Bay County Building
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Bay City, Michigan 48708-5941

County Executive Participates in Town Hall Meeting in support of Proposal One

County Executive Tom Hickner was one of four panel participants whotook part in a town hall meeting Wednesday night at Saginaw Valley StateUniversity to discuss Proposal One, which will be on the May 5thballot. The proposal would increase Michigan’s sales tax from six to sevenpercent while generating roughly $1.25 billion a year for roads and bridges.The measure would also provide roughly $700 million a year for local schools,public transportation and the state general fund by 2018.

Tom Hickner spoke in support of the proposal, along with SafeRoads Yes spokesman Dave Waymire. You can watch the meeting in its entirety, byclicking here. Below is an excerpt from aMLive.com article that discusses the event, which was published on March 18,2015.

Hickner said Michiganis raising less on gas taxes than in years past and argued that the bestsolution to address the state's crumbling road infrastructure is to pass thetax request on the May ballot.

"Everybodyrecognizes that the condition of the roads is deplorable," he said."This is the best chance we have, a bipartisan proposal that passed andgot onto the ballot with both Democrats and Republicans supporting it. It iscomplicated, but it does address what the core issue is, which is fixing theroads."

Supporters of theproposal added that many of the other areas funded by the proposal arethemselves sorely in need. Hickner said Michigan's city governments and countyroad commissions stand to receive financial assistance that will, among otherthings, help them fix their own roads and streets.

"All you have todo is drive through any street in Bay City, and you will see why we've got tofix those roads," he said.

Proposal 1 will be on ballots statewide during the May 5election. To view the proposal as it will appear on the ballot, please clickhere.