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Public Act 196, MCL 451.660b

In 1994, the SMART Middlebelt 285 bus route served two counties (Wayne and Oakland) connecting to the SMART 200 bus route serving the city of Detroit and it's large international airport utilizing the allocated amount of the state tax on fuel for mass transit.

In 1995, the first passage of the SMART property tax kept this bus route intact

On November 27, 2006, this bus line was shut down. The Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) has publicly claimed the 285 was shut down as a direct result of the loss of 2.8 Million per year from the city Livonia. The city of Livonia was required by law to pay the same tax as before the bus service reductions and also provide for everyone who lost bus service, even those who are able bodied. This was done at public meetings and there are no known people who lost essential service. The Michigan Department of Transportation was still required to pay legacy costs to SMART employees. The loss of quality of life of having bus service as a convenience was the result of tax shifting by the use of alternative funds as described under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Acting on this can work to restore this route or same as demonstrated by further analysis of how mass transit is funded under federal mandates prior to 1995.

The loss of over $14 Million per year in federal subsidies to coordinate bus routes and the loss of $32 Million per year in operating revenues since 1995 were the actual causes of the bus service reductions. The city of Detroit could lose over $70 per year in state funding because laws can be changed without the consent or proper knowledge of the registered voters. This was the case as transit advocacy groups supported a regional transit agreement in conjunction with the Livonia SMART buses.

The proposed solution in this report is "Operation Bring Back SMART" which is to balance simple budgets to protect the basic rights of the low income and minorities based on 1995 funding levels needed to keep the public bus system in the same or equivalent condition.

Begin - Extract from - www.legislature.mi.gov

Sec. 8.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), an entity that is a political subdivision and is a member of a public authority or the portion of a city, village, or township, which portion is a member of a public authority, may be released from membership in the public authority if all of the following conditions are met:

(a) The entity desiring to withdraw from the authority has approved the question by a majority of the qualified and registered electors voting at a general or special election held in November before the expiration of a tax authorized to be levied under this act.

End - Extract from - www.legislature.mi.gov

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