Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-02-28
County SeIhshness


- raid the dwindling funds of the state highway
department.
If they not stopped now Michigan is liable to
wind up with magnificent network of itteused county
roads, but with the primary highway system neglected
This latest plot by rural politicians to grab more
money land incidentally share of the taxes
paid by Detroit automobile owners) is undertaken in
bill introduced the House this week by Representatives
Victor A Knox of Sault Ste Marie and Apheus Decker
of Deckerville in Sanlac County
The measure would compel the state highway de-
partment to return another S50O0,0O0 year to the
counties for local roads, thus increasing the counties
share of road money to 1913 lis 600 year.
The disastrous consequences of this bill are obvious
when it is realized that the state last year had only
S13700000 for construction program. 1t would force
the curta expansion costs to about SS7OOOO0
which insufficient to carry out the necessary
program undertaken by Highway Commissioner u Donald
Kennedy.
THE secret motive behind this attempted flching is
i that it would stop Kennedys plans for the future
particularly his proposed network of limited-access
thoroughfares in Detroit.
AS long the state highway department was spend
ing nearly all of its construction money outstate rural
legislators willing to leave few millions IN the
Lansing treasury
But now that Commissioner Kennedy has admitted
Detroit has been neglected too long and should have
a modern parkway system comparable to New York and
other cities the graspng rural road commissioners would
raid the highway fund and usurp the money earmarked
for the metropolis.
that of the automobile and gasoline tax money is
paid Detroit and that for almost two decades Detroit
has not objected the expenditure of this for the
highways tnat nave pueo rurai Ncisdn oue VI .ie iu
DACK in 1929 the counties shared half of the weight
D tax.The balance of this levy together with all OF
the gasoline tax the state highway department
The raidng by rural politicians started in 1881
when the Legislature grabbed $4000000 year from the
gas tax and distributed it among the counties
on basis of mileage not population This was known
as the McNitt Act
The next year special session held, and the
county road commissioners seized the remaining half OF
the weight tax thus leaving the state only the gasoline
revenue after the McNitt money had been deducted
In 1884 they engineered another money grabbing
Mot and took an additional So from the dwndng
surplus left to the state.
And now they want $5Oo00oO year more
THEIR excuse for this latest raid is astonishing.
/ The rural commissioners argue that in 1929 they
had S245OOOOO for local roads, raised through local
taxes in addition to the money from the state They
no longer collect local road taxes.
SO THEY DEMAND THAT THE STATE RE-
PLACE ALL OF THE MONEY RAISED AT THE
TIME BY THE COUNTIES THEMSELVES.
Their reasoning is based on the outlandlsh presump-
ton that county roads important than the trunk
line highways.
This is greed stark and unashamed
The bill should be killed
Otherwise the state might well close its highway
department and turn all money to the counties
which after ALL is probably the ultimate goal OF many
county road commissioners.