are now forced to choose.

For years, Wayne County’s SMART bus system was based on an opt-in system. Local officials could decide whether their community participated, or managed public transportation on their own. Sadly, that opt-in system became yet another casualty in Gretchen Whitmer’s war on local control. Now, it is an all-or-nothing millage, and the more than a dozen communities that had previously said no will have this millage on their ballot, whether they like it or not.

Michigan Forward sat down with Matt Wilk, an organizer for Not Smart Wayne, to discuss the circumstances that led up to the new SMART millage ending up on residents’ ballots, and the county’s disregard for local input:

“Local communities have rejected Gretchen Whitmer’s agenda again and again,” said Gabe Butzke, a spokesperson for Michigan Forward Network. “Now, the governor just uses the Legislature and the power of the state government to get her way, whether locals like it or not.”