All of our online programs reflect the updates in the Regional Traffic Count Program. The data can be obtained on SEMCOG’s Web site through a database or an interactive map as shown below. The next step for SEMCOG is to analyze trends as well as related socio-economic factors.

A Sample Interactive Map of Traffic Counts:

Contact: Chade Saghir, SEMCOG Data Analysis.

Interested in knowing how SEMCOG’s data impacts local governments and residents in Southeast Michigan? Then, you’ll want to read Xuan’s weekly posts.

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No community we work with merely wants to become “average”; however, knowing where they stand relative to the average helps them initially prioritize their improvement efforts to the service areas and metrics within each service that exhibit the largest gaps to the average. Once improvements are realized, or for those measurements that are better than average, the benchmarks are targeted.

Rather than taking a shotgun approach to performance measurement, it is recommended a local government first identify the service areas with the largest gaps in cost per capita. Then take a deeper dive from there to help prioritize and focus your efforts.

For more information, contact Dave Boerger, boerger@semcog.org.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

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Wow! Even sports radio was talking about this! They were saying that 0.05 is too low. Most people in America who have one drink and then get in their car and drive would be breaking the law. Are these the people who cause the most crashes, or the more deadly ones?

Photo: Usien (cropped)

People were calling in and asking why not enforce the existing laws on the books dealing with drinking and impaired driving rather than turn otherwise law-abiding citizens into law breakers? Don't statistics say most people are killed by multiple offenders that are very drunk – way over 0.08 – instead of the casual drinker? What happens to the after work stop-for-a-drink crowd? Does this put bars out of business?

How do you feel about this issue? Will you feel safer and more secure while driving if the allowable BAC is set at 0.05? Will you stop for the casual beer on your way home, or worry that you could be stopped for being impaired? Should the allowable BAC stay at 0.08 while increasing enforcement of existing laws? Send me your comments. I will let you know the results.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

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May 17, 2013 - My home has a main road along the side yard. To say that the road is not in the best of shape would be an understatement. The road causes “issues” on a regular basis. Here are some tips on how to make lemonade when bad roads are giving you nothing but lemons.

• Each spring I discover large chunks of road material on my lawn after the thaw. I would suggest that you do what I do: use these to line your flower beds instead of using those expensive landscaping stones.
• The resulting hole in the road can be put to practical use: fill it with some water and make it a wonderful birdbath. Don’t worry the birds will see the cars coming.
• I accumulate a nice collection of hubcaps that have been jarred loose by pot holes. Consider doing any of the following:
  • Erect a sign: “Hubcaps for sale!” (Remember to check local zoning ordinances)
  • String them on some coat hangers: they make very interesting mobiles!
  • Make a wind chime.
  • They make great Frisbees, and they can be used to create fake UFO photos!
• If you want to be helpful to your neighbors: sit next to the road with one of those NASCAR type jacks and a pneumatic lug wrench. You can have that blown-out tire replaced before the driver even gets out of the car. It would sure beat the afternoon I spent helping one young man changing his blown-out tire. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for that poor guy!

Of course all of this could be avoided if we could just convince the legislature to enact a funding plan for roads that will actually pay for the needed work!

Every budget, every project, begins with revenue. Bill’s posts will focus on local government revenue issues across the SEMCOG region and state. Also look for a few insights on how legislation coming out of Lansing may impact your community.

 

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The following SEMCOG member communities have been recognized to-date:

City of Westland – Oct. 2010

St. Clair County – Dec. 2010

City of Howell – Mar. 2011

City of Farmington Hills – Sept. 2011

Green Oak Township – Jan. 2012

City of Novi – Sept. 2012

Auburn Hills – Oct. 2012

Livingston County – Nov. 2012

City of Dearborn – Dec. 2012

Your community - 2013

For more information or for no cost assistance implementing these initiatives, contact Dave Boerger at boerger@semcog.org.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

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May 13, 2013 – This week, SEMCOG’s Executive Committee will be asked to approve a draft 2040 Regional Transportation Plan for Southeast Michigan. Once adopted, the plan will guide transportation investment for the next few years.

One big difference in this plan is the funding anticipated to be available. The 2035 plan anticipated a significant increase in funding to build needed transportation improvements. The draft 2040 plan does not anticipate such a generous assumption. Why? Well, neither the Congress nor the Michigan Legislature has shown any courage to provide needed additional funding. It doesn't make any sense to continue to anticipate dollars to make improvements that just never seem to show up. If you do not see your favorite project included, it is probably because there just are not enough dollars to do all of the work that needs to be done.

The draft 2040 plan does anticipate additional Canadian funds to build a new bridge to Canada. The draft plan also includes two other major projects: improvements to I-94 from the Lodge to Connor and widening I-75 in Oakland County. The rest of the projects are all programmed to improve existing pavement and bridges. In this regard, the draft 2040 plan continues a "fix it first" approach consistent with the 2035 plan.

Another way the draft plan and the 2035 plan are similar is that there aren't significant new investments in public transit. The M-1 Streetcar project is a start – an important start. The Regional Transit Authority (RTA) will hopefully be able to raise additional dollars in the coming years to allow the funding of additional service, including introducing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and other higher levels of public transit.

Be sure to review the materials on SEMCOG’s Web site and try to attend one of the remaining three public meetings and let us know what you think before SEMCOG’s General Assembly adopts the plan in June.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

 

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May 13, 2013 – Last week, SEMCOG staff member Kevin Vettraino attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the City of Ferndale’s “How the West was One” Road Reconstruction and Streetscape Improvement project. Earlier this year, this project was awarded funding as part of SEMCOG’s Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP). Specifically, this project will:

• reduce the traffic lanes from 5 to 3 on Nine Mile Road between Livernois Street and Pinecrest Drive,
• add a parking lane with porous pavers,
• widen the sidewalk,
• update crosswalks to ADA standards,
• replace streetlights, and
• add benches, trash receptacles, trees, and landscaping to match the current streetscape on Nine Mile Road on the east to Woodward.

In addition to the merits of this project – a great driver of economic development, walkability/bikeablity, and increased safety along a major corridor – it was also the first Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) project in the State of Michigan to be obligated. Earlier this year SEMCOG awarded over $6 million in TAP funding to 16 projects throughout the region, including Ferndale’s West Nine Mile road reconstruction and streetscape. These awarded projects ranged from local trail projects that filled regional gaps, to complete streets enhancements that provided for bike lanes, buffer lanes, bus pull-out bays, and stormwater mitigation techniques. All of the awarded projects met multiple outcomes, such as improved access to transit, environmental improvements, increased access to downtown areas, and enhanced safety.

The excitement of the groundbreaking was evident from all who attended. "It is a dream for us to actually see this coming to fruition," DDA Executive Director Cristina Sheppard-Decius said when she addressed onlookers gathered on the grass near Livernois and Nine Mile. Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter echoed her sentiment: "I'm really proud to be the mayor of the city today," he said before inviting the group to dig into a ceremonial mound of dirt.

Congratulations to the City of Ferndale. We echo the city’s excitement for this project and a great example of a TAP program in the region!

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This improvement is the result of work with the Michigan Government Finance Officers Association (MGFOA), Michigan State University, and Plante Moran. Check out the Webinar to see what this means to your community. Some fiscal scores will increase and some will decrease. The Webinar will explain the reasons why, the relevance of the changes, and provide additional detail on the development of the new tool.

Daniel Howes from the Detroit News labeled Munetrix as the equivalent of a “Fiscal Radar” for local governments in April 2011. We like to refer to it as night vision for local government officials. Whatever you call it, the new fiscal indicator system promotes the concepts of seeing is believing; using data to make decisions; and no surprises.

To register for the Webinar, please click here.

Until then, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Dave Boerger at any time.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

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State law requires a balanced budget. Limited resources require weighing alternatives and making difficult spending decisions in government, just as we do in our households or businesses. While SEMCOG and MAC encourage residents to talk to their local officials about priorities in their own communities, this survey will provide citizens a chance to share their collective input at the state level.

The brief survey asks four questions that provide residents with a chance to voice their opinions, including an opportunity to specify 10 areas in which it is most important for the state to invest. In addition, there is a question on whether to increase funding for transportation, enabling much-needed road and bridge maintenance and improvement, and how to generate additional revenue. There is also a question on whether to support Medicaid expansion in Michigan, which would increase the number of low-income citizens qualifying for coverage, and take advantage of federal funding under the Affordable Care Act.

The issues being debated for budget consideration will significantly impact quality of life and economic prosperity in Southeast Michigan, as well as the rest of the state. Decisions on the condition of our roads and bridges and how we fund transportation, healthcare expansion and opportunities for cost containment, and how we support education, the Great Lakes, economic development and other critical issues will impact all who live, work, and raise families here.

Please let us know what you think and we will share your thoughts with Lansing leadership.

SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, and the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition (MAC) invite Southeast Michigan residents to voice opinions on the 2013-14 State Budget – Michigan’s priorities for the upcoming year and how they should be funded – via an online survey directly, or by visiting the website of either SEMCOG or MAC. The survey will be available until May 19. Additional comments can be e-mailed to  InfoCenter@semcog.org.

Paul Tait joined SEMCOG in 1972 and has served in a variety of planning and administrative capacities – becoming Executive Director in 1998. This experience gives Paul a rich perspective on the past, present, and future of our region. Please join him as he blogs about issues of importance to the region’s local governments and residents. Paul is also president of SEMCOG’s partner organization – the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition (MAC) – a coalition of business, labor, government and education.

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One of the strengths of the RTA legislation is that it addressed many of the flaws in the way we governed transit for many years. For example, the legislation made many of the RTA decisions subject to only a majority, instead of a unanimous vote. Even some of the more challenging issues only require a super majority vote instead of a unanimous vote. The RTA has the ability to raise its own revenue – this is crucial for implementing its plans. The legislation also includes all four counties – Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and Washtenaw – with no opt-out communities. We are either all in or all out. In my opinion, this is key.

Transit is an issue that impacts us all and we should all decide together how it should operate, where, when, and what it should look like. Even if you don’t personally use public transit, it impacts you in ways you may not even know. It helps people get to work so they can earn a living and pay taxes. It helps decrease auto emissions. It helps decrease congestion. It helps the young and the old get around without you and me having to provide that needed ride. Does everyone get back exactly what they put into it? The answer is no. At the same time, do the citizens that pay a gas tax get back a dollar-per-dollar benefit for what they put in – again the answer is no.

Legislators point out that transit is expensive and inefficient, yet they would introduce legislation ensuring it is run inefficiently – helping to legislate their point. This bill should be voted down and vetoed by the governor if it somehow gets that far.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

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The truth is many of us love watching the X-Games on TV and there’s an opportunity for the games to be live in Detroit beginning in 2014. Detroit is one of four finalists (including Austin, Chicago, and Charlotte) that will be announced this summer.

Bringing in events like the X-Games isn’t just about the games itself. It’s all part of an effort to attract and retain young people in the state and region. In addition to bringing in new events to the region, we need to focus on marketing the national jewels already in place.

For example, Lake St. Clair was just named the top bass fishing lake in the country by Bassmaster Magazine. Many of our region’s lake are national assets that need to be highlighted at a national scale. 

