Traverse City Record-Eagle

Election 2011

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November 1, 2011

BATA ballot language may be confusing

BY BRIAN McGILLIVARY bmcgillivary@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — Tom Menzel knows his decision to follow a rarely used, rarely enforced state law about ballot language will cost the Bay Area Transportation Authority votes for its upcoming millage request.

Ballot language that asks voters to approve a five-year millage to raise $2.3 million annually notes a portion of BATA's millage revenue, about 2 percent, will go to various downtown development authorities and county land bank and brownfield redevelopment authorities.

Those authorities for decades have captured millage money from BATA, the city library, commission on aging, and any other millage for government operations. Only the ballot notice is new.

"The ballot language is confusing to people, even though it's been done for years," said Menzel, BATA's executive director. "It's like a hidden tax or service fee that they sneak in, but now they have to disclose it on our ballot."

Menzel often hears questions about the language because taxpayers don't want money they agree to give to BATA siphoned for other uses.

He said the bus system receives all residential tax money sought through millages. Agencies that capture part of the millage revenue do it through tax increment financing districts. These districts encompass commercial, not residential properties.

That means tax money captured from commercial districts won't go to public services such as BATA, but instead back into those commercial districts.

"It comes up a lot," Menzel said. "But I have no choice ... . We do things the right way here."

State law is clear on ballot language, said BATA's attorney, Pete Doren, of Traverse City. Ballot language has to identify every jurisdiction that is going to receive money. Failure to list the other agencies opens the millage to a court challenge.

Doren said he doesn't think the law is new, and Wexford County's transit agency used it two years ago on its millage request. Yet it's rarely included in most millage requests locally, and Doren said he doesn't know why.

"The statute says what it says and there's really no getting around it," Doren said.

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