Van Buren Road Commission Seeking Millage Renewal

construction34-6
construction34-6

When voters in Van Buren County head to the polls on March 10 to cast their ballots in the presidential primary, they’ll also be asked to approve a millage renewal for local roads. The Van Buren County Road Commission is seeking to continue the assessment that’s been in place since 1978. It was last renewed in 2016. Van Buren County Road Commission Finance Director Linnea Rader told WSJM News last month the funding the millage generates is critical.

“This millage proposal is very important to the road system,” Rader said. “It’s used only on the road system. It is used for road construction and improvement projects. It is not used for any routine maintenance operations. There’s no snow plowing or pothole filling or anything like that. It’s all road improvements.”

The Van Buren County Road Commission uses a large portion of the county-wide road millage funds to pay for its portion of federal and state grants to complete larger, more expensive projects. From 2017 to 2020, those federal and state grants totaled about $4.5 million. The road commission says without the millage, those kinds of projects probably could not take place. The millage costs the average homeowner in the county about $60 per year, or $5 per month.