Whether it’s the X-Games or bass fishing on Lake St. Clair, the region and the state needs to rally around these successes. SEMCOG is doing our part by working with our local communities on blue economy strategies, discussing opportunities for ecotourism in our region, and participating in statewide efforts to highlight our region’s assets. Join the conversation and together we can move the needle on Creating Success in Southeast Michigan.

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May 1, 2013 – As the Local Government Effectiveness Team travels the region providing no-cost operational and fiscal services to SEMCOG member communities, we find all kinds of innovative solutions that are helping our members maintain and sometimes enhance services while lowering costs. Some of the most recent examples follow:

Construction Inspection Scheduling Tool

The City of Novi is one of the first communities in Michigan to to provide an online inspection scheduling tool. Contractors and homeowners in Novi can schedule construction inspections using the new Online Inspection Portal. The portal allows users to request all types of inspections, such as building, electrical, plumbing, and heating.

Small Commercial Revolving Loan Program 

The Small Commercial Revolving Loan Program, maintained by the City of Ann Arbor's DDA, currently offers business owners low-cost loans in order to encourage energy efficiency improvements. 

Controlled Computer Shut-Downs

The City of Wixom has enacted a policy of controlled computer shutdowns for all administrative and other office equipment, which do not run programs or other functions outside of normal business hours. These controlled shutdowns have saved the city over 17,000 kW/year in electricity usage while also reducing HVAC loads. 

Septage Disposal Facility 

St. Clair County has begun a feasibility study as to the possibility of operating a septage disposal facility within the Smiths Creek landfill. This facility is to be used to provide an alternative method of disposal for the county's septage waste, which allows the county to divert septage from the traditional processing plants, easing capacity, while allowing the gas produced by the decomposition of the septage waste to be used as an alternative energy source.

To develop similar innovative solutions within your local government, contact SEMCOG’s Dave Boerger for no-cost assistance.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

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April 30, 2013 – I never believed I would see a driverless car in my lifetime. I never thought we could build the infrastructure to support it, but it looks like I am wrong yet again! By now many of you have seen tape, or YouTube video of the Google car demonstration complete with a blind person “driving” the car. It is amazing to watch the driver give the car a location and watch the car, through the use of GPS, drive the car to the exact location.

Michigan is an important player in the driverless car technology. In the coming days, the Michigan Legislature may pass S.B. 169, which will regulate the testing of driverless cars in Michigan. The bill can serve two purposes:

1. It will establish some ground rules to keep everyone safe during the tests on public roads; and
2. It will promote the testing of these vehicles in Michigan instead of forcing car companies to test this technology in other states.

The legislation has the ability to attract new companies to Michigan to enhance and grow this important technology. Michigan is a natural for this type of research – we have the car manufacturers, the research universities, and other major companies. The legislation will only help enhance the opportunities for more and varied testing.

Researchers predict vehicles with combined technologies such as adaptive cruise control and accident avoidance systems will be market-ready by 2016. Semi-autonomous vehicles, where the driver still must interact but not operate all functions of driving, could hit the market in 2020, and, by 2025, some cars may drive fully independently.

Cars that drive themselves – what’s next? Food that cooks itself? I vote for lawnmowers that run themselves!

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

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April 29, 2013 – Two sets of new data are made available on SEMCOG Web site recently. First, the population and household estimates have been updated to December 2012. These new estimates reflect currently more favorable trends in Southeast Michigan's basic demographics by taking into account most recent data in migration, birth, death, and housing. Last year – 2012 – was the first time in more than 10 years that the region experienced population growth. Thus, the new estimates show more positive changes for many communities.

Growth in population and households is also positively affecting the residential construction business. The seven-county Southeast Michigan region finished 2012 with a total of 5,577 new residential building permits issued – an 18 percent increase over 2011. It was the third year in a row for gains in residential construction. Since hitting the bottom in 2009, issued permits have more than tripled in number. Total reported construction value for all residential units combined in 2012 was $953 million. Residential building permit data are an effective measure of community growth – both demographic and economic. SEMCOG’s Quick Facts report – Residential Construction in Southeast Michigan, 2012 – contains additional data and charts related to this topic.

Both sets of data are available for each community in Southeast Michigan as illustrated in the following map.

Residential Building Permits Issued by Community, 2012

Interested in knowing how SEMCOG’s data impacts local governments and residents in Southeast Michigan? Then, you’ll want to read Xuan’s weekly posts.

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April 23, 2013 – Last week I attended the quarterly meeting of the Oakland County Trails, Water and Land Alliance to describe the green infrastructure visioning session we will be holding with them in July. At this meeting, Road Commission for Oakland County said they are moving forward with implementation of their Complete Streets Plan that SEMCOG helped develop by participating on their committee.

Specifically, Oakland County will be implementing two projects in the future:

• On more rural roads, such as Rochester Road between Lakeville and Leonard, the road commission will install wider paved shoulders to accommodate nonmotorized traffic.
• In a more urbanized project, on 8 Mile in the City of Novi, the project will include bicycle striping.

Congratulations to Oakland County for taking their plan and moving it to action!

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

 

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April 22, 2013 – The Michigan Department of Treasury has announced that more than $4 million will be awarded to 11 Michigan communities through the Competitive Grant Assistance Program (CGAP). CGAP, formerly known as the Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP) grant program, was proposed by Governor Rick Snyder in his first State of the State Address. The grant program is designed to offset costs related to consolidation or sharing of services between local units of government. “This program has proved to be very popular among municipalities looking to get the most out of their resources by partnering with other units of government," said Gov. Snyder. "The Department of Treasury reviewed dozens of applications for this initial round of funding for 2013 and to be selected, applicants had to show a strong commitment to collaborating with other municipalities and incorporating best practices." The following communities will receive CGAP grants, with projects and amounts noted (alphabetical order); several are SEMCOG members:

             
Applications for the remaining $11.7 million in CGAP funding for FY 2013 will be available on Treasury's Web site May 1, 2013 and will be due by June 28, 2013. Treasury will review applications on a rolling basis, with initial reviews beginning June 3, 2013.The focus of the second round of FY 2013 grant awards will be on stimulating projects between two or more qualified jurisdictions that are creating new mergers, consolidations, and/or cooperative efforts/collaborations of existing services.

For more information, visit www.michigan.gov/revenuesharing or contact Dave Boerger.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

 

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I told the Woodward Alternatives Analysis Study Steering Committee that the fun was about to begin. We have gone through the analysis process and compared generic light rail, bus rapid transit, and express bus options and have concluded that bus rapid transit (BRT) is the best way to proceed on Woodward. Now, we are hosting a series of five community meetings this month to ask the public to give us their input on specific issues to help us move forward on the project.

At the meetings, members of the community will have the opportunity to learn why, after analysis and community input, bus rapid transit has emerged as the preferred option for transit along Woodward. There will be displays and discussion highlighting this cost-effective flexible mode of transit and how it works in cities across the country and around the world including Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Cleveland, Ohio; and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Those attending will also have the opportunity to give the project team their input on routes and potential station locations and on local feeder bus routes.

Each meeting will include displays, a presentation, opportunities for one-on-one discussion with the project team, and group discussion following the presentation. Area residents, business owners, and community, agency, and government leaders are all encouraged to participate in any, or all, of the meetings.

One meeting was already held in Ferndale and almost 100 people attended.

The four remaining meetings will be held in a number of study area cities including:

• Tuesday, April 23, 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm (Detroit, Highland Park)
  Detroit Public Library, Main Branch, 5201 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48202 
• Thursday, April 25, 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm, (Pleasant Ridge, Huntington Woods, Berkley, Royal Oak) 
  Berkley Community Center, 2400 Robina Avenue, Berkley, MI 48072
• Saturday, April 27, 11 am to 1 pm (Detroit, Highland Park)
  Detroit Public Library, Main Branch, 5201 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48202
• Tuesday, April 30, 6 pm to 8 pm (Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township, Pontiac) 
  Manresa Jesuit Retreat House, 1390 Quarton Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI  48304 

Please try to attend any of these meetings and make your comments known to us. At the same time, take a look at the information from Grand Rapids as their BRT project is about to begin. We can get there!

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

 

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April 16, 2013 – After spending a day at the Michigan Municipal League’s Conference in Lansing last week, it is clear that most local governments are striving for “organic” revenue growth beyond their existing base. In other words, after cutting costs to offset a 20-40 percent drop in municipal revenues over the last several years, and faced with future revenue increases capped by Headlee at the rate of inflation, the only viable chance to climb out of the fiscal hole municipalities find themselves in is through successful community economic development (CED). SEMCOG offers assistance to members on many of the CED initiatives suggested below.

This is a brief recap of advice provided by a panel of CED experts:

• Have dedicated staff for CED.
• Develop an attractive and clear CED vision.
• Leverage multiple resources at the local, regional, state, and federal levels.
• Engage leaders of existing businesses/schools/partners/young professionals/community organizations/regional CED partners/convention bureaus/elected leaders/staff/collaborative partners/organizations like Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Councils of Government, Michigan Municipal League, Michigan Townships Association, and Michigan Association of Counties (MEDC’s Placemaking & Redevelopment Ready tools were cited as an excellent CED resource).
• Don't go for the home run, instead focus on and support existing businesses first, entrepreneurs second, imported businesses third.
• Solicit professional help from established CED-focused companies with successful track records that offer a value proposition.
• Pursue grants from multiple sources to help fund CED efforts.
• Work together with other communities to share CED best practices and resources.
• Make your community more attractive to potential development by:
  • Creating walkable/bikeable settings,
  • Catering to retirees and millennials,
  • Supporting entrepreneurship and economic gardening,
  • Enhancing transportation, especially transit and eliminating one-way streets,
  • Fostering cultural enrichment,
  • Pursuing environmental sustainability,
  • Improving information and telecommunications infrastructure,
  • Establishing DDAs, enterprise zones, land banks, and conservancy districts,
  • Improving your community events and Web site, and
  • Engaging smart and energetic people within your community.

For more information or assistance dealing with your community’s fiscal and operational challenges, at no cost to member local governments, contact Dave Boerger at boerger@semcog.org

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

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But hold on a minute. You will not be seeing steel and concrete going up anytime soon. There are going to be several issues and legal challenges that will have to be overcome before any construction can begin. One issue is the fact that the owner of the Ambassador Bridge owns much of the vacant land in the area. I am sure he hasn’t stopped fighting yet. The Ambassador Bridge Company has a pending federal lawsuit seeking to stop the bridge, claiming the Ambassador Bridge has an exclusive franchise.

State Rep. Fred Durhal, is also suing Governor Snyder, challenging the governor's legal authority to enter into an agreement with Canada without the state legislature's approval. So, there is work yet to be done, but make no mistake about it, getting the presidential permit is big – real big!

"This is huge," Gov. Rick Snyder said Friday afternoon in announcing the permit. "It's more than a bridge to me. It's about jobs and our future in this state."

Well said, governor. It is all about jobs and the future. Now if we can just get everyone rowing in the same direction, we could make some serious economic development noise in this region. On the books, we have the improvements to I-94 and widening of I-75 coming. Improvements at the Detroit Intermodal Freight Terminal (DIFT) are getting closer to happening, the M-1 investment on Woodward, reconstruction of Woodward, and soon, a bus rapid transit (BRT) alternative on Woodward – and of course the bridge. If you add up all of the potential investment in public infrastructure from just these projects, you are looking at over $4 billion of capital investment!

Can’t we stop fighting this success and begin working together to leverage the good things that can come out of this level of investment? The jobs, development, and education opportunities are just what Detroit, this region, and this state need to continue our growth out of the economic slump we’ve been in for so long.

If we can just get out of each others’ way…!

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

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April 10, 2013 – On Monday, SEMCOG staff, along with St. Clair County Administrator Bill Kauffman and his staff, visited Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Director Dan Wyant to begin discussions on extending a successful demonstration into a full-scale project.

In 2005, St. Clair County was looking for ways to extend the life of the existing county-owned landfill, while addressing concerns for proper disposal of septage. Hence, the concept for a septage bioreactor landfill project was born. St. Clair County has been injecting septage into the landfill and has successfully shown that 1) it helps degrade the solid waste at a much faster rate; 2) this is a proper location for disposal and use of septage; and 3) the gas emitted can be captured and turned into energy.

Eight years ago, SEMCOG worked with the state and St. Clair County to amend Michigan’s 1994 Public Act 451 to allow for the injection of septage under a Research, Development, and Demonstration Project (RDDP) permit. In 2007, the county was issued a permit to construct the RDDP and in 2008, septage injection began.

Successful implementation includes:

• Waste stabilization can be decreased from several decades to approximately 10 years.
• Using septage to accelerate solid waste decomposition reduces the need to dispose septage using land application and, therefore, reduces the potential for non-point source pollution to surface water.
• Use of septage in landfills also reduces the need for disposal of septage at wastewater treatment facilities.
• As waste decomposition occurs, the in-place waste volume is reduced, making it possible to reuse the recovered space and extend the life of the landfill.
• The additional landfill gas from the bioreactor cell supports two electric generators generating up to 3.2 megawatts (MW) of electricity, which can power 3,000 homes.

The savings in landfill operations and the revenue from the operation of a gas-to-electric power generation facility has made it possible for reinvestment of these funds for other county initiatives, such as regular contributions to the County Economic Development Fund, used to assist local communities in attracting private investment. The county will also be using these funds to help with the expected operational costs of a new exhibition and conference center and the continued funding of the County Road Commission and airport which maintain vital transportation assets in the county.

Stay tuned. SEMCOG will continue to work with St. Clair County on taking this project into full-scale implementation.

If you want to know more, link here for the St. Clair County report.

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

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April 9, 2013 – The following Southeastern Michigan communities received grants from the State of Michigan in 2012 for the consolidated services indicated. The 2013 grant program is underway, and round two for submissions will potentially re-open this spring based on last year’s Treasury practices. Get more information on the grant process.

Dearborn	Feasibility Study - Tax Administration Services	$25,000
Farmington Hills	Combined Public Safety Dispatch & Jail Project	$148,250
Grosse Pointe	Public Safety Department Consolidation Study	$20,000
Grosse Pointe	All Grosse Pointe Dispatch Consolidation	$300,000
Pleasant Ridge	Pleasant Ridge/Berkley Public Safety Merger	$132,250
River Rouge	River Rouge/Ecorse Public Safety Department Project	$647,609
Southgate	Allen Park/Lincoln Park/Southgate/Wyandotte's Animal Control Services Consolidation	$235,000
Trenton	Combined Dispatch Center & Prisoner Lockup Facility (Trenton/Riverview)	$239,750
Washtenaw Co.	Washtenaw Metro Dispatch	$177,500
Waterford Twp.	Waterford/Pontiac Fire Services Consolidation	$567,500
Westland	District Court Consolidation (Dearborn Heights/Garden City/Inkster/Wayne/Westland)	$8,750

 

SEMCOG provides grant writing training and tips, and can assist communities considering some form of consolidation to apply for a CGAP grant. Also, SEMCOG’s AgileGov searchable database can be accessed to identify recipients and details on other types of grants that may be pertinent for your community. And finally, regarding EVIP, the deadline to submit for the last category on employee compensation is June 1, 2013. A webinar to help communities comply with the EVIP requirements is planned for 10:00am on April 17th. Register for the webinar. 

 

Contact Dave Boerger for no cost assistance with your EVIP submissions or any other fiscal or operational issues.

 

   

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

 

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April 8, 2013 – The first meeting of the newly formed Regional Transit Authority (RTA) is Wednesday, April 10 at 3p.m. in SEMCOG’s offices. Historic? I am not sure that is the word I would use. After all, we did have DARTA for a while before it was dissolved. I think the word I would use is "hopeful."

Public transit is at a crossroads in Southeast Michigan. The general fund contribution from the City of Detroit to DDOT, the Detroit Department of Transportation, has been cut in half. The SMART mileage is bringing in fewer dollars than had been anticipated. Federal and state dollars are also down. Service has been cut to all users of the system – essential services for many. People are mad about the lack of service for all kinds of reasons. They depend on the service in their everyday lives, and want and need it to be better.

This is the situation that the RTA steps into. People are hopeful this new group of volunteers can solve transit issues those before them could not. They need them to. This RTA is armed with a couple of things that previous groups did not have. For one, their existence is the result of legislation. They also have the ability to ask the people in the four counties they represent to provide funding to implement their plans. Those are two large differences from previous attempts.

The meeting on April 10 is the first of many meetings to come. The men and women of the RTA have much to learn about public transit before they can decide on how best to improve it. Everyone wants their issue to be addressed today, but the issues can't all be solved quickly. Some issues will be addressed in the near future. Some will take longer to solve.

The RTA is our best chance to improve public transit in our region. Give them information and support. It is not going to be a quick or easy job. Learn more about the members, meeting dates, and locations.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

 

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The quote from legendary urban planner Daniel Burnham has never been truer than right now for Southeast Michigan. Reading through the draft public land strategy for the State of Michigan, there are numerous issues of interest for our region. First, there is a call to increase public recreation land in Southern Michigan, as well as increasing trails and public access to our waterways. With the interest in increasing recreation land on the rise, the need for coordination and interest group input has never been greater.

This is a direct tie to SEMCOG’s work in developing two plans – the Green Infrastructure Vision for Southeast Michigan and the nonmotorized plan. Each of these efforts will engage stakeholders this spring and summer. We will be visiting with each county and the City of Detroit to ensure meaningful input is given.

This input will not only guide our planning efforts, but SEMCOG will work to ensure that any increase in state land, trails, and public access follows the recommendations from these plans. Get involved!

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

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March 26, 2013 – SEMCOG’s General Assembly meeting is this Thursday at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, which will give our Local Government Effectiveness Team a chance to connect with officials from member communities with whom we’ve worked on recent projects, for example:

• Ypsilanti – Assisted with police and fire matters as a follow-up to a comprehensive fiscal and operational assessment provided for the city, including development of a five-year financial plan and associated efficiency recommendations.
• West Bloomfield and Tri-Cities of Keego Harbor, Orchard Lake, and Sylvan Lake – Provided supporting data and recommendations regarding enhancements to their existing public safety shared service arrangements. Also helped several of the communities develop long-range financial plans and convert to multi-year budgeting.
• Southgate and Wyandotte – Facilitated meetings with officials regarding collaborative opportunities between the two neighboring cities and provided comparable data from other communities from downriver and across the region.
• Marysville – Developed a comprehensive report with comparable benchmarks and recommendations regarding enhancements to their police and fire departments.
• Macomb County - Actively participated in the Macomb Area Communities for Regional Opportunities (MACRO) consortium of local governments in the southern portion of the county. The ramifications of the Personal Property Tax elimination have been the most recent focus.
• Warren – Assisting the city prepare a citizen survey with Cobalt Community Research the city’s third such survey since 2009 that guides Warren officials regarding service, budgetary, and policy matters.
• Orchard Lake – Helped the community transition to a multi-year budgeting approach that allows three-year budgets to be created seamlessly from a set of budget assumptions.
• Grosse Pointe Shores – Performed a fiscal and operational assessment for the city, including comparable data from similar sized and neighboring cities and recommendations regarding future planning and a fiscal forecast.

Contact Dave Boerger to provide similar services at no cost for your community.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

 

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The number of traffic crashes fell four percent to 273,891 from 284,049 in 2011. Injuries were also down two percent. However, fatalities increased five percent over 2011from 889 to 936, according to the Michigan Department of State Police (MSP) Criminal Justice Information Center. While this is five years in a row that Michigan has had fewer than 1,000 traffic fatalities, it is not good that the numbers continue to inch upward.

Specific areas that experienced increases included motorcycle fatalities, up 18 percent over 2011 (109 in 2011; 129 in 2012), and alcohol- and drug-involved fatalities, which increased three percent to 281 and six percent to 135 respectively. Wonder how many of the increased deaths in motorcyclists can be attributed to the change in the helmet law? Apparently, freedom comes with a price.

A further look into the numbers does indicate we may be headed in the right direction in a few areas:

• Teen fatalities declined 14 percent (99 in 2011; 85 in 2012).
• Bicyclist fatalities were down 17 percent (24 in 2011; 20 in 2012).
• Pedestrian fatalities decreased five percent (140 in 2011; 133 in 2012).
• Crashes involving deer declined nine percent, (53,592 in 2011; 48,918 in 2012).

While we have made strides to decrease the total crashes and fatalities in some key areas, the overall results are just not good enough. Two people are killed in auto related crashes every day in Michigan – every day! We need to work harder on all fronts – education, training, design, enforcement, engineering, – to make these numbers come down.

SEMCOG is currently processing all of the new 2012 crash data and will have more details in the coming weeks on the Southeast Michigan numbers. Be sure to check our Web site for more specifics. Hopefully this information, along with previous information, will help us develop effective programs to stop the carnage on our roads.

Please be careful out there!

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

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As the governor summarized, “Talent is the single largest opportunity for the state and all of us need to be part of the solution. Those states that do something about talent will have the strongest economies in the next 20-50 years.”

Attendees identified the top talent needs in Michigan as:

• Skilled trades,
• IT,
• Project management, and
• Engineering.

They identified the most effective ways for connecting business to education and workforce to fill the skills gap as:

• Collaborating with K-12 on skilled trades careers,
• Establishing internships, co-ops and apprenticeships, and
• Developing training agreements with education partners.

The summit presented many ideas for growing the state’s talent pool by attracting veterans into skilled trade apprenticeships/jobs, encouraging businesses to pool resources to train employees in growing areas, and inspiring students in middle school and earlier to engage in hands-on learning and activities that develop their interest in skilled trade and other in-demand careers.

Throughout the summit, four themes continued to be emphasized:

• The importance of post secondary education to Michigan’s economic success,
• Developing soft skills such as teamwork, problem solving, and critical thinking for workplace success,
• The vital role of entrepreneurship and the need to support this, and
• The role of place in attracting and retaining talent.

These are all important to SEMCOG. They are identified as essential strategies in the region’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy and the work of the SEMCOG/MAC Talent Task force on soft skills and infrastructure jobs.

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

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March 20, 2013 – SEMCOG members Macomb County, Sterling Heights, and Clinton Township are partnering together for 911 dispatch services. This shared-service arrangement between a city, township, and county sets the stage for broader cooperation among all the local governments in Macomb County.

The county has approved an expansion of their dispatch operations to potentially provide services to every community in Macomb County that would save each 20-30% on their current 911 dispatch costs, based on the savings being realized by Sterling Heights ($700,000 per yr.) and Clinton Township ($400,000 per yr.).

The county has also agreed to interview and hire qualified dispatchers currently employed by a community joining the consortium, which helps (along with likely retirements and attrition) to resolve major labor relations issues typically associated with such consolidations.

The concept for this consolidation surfaced during discussions at regular meetings of the Macomb Area Communities for Regional Opportunities, or MACRO. The members are all the communities in southern Macomb County, including the county. SEMCOG has actively participated in this group since its inception more than two years ago. We provided our shared service best practices and collaboration checklist with the group in one of the initial meetings, which helped get the ball rolling on this and other collaborative ventures among the member communities.

For more information on the 911 dispatch consolidation, refer to these Macomb Daily articles.

Should your community need similar assistance, please contact Dave Boerger at boerger@semcog.org.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

 

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March 19, 2013 – How long does it take you to get to work on most days? The U.S. Census says that the average time to get to work in the U.S is a little over 25 minutes. Of course, this number varies from state to state and even city to city. From my home in Livonia, it takes me an average of just under 25 minutes to get to work, or just under the national average. Let’s look at a few more. For example, the Census tells us that the average commute time in Atlanta is almost 32 minutes. In Philadelphia it is over 33 minutes and over 30 minutes in Chicago.

Of course, these are averages. In some places, the commute times are well below the 25-minute figure. However, the Census data tells us that in many places, the normal commute time is well over 90 minutes a day! That is crazy, but it is what many people put up with to live in communities where homes are reasonably priced, have great amenities, good schools, and lower taxes.

One more thing. The most recent data suggests that contrary to the reports indicating the commuting times are increasing, the average commuting times have actually been very stable with little change over time.

Click on this link and check out the interactive map to look at your average commute time.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

 

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March 18, 2012 – Thanks to the fast-paced economic recovery in Southeast Michigan, the region gained 5,750 people from July 2011 to July 2012. The newly released population estimates by county from the U.S. Census Bureau added an encouraging sign to the positive regional trends in job growth, higher home values, and increasing income. On the demographic side, the largest improvement is the fewer people leaving the region (the pink bars in the following chart). During the decade-long recession, we had 52,700 more people leaving the region than coming in from the rest of the U.S. each year. That negative number has been cut in half over the last couple of years to about 23,700 per year. The natural growth of population, which is the number of births minus deaths, continued to decline as expected (green bars). There is more uncertainty in international immigration data (yellow bars) than other components. Nevertheless, the decrease in immigration is somewhat alarming as we attempt to attract more talent to our region. Overall, Southeast Michigan had a very small gain of total population (red bars) averaging 500 people per year after 2010 – still a significant improvement from losing 12,900 people per year in the last decade.

In the last few days, there were a number of media reports on this topic that SEMCOG staff contributed to, including the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit News, WDIV Channel 4, and AnnArbor.com.

Annual Average Change of Population by Component

Interested in knowing how SEMCOG’s data impacts local governments and residents in Southeast Michigan? Then, you’ll want to read Xuan’s weekly posts.

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March 15, 2013 – Many of us have heard the term “dashboard” quite a bit in the last few years. Dashboards are important in order to gauge where you are and where you want to be. Today we are moving forward in the development of our own kind of dashboard for natural resources in Southeast Michigan. This is part of creating a Green Infrastructure Vision for Southeast Michigan.

Step 1: Benchmarking what we have. We have recently completed a land cover analysis for all seven counties. This includes impervious surfaces – paved roads, buildings, parking lots, driveways – and trees – which can reduce the amount of polluted stormwater entering lakes and rivers, clean the air, and enhance the region’s quality of life. Both are important benchmarking data.

Our analysis shows the following:

• Our region is comprised of 14% impervious surfaces. As you break that down by county and watershed, the numbers change greatly. For example, the impervious surfaces in the City of Detroit are over 50%.
• The tree canopy in our region is 33%. Again, it ranges depending on the area. For example, Oakland County has 44% tree canopy.

These and other data sets will lead us to Step 2: Determine where we want to go with the Green Infrastructure Vision and how we will get there.

We will learn more during visioning sessions in the summer. Stay tuned.

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

 

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Recognizing the need for these institutions to anticipate, study, predict, and report on fiscal results, this Web-based management tool helps public institutions better understand and communicate their financials with stakeholders, and plan ahead using predictive analysis. Comparable fiscal and economic data for every community and school system in Michigan is provided. Three optional service levels are offered, with the enhancements to each level described below:

Level One - Access to this level is available to the general public by simply visiting their Web site at www.munetrix.com. The fiscal data included on their level one site has just been updated to include 2012 basic information for citizens interested in learning more about the financial viability of their community or school system, as well as others in their area or of similar size. There is no cost for access to this level.

Level Two – Typically, Councils of Governments like SEMCOG or intermediate school districts subscribe to this level on behalf of all their members. The historical data is much more comprehensive and detailed, allowing officials to readily access critical fiscal data for their community or any other comparable communities desired. The data can best be accessed via the COG’s Web site, at this link for SEMCOG, as an example. The recent upgrades include the 2012 fiscal data as well as more comprehensive EVIP Citizen Guides and Dashboards for enhanced transparency.

Level Three – For a nominal fee, individual community subscribers can build long-term forecasts, easily perform comparable analysis and run scenarios in a fraction of the time over legacy systems. Assumptions can be run against industry-vetted algorithms and metrics, which provide clear visibility to future budget impacts; allowing valuable time for course correction if needed. The output is digestible even to the non-financially inclined. Data is presented in a consistent, normalized manner that is meaningful and in context. Click here to see the current level three subscribers across the state (designated with an MX in the left column).

In addition, licensed Munetrix users benefit from the system's architecture, which allows network building to facilitate real-time information and best practice sharing. The recent updates include the ability to communicate with other financial managers in the system; compare departmental or overall performance against others; and post success stories in a dynamically, searchable forum.

For more information on Munetrix, or for no cost assistance with your municipal fiscal and operational challenges, please contact Dave Boerger, boerger@semcog.org.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

 

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March 11, 2013 – Once again, while Michigan continues to talk and disagree about how or even if we should increase transportation funding, another state has gone ahead and done it.

The State of Virginia recently made significant changes to how they are going to fund transportation improvements in the future. The state moved from a traditional flat state excise tax on gas to a proportional sales tax on gas that will vary with the price of gas.

The plan originally proposed by the Governor Bob McDonnell (R) would have replaced their 17.5 cent per gallon gas tax with an increase in the state sales tax. Sound familiar? In the end, the Virginia state legislature eliminated the 17.5 cent gas tax and replaced it with a 3.5 percent tax on the wholesale price of gas and a six percent tax on diesel fuel. They also agreed to a new $100 tax on hybrid and electric vehicles and increased the tax on car sales from three to 4.3 percent.

Everyone happy? No. But guess what? This action resulted in more dollars for Virginia to address their transportation concerns. We are still talking, discussing, and disagreeing about what we should do. Meanwhile, we are growing a bumper crop of potholes this spring with no hope of fixing our roads or transit systems anytime soon.

Let's get off the dime and make it happen!

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

 

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March 5, 2013 – Governing Magazine has an interesting feature on their online news called the Daily Digit. Each day a statistic is provided that indicates an interesting and informative metric about local government. After doing some research on SEMCOG’s AgileGov and Munetrix, our searchable databases of successfully implemented ideas and fiscal comparable data, the following statistics associated with our member governments were identified that may prove interesting:

322 – The number of shared service proposals submitted by eligible member local governments as part of the Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP) for this year’s submission.

14% – The percent of cities across the SEMCOG region that have expenses on a per capita basis better than the benchmark of $798 per capita in total expenses. Some of the best performing cities are Berkley, New Baltimore, Rochester Hills, South Lyon, Southgate, Sterling Heights, and Westland.

$40 billion – The taxable value drop from peak levels across the SEMCOG region. This equates to a 24% drop. Some of the notable communities that dropped the least were Ann Arbor, Ft. Gratiot Twp., Monroe, Pittsfield Twp., Pleasant Ridge, Plymouth, and Royal Oak. In a survey of these best-performing communities, efforts to improve economic development and the quality of schools were the greatest contributors to minimizing taxable value drops in their communities.

5 months – The time from concept to implementation for a fire collaboration between the cities of Westland and Wayne, saving $320,000 per year.

1908 – The first year that Cottrellville Township began contracting with Marine City and Ira Township for emergency fire services. Marine City provides fire services to the majority of the township, while Ira Township covers the western border of Cottrellville stopping one mile into the border. This is the longest-standing shared service arrangement from across the region documented in AgileGov.

0 – The number of SEMCOG member communities who have had Emergency Managers appointed by the state due to fiscal issues.

For no-cost assistance dealing with your fiscal or operational challenges, SEMCOG members should contact Dave Boerger.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

 

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March 4, 2013 – Michigan amended its driving while intoxicated and driving under the influence laws in 2003 to conform to the federal requirements to define "operating while intoxicated" to mean having a blood-alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 or greater. However, the 0.08 BAC standard will sunset, and the 0.10 BAC will again be the legal standard for operating while intoxicated in Michigan, effective October 1, 2013.

Legislation has been introduced in the Michigan legislature to stop the sunset and have the existing definition of 0.08 continue. There are two different reasons to hope the Michigan Legislature will renew the legislation. The first is purely economic.

The new federal transportation legislation – MAP-21 – amended several sections of federal law including penalty provisions related to the 0.08 BAC requirement. The new provisions direct that beginning in FY2012, the Federal Highway Administration shall withhold six percent of federal funding for certain programs from states which had not enacted or were not enforcing laws meeting the federal operating-while-intoxicated requirements.

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) indicates that Michigan will lose an estimated $50 million per year in federal funds if legislation restoring the 0.08 BAC is not passed. Our roads are in terrible enough shape right now that we cannot stand to lose even one dollar of federal funding.

The other reason has to do with recent statistics on alcohol-related crashes. Since enactment of the 0.08 BAC definition, the incidences of alcohol-related crashes have decreased. There was a slight increase last year, but overall, the number of drunk drivers involved in traffic crashes is down. Having said this, the incidence of alcohol involvement in the number of crashes and in fatal crashes is still alarming. From 2007-2011, alcohol was involved in almost four percent of total crashes in Southeast Michigan, but in 32 percent of the fatal crashes in our region! One out of every three fatal crashes involves at least one person who has been driving under the influence. That is staggering!

Obviously, we have much more work to do. Changing the definition back to 0.10 is going in the wrong direction. Call your legislators and tell them to keep the definition at 0.08. Tell them that alcohol is still over-represented in fatal crashes, and we must take additional steps to increase our safety while driving.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

 

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March 1, 2013 – On Monday, I traveled up north to the Higgins Lake area to participate in a state group that is charged with advising the Michigan Department of Natural Resources on the organization and substance of a Public Land Management Strategy.

While this strategy was called for by the Governor and required by Public Act 240, the time has never been better to have a consolidated strategy for public land. For example, there are numerous stakeholders calling for using the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund beyond its current purpose of acquiring and developing public land. Many local plans, including Macomb County’s Blue Economy Plan, call for increased access and public spaces. This strategy can help address many of these issues.

Specifically, this group is identifying outcomes and measurable objectives for protecting the state's natural and cultural resources, fostering growth of land-based economies, and ensuring the availability of high-value recreational opportunities.

The committee is also being used to assist in developing an acquisition and disposal strategy for state land. The lack of state land in Southern Michigan has been recognized as a priority to be addressed.

So . . . Three-hour drive up. Five-hour meeting. Three-hour drive back. It’s worth it to ensure Southeast Michigan’s interests are reflected in this strategy.

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

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February 28, 2013 – Two days in a row, SEMCOG data were cited in the front-page articles of the Detroit News earlier this week. The data included our population estimates, building permits, and local government finance information. One article reported on the recovery of residential construction activities in Macomb Township and its growing population, while another article discussed the continuing financial pressures facing local governments. It is a primary goal of SEMCOG to provide timely and accurate data for local government decision making. Madison Heights Councilmember Margene Scott, echoed these sentiments, “I appreciate all SEMCOG does to unite our region and provide us with knowledge and expertise to do our job effectively.”

The above Detroit News articles painted two very different pictures; on one hand, there are more new homes being built in some communities as the region’s economy recovers; on the other hand, many local governments are still struggling with declining revenues. One reason for the seemingly contradictory phenomena is that each community is unique. Take property tax base for example. All communities experienced taxable value decline in the last few years, as the 3D map below shows. But some communities lost a lot more than others (on the map, the higher the bar, the greater the decline). A total of 24 communities have lost 30 percent or more; many of them are concentrated in southern Macomb County, Oakland County, western Wayne County, and Downriver. Meanwhile, some communities in Washtenaw and Monroe counties lost only a small percentage. Our role in the data work is to provide information and analysis that specifically helps each community.

Percent decline in taxable value from peak, by community in Southeast Michigan

 

Interested in knowing how SEMCOG’s data impacts local governments and residents in Southeast Michigan? Then, you’ll want to read Xuan’s weekly posts.

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P.A. 436 Process

1. Preliminary Review – Treasury assesses fiscal stress based on 16 different triggers
2. Financial Review Team – Treasury team declares a financial emergency, then negotiates a consent agreement with the local government.
3. Local Choice – Local government has 4 options – see below

Local Choices

1. Consent Agreement – as negotiated by Treasury above
2. Mediation – drawn from California FE law – mediator trained in conflict/dispute resolution has 90 days to arbitrate a settlement among creditors, unions, local government officials, and the State Treasury.
3. Receivership/Emergency Manager – has ability to modify contracts, amend budgets, adjust staffing, consolidate staffing, sell assets, outsource services, or order a millage election.
4. Chapter 9 Bankruptcy – Governor must approve and federal court must confirm, then appoint judge. Interested parties and creditors receive “haircut” similar to private-sector bankruptcy process.

The new law also applies to local school districts in fiscal distress. For more details on the new law, click on this MSU link for Frequently Asked Questions on the subject matter. In addition, the Webinar has been recorded and is available on the Michigan State University Extension Web site.

Contact Dave Boerger if you need fiscal or operational assistance at no cost to SEMCOG member local governments.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

 

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February 20, 2013 – We have had our share of snow and ice the past few weeks. But even more so, our local communities have had their share of budget and staffing cuts over the last few years. It’s rewarding when one of them gets recognized for innovation and excellence on a reduced budget.

Today, that’s the City of Novi.

Earlier this month, the Novi’s Department of Public Services (DPS) received the American Public Works Association’s (APWA) Excellence in Snow and Ice Control Award for 2013. Thanks to the innovative thinking and commitment of Matt Wiktorowski, the Field Operations Senior Manager, Novi DPS has achieved this high-level, national recognition. 

Novi DPS pursued pioneering practices despite difficult economic times, reduced staffing, and a decreasing budget. Their innovation has resulted in less salt being applied to local roads and reduced labor costs per snow storm by customizing their equipment, making their own liquid brine to reduce salt purchases, and talking to neighboring communities to learn about new approaches.

These improvements have had a dramatic impact on the city’s budget. In 2008-2009, the city’s average labor cost per snow storm was approximately $12,700. During the 2011/2012 season after many of these innovative winter maintenance activities were implemented, the average labor cost per snow storm was reduced by 70% to approximately $3,900.

SEMCOG nominate Novi for this award based on their use of innovative techniques, materials and equipment to achieve higher standards in winter maintenance activities while improving the environment and reducing their costs. In 2011, The City of Farmington Hills also received this prestigious national award for their proactive anti-icing program in an effort to improve road conditions and reduce salt usage at the best economical value.

Congratulations Novi!

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

 

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February 18, 2013 – Transit is going to be a very important word in 2013. We will be discussing it a lot and in several different ways. Regional Transit Authority (RTA), tax, better service, Woodward, and bus rapid transit (or, BRT) are but a few of the things we will discuss over the next 10 months. But right naow, let’s talk about the M-1 Streetcar project.

Next week, a public hearing will be held on Thursday, February 28, at the Detroit Public Library from 4-7 pm. The purpose of the meeting is to provide information about the proposed streetcar project and to get public input about its construction and operation. A supplemental Environmental Assessment (EA) is in the process of being completed and the impacts of the proposed project will be discussed at the meeting.

If all goes well, the hope is that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) will give the project its final blessing and that construction activities can begin later this year on actually making this project a reality.

The M-1 Streetcar is not light rail, despite the fact that the press continues to call it that. The M-1 project is 3.3 miles in length, going from downtown to New Center. It will use smaller cars than typical light rail cars and will operate both in the curb lane and in the center median. 

Most importantly, it is not a standalone project. It will connect to the Woodward transit improvements being planned as part of the ongoing Woodward Alternatives Analysis study. It is the first step in developing an overall connected regional transit system.

So, come out to the meeting and learn more about what the project is and how it can impact you. Get more information on the project here, E-mail Bob Parsons of MDOT, or just show up at the meeting.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

 

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February 18, 2013 – As our economy continues to recover, there seems to be more and more good news on the region’s housing market. Home prices bottomed out in April 2011. Since then, they have increased by 18 percent, based on the Standard and Poor's Case-Shiller home price index. There are fewer foreclosures. Existing home inventories are at the lowest points in years. The number of new building permits has been increasing three years in a row. SEMCOG’s latest data show that total residential building permits increased from 4,733 in 2011 to 5,494 in 2012, which a gain of about 16 percent.

Although we still have a long way to go to get back to “normal,” as the following chart shows, the new year looks very promising. The Home Builders Association of Michigan is expecting a 39 percent increase of single-family building permits in Michigan (its report can be seen here). That is nearly 14,000 new homes for 2013 in Michigan. Note that this does not include multi-family homes. While single-family homes averaged 68 percent of the housing market in the last 10 years, multi-family homes remain a significant part of the market. One may expect that we could see a larger portion of new homes being multi-family as the demographic continues to change – more seniors leaving their larger single-family homes for retirement living, as well as the younger generation looking for an urban lifestyle.

For detailed residential building permits data of each community in the region, please visit SEMCOG’s Web site, where you can find permit data going back to 1969 by construction type, such as single-family and condos, as well as demolition data.

Building Permits in Southeast Michigan, 1969-2012

Interested in knowing how SEMCOG’s data impacts local governments and residents in Southeast Michigan? Then, you’ll want to read Xuan’s weekly posts.

 

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February 15, 2013 – Interested in money to help implement a new trail, reduce stormwater runoff from a road project, or start a safe routes to school program? SEMCOG’s new Transportation Alternatives Program, or TAP, may be the answer.

On January 29, 2013, SEMCOG’s Regional Clearinghouse Review Committee (RC2) met to discuss and award over $6 million in projects for the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP). TAP is a new federal program that offers funding opportunities through implementing a variety of improvements, including pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure and safety programs, environmental mitigation activities, historic preservation and rehabilitation of transportation facilities, and safe routes to school programs.

The awarded projects ranged from local trail projects that filled regional gaps to complete streets enhancements that provided for bike lanes, buffer lanes, bus pull-out bays, and stormwater mitigation techniques. All of the awarded projects met multiple outcomes, such as improved access to transit, environmental improvements, increased access to downtown areas, and enhanced safety. By thinking about individual projects more holistically, local governments are successfully leveraging partnerships for matching grant funds and receiving grant awards for projects they might not have otherwise been able to afford. As a result, community improvements are being made in single projects that are meeting multiple objectives.

SEMCOG has issued a new call for projects for the fiscal year (FY) 2014 TAP program. Projects can be submitted now through April 22, 2013, at 5 p.m. through SEMCOG’s TAP Web page.

To learn more about this program and how to apply, please consider attending the SEMCOG University: Another $5 million available through the Transportation Alternatives Program.

When: Tuesday, March 19, 2013
9:00 a.m. – Noon
Where: SEMCOG Offices
1001 Woodward, Suite 1400
Detroit, MI 48226

Registration is required for this SEMCOG University. Please register on SEMCOG’s Web site.

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

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February 11, 2013 – Last week, MDOT announced the Freeway Courtesy Patrol is extending its services into Washtenaw County along US 23, M-14, and I-94. Anyone in the metro Detroit area that has ever had a flat tire or run out of gas on the freeway knows what a life saver the Courtesy Patrol is. It is great to see it being expanded into Washtenaw County.

Not many people remember that the concept of the Courtesy Patrol in Detroit was actually the brainchild of several restaurant owners led by Joe Muer. SEMCOG and the Michigan State Police were also there to provide support. The initial idea was to try to provide additional eyes and ears on the Detroit freeway system to help potential downtown visitors and restaurant patrons feel safer. The effort began with one van, expanded to three vans donated by the various car companies with gas and other mechanical components donated by other companies in exchange for putting their logo on the van. AAA Michigan hired and trained the drivers and managed the day-to-day operations of the start-up effort.

Over the years, the project grew and could no longer be effectively administered by a volunteer organization. Then-MDOT Director Jim DeSana agreed that MDOT would take over the responsibility for running the service. They have done a great job.

Today, the Freeway Courtesy Patrol patrols over 320 miles of freeway. In 2012, the Courtesy Patrol assisted an average of 130 motorists a day, helping them fix flat tires and attending to mechanical problems, as well as picking up roadway debris, identifying abandoned vehicles or distributing gas to motorists stranded on the side of the road. It is connected with the MDOT operations center, effectively creating an operation that runs 24/7/365. Quite a change from that first year of operation with one van operating just during the evening peak period!

It is nice to see a good idea take shape, start small, and grow over time to become an integral part of our freeway system. The pioneers who envisioned the Courtesy Patrol and made it happen should be very proud!

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

 

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With the Great Lakes experiencing historic lows for lake levels, marina owners, residents, and local governments are all concerned about the ability to access our waterways. This past boating season was a challenge to many marinas and boat launches where deep water is now replaced with sand bars.

Yesterday, the governor’s budget recommendation included harbor dredging – a 2013 supplemental budget for immediate dredging and a 2014 budget.

Governor Snyder said, "Michigan residents and tourists enjoy plentiful and picturesque opportunities for boating. To help ensure harbors remain passable for those who enjoy this pastime, the governor’s budget recommends $9.4 million in ongoing funding for harbor dredging in 2014. To address the immediate need for dredging, a 2013 supplemental totaling $21.5 million will also be sent to the legislature."

This is an important issue that needs to be addressed and we encourage the state to work with local communities and marina owners to implement a plan.

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

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Payroll Jobs, Michigan 2000-2012

Data Source: Michigan Labor Market Information

What is leading that growth? Manufacturing and professional services. Those sectors added about 50,000 jobs or 10 percent each in the last two years (see table below). These jobs are concentrated in the automotive industry in our region. Health care continues to grow, but its growth is not as dominating as in the past. Along with the public sector, some industries are still struggling. For example, construction jobs were reduced by more than one percent. However, Michigan communities are showing up on national lists of improving home markets. A housing recovery will stimulate job growth in the construction industry eventually. Furthermore, many economists are predicting an overall healthy economy for 2013.

Michigan Payroll Jobs by Major Industry (in thousands)

Data Source: Michigan Labor Market Information

Interested in knowing how SEMCOG’s data impacts local governments and residents in Southeast Michigan? Then, you’ll want to read Xuan’s weekly posts.

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February 6, 2013 – The February 1st deadline for submission for the Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP) Category 2 Consolidation of Services has been met by all of our eligible member communities – well done! Let’s take a look at some of the more interesting shared service plans provided to the Treasury to qualify for statutory revenue sharing funds.

• Holly Code Enforcement - Effective January 1, 2013, the Village of Holly has implemented a program using Community Service volunteers. This group of volunteers is currently made up of senior citizens who are provided a village-owned vehicle to check for code and ordinance violations throughout the village boundaries.
  
• South Lyon, Green Oak Twp., and Lyon Twp. Community Center - The communities have formed a joint committee to look into building a community center for all three communities.
  
• Wayne County and the Airport Authority Benefits Administration - The proposal benefits both the Wayne County and the Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA) by leveraging Wayne County's existing resources and excess capacity in the PeopleSoft system.
  
• Downriver Central Assessing Division - The communities of Lincoln Park, Wyandotte, Southgate, and Woodhaven have received an EVIP Grant to create one central location to share assessing services.
  
• Ferndale, Royal Oak, Hazel Park, and Madison Heights Health and Wellness Clinic - The clinic will cover workers compensation claims, as well as general health services and prescriptions for employees and their dependents. This approach to health service is a method that has worked in the private industry and is heavily used as a model in other states.
  
• Warren Jail Operations – Public/private partnership that reduces staffing of sworn police officers that currently operate the jail facility at a cost of $2.2 million annually, and redeploy officers to street patrol operations.
  
• Restore Fish and Wildlife Habitat in the Rouge and Detroit Rivers - This project will provide the following outcomes: At least 50 acres of native habitat will be created; Approximately 23 acres of side channel wetlands will be created; Ten in-line ponds will be naturalized and native habitat restored, and 125 miles (including tributaries) of the Rouge River will be hydrologically reconnected to the Great Lakes system for the first time in over a century.

Contact Dave Boerger if you need assistance in developing similar shared services at no cost to member local governments.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

 

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February 4, 2013 – Last week the temperature got up to nearly 60 degrees and we were loving it. But, I also came upon two trucks out filling potholes on the freeway – in January! While listening to the news that night, I heard that many people had been impacted by the back-up caused by the pothole-filling trucks and were not very happy about it. I am worried that this could be a particularly bad spring for potholes and bad roads in general.

Well, help could be on the way – again! The Michigan Senate introduced legislation last week to raise additional transportation revenue for badly needed improvements. In fact, two different proposals were introduced. One concept would replace the gas tax paid at the pump with one at the wholesale level. The gas tax would almost double as a result. Registration fees would also be increased by about 80 percent. The combination would result in an additional $1.6 billion a year.

The other option introduced would eliminate the gas tax all together and replace it with an additional 2 percent sales tax. This would require a constitutional amendment to increase the sales tax from 6 to 8 percent.

I know which of these two options I would choose – the sales tax option. However, it does take us away from the user-fee concept. I know one thing – the extra revenue is needed and is needed now. Don't believe me? Let's talk again in April with pothole season in full gear.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

 

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February 1, 2013 – SEMCOG has been routinely providing updated taxable value forecasts for the entire region using property sales trends published by national sources such as the S&P Case Shiller Residential and CoStar Commercial indices. The following chart represents the latest region-wide taxable value forecast provided by the SEMCOG Data Analysis team.

Since many local units of government are now developing multi-year budgets, officials from a number of member communities have requested taxable value forecasts by individual municipalities. So in response, beta taxable-value forecasting algorithms were developed to calculate future taxable values; however, they were not yet proven or tested – until now. With the results of the 2013 residential taxable values by community just recently published, an analysis was performed on the actual data versus the beta forecast. First of all, realize that commercial and industrial data are not yet available, so that makes the analysis incomplete; however, some preliminary conclusions can be reached:

• Actual home values varied greater than forecasted by a factor of two.
• SEMCOG forecasts tended to be low by at least a full percentage point.

In other words, actual home prices tended to increase more than our models predicted, while the difference between communities was higher than expected. Once the commercial and industrial data is available later this spring, a more comprehensive analysis will be performed and our forecasting models adjusted accordingly, so that hopefully next year, we can provide even more reliable data for use by our member communities as they develop their multi-year budgets.

Contact Dave Boerger if you need fiscal or operational assistance at no cost to member local governments.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

 

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January 28, 2013 – Well, the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) is off to a good start! First off, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood gave them $6.5 million to initiate additional studies in the BRT corridors that were identified in the RTA legislation. Then, Governor Snyder announced that his appointment and the non-voting chair of the RTA Board would be Paul Hillegonds, Senior Vice President at DTE Energy. Mr. Hillegonds is very well respected and an excellent choice, in my opinion. Both MDOT and SEMCOG will provide administrative support to the RTA until they can hire their own staff.

In addition to Mr. Hillegonds, outgoing chair of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, Conan Smith, appointed Liz Gerber, a professor at U of M, and Richard Murphy, who works for the Michigan Suburbs Alliance. Other appointments have yet to be made. The county executives of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb and the Mayor of Detroit have until March 19 to make their appointments. My guess is that they will wait until they each deliver their respective State of the County speeches to make their appointments.

There is going to be lots to do and little time to do it in. The first meeting has to be held by April 18, 2013. They have to adopt their first budget by July 17. In between, board members have to hire a CEO, get briefed on the status of public transit, develop procedures to accept money, award contracts, and convince the Federal Transit Administration that they are well enough along to become the designated recipient of federal transit funds for Southeast Michigan. That is a lot.

I am sure the Board will be up for it. Paul Hillegonds is a great leader and I am sure will steer the Board through all of the things they have to learn and do. So, please give them a chance, especially in the first six months or so, to get all of these administrative tasks behind them. Already some people are talking about a vote of the people to increase transit revenues happening this fall. It’s not going to happen that soon…hopefully, next year. 

The Board has an important and difficult job to perform.  Let’s given them our help and support. The easy work is over – the tough work is about to begin!

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

 

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January 24, 2013 – Two communities in Southeast Michigan officially challenged their 2010 Census population and housing counts – the City of Detroit and Bingham Farms. The Census Bureau has finished reviewing those challenges. For Bingham Farms, the challenge was about geocoding errors at the block level within the city. Therefore, the city’s total population and housing units did not change. Detroit’s challenge resulted in a small increase of 85 people and 43 housing units.

Some of the challenges from Detroit are about houses at the boarders between the City and other communities – Dearborn, Ecorse, Grosse Pointe Park, and Hamtramck. A number of houses that were previously believed to be in those communities are now “reallocated” to Detroit, resulting in a small decrease of population and housing units in those communities. See table below for details.

The overall impact of these adjustments is a small increase of 66 persons and 36 houses for Wayne County and the State of Michigan. SEMCOG’s Web pages, including Community Profiles, have been updated with the revised numbers.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Last updated: 1/15/2013

Interested in knowing how SEMCOG’s data impacts local governments and residents in Southeast Michigan? Then, you’ll want to read Xuan’s weekly posts.

 

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MSU is hosting the following Webinar/conference on the new Emergency Manager Law that will interest local government officials. There is no cost for SEMCOG member communities due to our partnership with MSU on the Michigan Local Government Benchmarking Consortium.
 

 
Understanding the New Michigan Emergency Manager Law (PA 436 of 2012)

To register to attend this event in person send an e-mail to Rosa Soliz and provide the following information:

• Name (First and Last)
• Title and Local government/Business Affiliation
• Email
• Phone Number
• Food restriction

The deadline for registration is January 25th. Lunch will be provided for those who register by the deadline date. You may register after January 25, 2013, however, lunch will not be provided. Parking is available in the grass parking lot across the street on the southeast corner of Erskine and Woodward Avenue.

To attend the event virtually via the webinar, go to the following link: https://connect.msu.edu/scorsone
After opening the link, choose “enter as a guest” and type your name into the text box provided, and click on “enter room.” You are now in the meeting room for this Webinar. For additional tips and instructions for accessing the webinar please e-mail Rosa Soliz.

The Webinar will be recorded and available on the Michigan State University Extension website.

Contact Dave Boerger if you need fiscal or operational assistance at no cost to member local governments.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

 

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January 17, 2013 – The February 1 deadline is fast approaching to submit EVIP Category 2 Shared Service Plans required for eligible communities to earn statutory revenue sharing funds. SEMCOG has partnered with Munetrix to develop an easy-to-use online automated tool to create your submission.

First, search the shared service arrangements for your community documented in SEMCOG’s AgileGov database that catalogs over 1,000 successful collaborative ventures across Southeast Michigan.

Then, view two short videos that Munetrix has created to help communities complete and submit their EVIP forms and supporting documentation.

• Click here to watch Video One – How to build the data
• Click here to watch Video Two – How to complete the submission

SEMCOG and Munetrix have analyzed a number of the shared services documented in AgileGov and the results are shown in the chart below. 

This chart proves there are a number of ways to create and structure a shared service project. For further assistance developing a shared service project or your EVIP Category Two submission, contact Dave Boerger boerger@semcog.org.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

 

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January 15, 2013 – Here we are in mid-January and the pace is almost as frantic as it was before the holidays. Lots of things going on this week including:

• The auto show preview week. Lots of press here from all over the world to look at the new offerings from the car companies. The North American International Auto Show is among the largest and most important shows in the world.
  
• The governor’s State of the State address is coming on Wednesday of this week. Among the topics the governor is expected to discuss is some unfinished business from last year – needed increases in funding to improve transportation infrastructure.
  
• Lots of reports that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will be in town later this week to finally announce that Federal Transit Administration will give the M-1 streetcar project $25 million to begin construction of the project later this year. He may also announce a few dollars for the new Regional Transit Authority to help get that going.
  
• Look for the governor to announce his appointment to the RTA Board later this week as well.
  
• Lurking out there somewhere is a Presidential Permit announcement for the New International Trade Crossing. Wonder when that is coming?

This has the makings of a great week. Good weather – well at least no big snow in the forecast – lots of positive announcements for the international press currently here in Detroit. We have a long way to go, but at least we are talking about some of the more important issues. It gives me hope that if we talk about them, we may find a way to address them.

Oh, one more thing. SEMCOG is moving its offices this week. We will be living in a new building as of January 22. Our new address is 1001 Woodward, Suite 1400, Detroit, Michigan 48226. Please check our Web site for directions and parking information.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

 

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SEMCOG is one of the partners in this effort. In conjunction with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, SEMCOG is using trees and other green infrastructure to reduce stormwater into the sanitary sewer system. Other partners, such as Greening of Detroit, are working on additional projects with various city departments.
 
To learn more about Detroit’s efforts and the efforts of other cities around the country, check out American Forests’ publication, Urban Forests Case Studies: Challenges, Potential and Success in a Dozen Cities.

To learn more about using tree canopy to meet multiple community goals, attend our SEMCOG University on February 14th from 10 a.m.-12 noon at SEMCOG. Register now for this workshop.

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

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January 8, 2013 – Police and fire costs for local governments in Southeast Michigan typically represent 50-60% of the total cost of government, which create serious challenges to balancing budgets while preserving critical public safety services. The City of Monroe is implementing a very creative police and fire solution that, at SEMCOG’s urging, several other communities across the region are also considering.

We’re calling this approach a “hybrid” public safety model that consolidates police and fire departments under the leadership of a Public Safety Director with an adequate number of firefighters to respond to daily fire service demands, coupled with a police department that has a number of cross-trained officers (CTO) trained and equipped to respond to major fire incidents, box alarms, and second fire runs when the fire department is busy on another run.

Conventional public safety models have existed for years, with over a dozen communities successfully using the approach across Southeast Michigan. This model entails only Public Safety Officers (PSO) all cross-trained to perform both police and fire services, with no conventional firefighters on staff. The PSO approach allows more efficient use of staff, since PSOs can perform police duties until a fire breaks out, at which time they respond to the fire. A standalone fire department does not exist. That factor represents the primary inhibitor preventing communities transitioning from separate police and fire departments to PSO departments. Every conversion has been very problematic since existing firefighters are very reluctant to provide police services.

So how does this “hybrid” PSO approach help resolve this issue? The answer lies in the fact that a core group of conventional firefighters remain dedicated only to firefighting, and their work is complemented by police officers trained in firefighting. This approach is more readily accepted by firefighters since they don’t have to perform police work and also actually enhances response times since cross-trained police officers with fire fighting equipment in their vehicles typically arrive to the fire scene before firefighters, so can begin dealing with the situation, especially related to rescuing victims.

The savings typically is in the 15-20% range and can be implemented in about one-third the time as conversion to a conventional PSO department, with much less firefighter resistance.

For more information on this approach and for assistance investigating the applicability for your local government, contact Dave Boerger.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

 

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As it turns out, 2012 was quite a year for transportation issues. We have a new federal program – MAP-21. It is only a two-year bill which brought us no new dollars, but it did bring us performance measures with the promise of tying future funding to the performance of the system.

Other things:

• The voters may have finally ended the embarrassing and never-ending discussion of the need for another international crossing.
• MDOT finally finished negotiating the sale of the Norfolk Southern tracks from Dearborn to Kalamazoo.
• The M-1 Streetcar project moved forward as did the alternatives analysis study on Woodward.
• Dearborn, Troy and Ann Arbor moved forward with plans to build new commuter rail stations.
• The end of the year brought us the much discussed legislation that finally established a Regional Transit Authority (RTA).

That’s a lot!

So what does 2013 look like? Well, here’s some of what is in store for us:

• Lots of federal regulations implementing MAP-21.
• Look for an announcement of the Presidential Permit for the construction of the new crossing – and, unfortunately, the first of many lawsuits to try to stall or stop its construction by the owner of the Ambassador Bridge.
• Completion of the alternatives analysis on Woodward with identification of a preferred alternative.
• Establishment of the new RTA, including naming of all the board members, hiring a CEO, and all of the other administrative processes and procedures needed before getting into the meat of the transit issues – a plan and funding!
• Funding issues. This was not addressed in the last legislative session and needs to be discussed in 2013.

So as you can see, 2013 promises to be a very interesting year. Let’s make it a good one!

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

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January 4, 2013 - Happy New Year!  I was fortunate to have the time off between Christmas and New Years and visit many of our region’s local attractions. This included sledding at Delia Park in Sterling Heights, shopping at IKEA in Canton, and one of our newest traditions, dinner and ice cream in downtown Rochester to enjoy the light show.

Work wasn’t too far from my mind as my family ventured into downtown Rochester. We made sure we left early so we could avoid the sea of cars heading into Rochester during the evening. And, as we had a great dinner, a little shopping at the local western store, followed by huge ice cream sundaes at Knapps Dairy I couldn’t help but look around and think…. this is an innovative idea by the City of Rochester that has to be paying off for local businesses and the City.

Back at work, we checked in with the City Manager, Jaymes Vettraino, who confirmed my suspicions that the “Big, Bright Light Show” not only provides a holiday atmosphere for area residents, but is an economic driver for the community. According to Vettraino, the light show attracts over 1 million visitors to Rochester annually.  In the first year of the show in 2007, businesses reported an average 29% increase in business.  And every year since 2007, businesses consistently report an average 15% increase in business over the previous year.

Vettraino also notes, “This year’s Big, Bright Light Show is particularly special because the first night of show also marked the completion of the City’s Main Street Makeover.  Starting with that night, through the rest of the season, the energy and positive feeling downtown has been tremendous.”

So, my hope for all communities in 2013 is to continue to think creatively and highlight your assets. Look at Rochester. It has paid off!

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

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January 4, 2013 – We begin the New Year with some good demographic news - Michigan’s population increased in 2012, which is the state’s first annual population increase since 2004 (see figure below), according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual population estimates. The positive reversal of the population trend in Michigan is due to continued improvement of net migration. Domestically, about 33,000 more people left the state than those who came here from other states. But that was offset by a steady international immigration (17,000) and having more births than deaths (22,000), resulting in a net gain of about 6,000 people. The loss of only 33,000 people domestically is a huge improvement from over 100,000 in 2008.

Despite the good news, Michigan was overtaken by Georgia as the eighth largest state in the U.S. If recent growth rates by state continue, Michigan will be passed by another state, North Carolina, in the next couple of years. Locally, Southeast Michigan continues to experience population decline, mainly because our net domestic migration rate is more negative than the state as a whole.

Michigan Population Estimates, 2000-2012
 
Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Interested in knowing how SEMCOG’s data impacts local governments and residents in Southeast Michigan? Then, you’ll want to read Xuan’s weekly posts.

 

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January 2, 2013 – Back in September 2012, Governing Magazine hosted a conference on Controlling the Cost of Government. Several state and local government officials attended the conference, including Auburn Hills City Manager, Pete Auger, former Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager, Robert Bobb, and John Nixon, Michigan’s Budget Director, and were all quoted in the final report about the conference.

The key takeaways from the conference follow:

• Successfully managing local government expenses entails much more than just overseeing your budget.  Transformations are required in operations and decision-making through greater transparency, sophisticated use of performance data, and communication about what the data means and how it enlightens public policy choices.
  
• Bankruptcy is over-rated as a solution because it lets local officials off the hook. The necessary political will must be forged to address the fiscal and operational challenges facing local governments. That means making the tough decisions and effectively communicating the rationale to citizens.
  
• The National League of Cities recently surveyed their members about their top fiscal stressors, with the following results:
  o Healthcare – 81%
  o Pension – 77%
  o Infrastructure – 75%
  o Public Safety – 61%
  
• Pension and OPEB reforms are critical to long-term fiscal sustainability, starting concurrently with proper funding and thorough restructuring of these legacy costs, especially for current and new hires. Multi-year budgets provide an enabler for better understanding the long-term implications of today’s decisions regarding future legacy cost liabilities.
  
• Investing in infrastructure and transportation using alternative funding mechanisms will be critical in the future, as we are living off infrastructure put in place 60-100 years ago. Trust is the key ingredient to get voter approval for new infrastructure projects, a tall challenge in today’s adversarial environment. Elected officials can fall short in providing the business case for more infrastructure funding. Public-private partnerships are gaining traction for infrastructure projects especially at the local level.
  
• There are no easy solutions to reduce cost.  Most communities have already addressed the low hanging fruit. To that end, IT solutions, although sometimes expensive, have typically very short payback periods and should be pursued to help enable efficiency improvements and cost reductions.

For the complete report, click here. Also, should your community need help with your fiscal challenges, SEMCOG’s Local Government Effectiveness and Collaboration teams stands ready to assist, at no cost to member local governments. Contact Dave Boerger, Boerger@semcog.org 

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

 

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December 21, 2012 – This is what the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority calls their Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line. Last Wednesday, a busload of local, regional, and state officials eager to see, touch, and feel a successful BRT project traveled to Cleveland to do just that. The staff of the Greater Cleveland RTA were our hosts, and gracious hosts they were. They gave us a presentation, patiently answered our questions, and then escorted us on an hour-long ride on the HealthLine.

The HealthLine is about a nine-mile system, most of it running along historic Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland and East Cleveland. It operates 24 hours a day/seven days a week with frequencies every five minutes in the peak period. The vehicles are sleek looking, hybrid-electric vehicles, specifically designed with five doors. They operate in several different configurations throughout the corridor, including in dedicated lanes for most of the way. Other amenities include raised platforms for level boarding, sleek stations located both in the median and the curb lane in some instances, traffic signal preemption, and ticket vending machines in the stations. I can tell you the system is clean and the busses move quickly.

What was most impressive to me, though, was that the system seemed to fit perfectly in the space. There was evidence throughout the corridor of how development has grown up along the corridor. We were told that economic redevelopment has exceeded $4.3 billion, and development continues.

Why is it called the HealthLine? The city’s hospital consortium bought the naming rights, because many hospitals – including the Cleveland Clinic – are located on this line.

Our delegation left impressed with the Cleveland system. Can this system work in Southeast Michigan and specifically on Woodward Avenue? No doubt! We left with great enthusiasm to get to work to make this happen on Woodward. Is it a sign that on the day we were touring the HealthLine, Governor Snyder was signing the RTA bill in Detroit? I hope it is a very positive sign. With the signing of the RTA bill, our region now has a chance to improve public transit and for the first time in a long time, actually think about implementing higher forms of transit service – like BRT. We need it, we want it, and now we may have the means to achieve it – and Woodward is the first corridor on the list!

We can do this – and we will!

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

 

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December 19, 2012 – SEMCOG has been routinely providing updated forecasts for taxable values for the entire region using property sales trends published by national sources such as the S&P Case Shiller Residential and CoStar Commercial indices. The following chart represents the latest region-wide taxable value forecast provided by SEMCOG’s Data Analysis team.

Since many local units of government are now developing multi-year budgets, officials from a number of those communities have requested taxable value forecasts by individual municipalities. So in response, beta taxable value forecasting algorithms have been developed to calculate future taxable values; however, they have yet to be proven or tested. You can help us evaluate the accuracy by clicking here to access the preliminary forecasts and letting us know how your local assessor’s data compares to our projections.

Contact Dave Boerger with your feedback, and if you need fiscal or operational assistance at no cost to member local governments, Dave can also help in that regard.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

 

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What did we hear? Well, an overwhelming majority of the people were very excited about the prospects of higher-level transit on Woodward. They asked many questions on issues like, when can you start? Where will the stops be? How will the new Regional Transit Authority be involved? These are great questions.

More importantly, we heard about things that are important to them in developing a new system. We heard that they want to be able to walk and bike to the stations. They want us to build a complete system – not just a new line on Woodward. We heard that it was important to include Pontiac in the project.

Later this week, a number of local and regional leaders will travel to Cleveland for the day. We will ride the BRT line on Euclid Avenue and meet with political and business leaders who will tell us the impact the BRT line has made on the Cleveland economy. We will send pictures and Tweets from time to time, so check SEMCOG’s Facebook and Twitter to follow our trip. I will report back to you on Friday on what we saw.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

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December 14, 2012 – In the flurry of activity during the lame-duck session of the Michigan legislature, hardly anyone noticed the package of bills working through the process that would have a profound impact on our region's future. These bills will provide for as much as $200-$300 million in grants to local governments with only a 10 percent match requirement. A key area of emphasis in the grant program is asset management. Local governments will be enabled to develop asset management programs for their sewer and stormwater systems by making use of bonds the state was authorized to issue way back in 2002. These asset management programs will disclose the value and condition of the community's assets and, more importantly, identify the most cost-effective way to invest in managing those assets. One of the key bills was 5673.

SEMCOG led a diverse group of stakeholders around the state in a cooperative partnership with Michigan in pursuing this successful endeavor. While it is important that funding will now be available for critical sewer programs, it is just as important to take stock of lessons learned on how successful collaboration can be accomplished to our collective advantage.

Early in the new year, SEMCOG will host workshops for local communities to understand the process to access the funds.

Paul Tait joined SEMCOG in 1972 and has served in a variety of planning and administrative capacities – becoming Executive Director in 1998. This experience gives Paul a rich perspective on the past, present, and future of our region. Please join him as he blogs about issues of importance to the region’s local governments and residents. Paul is also president of SEMCOG’s partner organization – the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition (MAC) – a coalition of business, labor, government and education.

 

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December 13, 2012 – In reading through the paper last week, I found a story on housing prices rising across the country. The story noted that housing prices in Michigan rose 7.8 percent in October, the eighth-highest increase in the country. As a homeowner, this is great news. But as a regional planner, we know more needs to be done.

In our region, the supply of housing outpaces the demand. As such, in some areas of the region, housing stock is deteriorating. Last month, SEMCOG’s General Assembly adopted a Regional Housing Needs and Neighborhood Resiliency Strategy for Southeast Michigan to deal with many of these concerns.

This strategy focuses on policy and local action recommendations that address the unique housing challenges facing the region as it rebounds from the economic and housing crisis.

The report includes local strategies to encourage neighborhood resiliency that SEMCOG can provide technical assistance in implementing and which are supported through SEMCOG’s Sustainable Communities Recognition Program. These include:

• Implementing market-driven and targeted development priorities/policies that focus on neighborhoods with existing infrastructure and encourage infill and rehabilitation of existing housing.
• Developing code enforcement and property maintenance policies and ordinances that prevent substandard housing from becoming a nuisance and encourage owners to maintain properties to a high standard.
• Promoting and identifying effective homeowner and renter education programs and/or policies, including partnering with certified housing counseling agencies and coordinating homeownership fairs and open houses.
• Streamlining the process to allow local neighborhood stakeholders to convert vacant and underutilized land into productive community green spaces, gardens, and/or parks.
• Developing an effective demolition/deconstruction policy, including both the front-end (property acquisition, costs, contractor procurement) and back-end processes (longer-term post demolition strategies, including vacant land reuse, greening, new construction, side-lot transfers) and detailed targeting of implementation based upon data assessment.
• Ensuring a minimum standard of housing quality through the implementation of rental registration, certification, and inspection ordinances.

The quality of our housing and the health of our neighborhoods are significant drivers to creating a successful Southeast Michigan. While we are encouraged about increased housing prices, we urge communities to review and implement these strategies. Let us know. We can help.

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

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December 12, 2012 – The following examples to enhance municipal revenues are from SEMCOG’s AgileGov municipal database of over 1,000 best practices.

For assistance developing and implementing similar ideas in your community, contact Dave Boerger at Boerger@semcog.org.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

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December 10, 2012 – Well, I am sure all of you heard the good news that a Regional Transit Authority (RTA) bill passed the state House last week and is awaiting Governor Snyder’s signature. This is a major accomplishment, and I want to thank everyone who contributed to this success. It was not easy and not every community is happy. This is understandable and to be expected. It is one of the reasons that it has taken so long for an RTA to be developed.

Nevertheless, we just made our region more attractive to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and more competitive with the rest of the country for federal transit funding. It is just the first step down a long road – don’t anyone think the work is done – it has just begun!

Here is what I know. Once the bill is signed by the governor, a clock begins that ultimately has a board being selected, a plan developed, and funds being asked of the citizens of Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and Washtenaw Counties. Will the people provide funding? I think that will depend on the quality of the plan that is developed and a strategy to include projects important to each county.

I also know this is the only way for public transit to receive the additional dollars it needs to improve in Southeast Michigan. If transit were doing well, would we have two bus systems failing in the Detroit urbanized area? Would we have a system in Ann Arbor that is better funded, but still can’t come up with the needed dollars to improve and expand their system? I understand some being a bit nervous of change, but look at the potential benefits of a connected, better funded system!

There will be lots of decision points along the way and much debate on how to proceed for the benefit of all. Today, we stand more as a region than we did last week and I say it is about time!

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

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December 10, 2012 - SEMCOG data shows that the number of residential building permits issued in the region has been increasing three years in a row since the bottom of only 1,759 units in 2009 (http://www.semcog.org/Data/Apps/permits.cfm?mcd=8999). As the housing builders try to climb their way out of the deep recession, will future development patterns look different? Some have declared that the next growth areas will be in urban and close-in suburban areas and "ex-urban" communities will fall victim to changing demographic and economic trends. While this is certainly debatable, here are a few hints about future development due to both a changing demographic and a demographic forced to change by the “Great Recession”.

First, our population estimates show that population growth slowed in Livingston County and St. Clair County and Monroe County lost people (Figure 1). Meanwhile, Oakland County gained people at a faster rate and Wayne County lost people at a slower pace compared to the last decade.

Figure 1 
Annualized Population Growth Rates by County

Second, we all know that career people save and buy assets, particularly houses, during their working-age and sell those assets in older age. In the coming years, the baby boomers (born between 1946-1964) will be looking to sell assets to the people in the prime of their careers – Generation X (born in the late 1960s and 70s). However, Generation X is smaller than the Baby Boom generation (Figure 2). Generation X is also made up of smaller households, is a more urban generation, and is facing great economic challenges after the “Great Recession”. Generation X may not create a large demand for building new homes in so-called ex-urban areas.

Finally, what about Generation Y (a.k.a. Echo Boomers or Millennials) born in the 1980s and 90s? People in their 20’s have the highest rate of new household formation. But because of the recession, they may be still living in their parents’ house, or have doubled up, or gone back to school. Furthermore, many studies have shown that they prefer more urban settings and many of them prefer renting than owning.

Both the age of our population and the “Great Recession” will have a big impact on the future of our growth and development patterns.

Figure 2 
Population age cohorts, Southeast Michigan, 2010

Interested in knowing how SEMCOG’s data impacts local governments and residents in Southeast Michigan? Then, you’ll want to read Xuan’s weekly posts.

 

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December 7, 2012 - Governing magazine has a regular segment offering ideas from across the country for local governments that provide better, faster, and/or cheaper services. Continuing our weekly blog series sharing success stories from across the region, the following examples of doing things faster are from SEMCOG’s AgileGov municipal database of over 1,000 best practices and the final example is from Governing magazine’s list of BFC ideas:

For assistance developing and implementing similar ideas in your community, contact Dave Boerger at Boerger@semcog.org.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

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I had the opportunity this week to take these issues and see how they fare in our state’s budget. Bridge Magazine, published by The Center for Michigan, drew my attention to a recent study by Michigan’s Senate Fiscal Agency comparing expenditures across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The data is for FY2009-2010, the last complete year of available data.

What I found was far from encouraging. Per capita spending on highways, Michigan ranked at the very bottom, 50th. It is small wonder that the quality of our roads is deteriorating. Spending on natural resources, so important in the “Great Lakes State,” was only marginally better, ranking 47th. We did better on K-12 education at 13th. Our challenge is to turn that above average funding into student success. Higher education funding placed us well below average at 32nd. That is of particular concern in Michigan with our heavy reliance on high quality public community colleges and universities. And, on one measure, we did pretty well. Spending on state government administration ranked 50th. Per capita, we do spend less on operating state government.

I fully appreciate the imperative for state belt-tightening in the face of a severely challenged economy. As I look to the future, however, I have great fears. We are not adequately investing in those issues critical to the future success of our region and our state. Where are our priorities?

Paul Tait joined SEMCOG in 1972 and has served in a variety of planning and administrative capacities – becoming Executive Director in 1998. This experience gives Paul a rich perspective on the past, present, and future of our region. Please join him as he blogs about issues of importance to the region’s local governments and residents. Paul is also president of SEMCOG’s partner organization – the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition (MAC) – a coalition of business, labor, government and education.

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December 3, 2012 – SEMCOG recently released a Quick Facts report on the demographic trends at the regional and local levels. The analysis is based on the recently published SEMCOG 2012 mid-year population and household estimates, containing data on population, housing units, occupied housing units (i.e., households), vacancy rates, and household size for every city, village, and township in each of the seven counties in Southeast Michigan.

From the regional perspective, we have lost less than 6,000 people (or 0.1 percent of population) each year after the 2010 Census, compared to nearly 13,000 people (or 0.27 percent) lost annually in the 2000-2010 period. As you can see in the chart below, net-migration (domestic and international combined) from the region has improved, from losing nearly 60,000 in 2008-09 to less than 20,000 this year. If it wasn’t for the decline of “natural increase” (i.e., births minus deaths) after 2000, we would have seen population growth in the last couple of years. As our population ages, we don’t expect birth rates to increase or death rates to decline. However, we do hope our migration trend continues to improve as our economy recovers. You may find more analysis and information for the region, counties, and communities in the Quick Facts complete report; estimates for every community in Southeast Michigan can be found here.

Population Change and Components of Change, Southeast Michigan, 2000-2012

Interested in knowing how SEMCOG’s data impacts local governments and residents in Southeast Michigan? Then, you’ll want to read Xuan’s weekly posts.

 

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December 3, 2012 – Well, the last couple of weeks have been great for transit. First, six refurbished train cars were tested on the tracks between Pontiac and Jackson. They passed the test and are now available to be used to run special event trains on the Ann Arbor-Detroit commuter rail line. One small, but significant step towards train service.

There was a groundbreaking for the new commuter rail station in Troy last week. This was another project that took a long time to get off the ground, but is finally going to happen.

The Michigan Senate passed the Regional Transit Authority bill last week after months of inactivity on the subject. The bills were approved with very few amendments and go to the House this week. We are hopeful the House will take action this week so it can be signed by the governor yet this year. I don't need to tell you how important this legislation is for the future of transit in our region. Passage of this legislation allows the formation of the authority in 2013, and not a moment too soon. Both DDOT and SMART have cut service in the recent past. The RTA will be able to ask the people for additional funds for more service.

Finally, public meetings start this week for the Woodward Alternatives Analysis. This is a key project in building the first piece of a regional transit system. We hope to explain what we are looking at to the public, ask them to tell us what is important to them, and narrow down the alternatives we are considering. For more information on the public meetings, including locations and times, please go to SEMCOG’s Web site or to the study Web site.

After months of nothing happening to improve transit, the last two weeks have brought hope. Let's hope the streak continues this week. Call your legislators and tell them to pass the RTA legislation. It will be an early Christmas present to the people of Southeast Michigan – one they have deserved for years.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

 

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For example, the governor mentioned the importance of Green Infrastructure:

“Green infrastructure is one area where an investment can resolve a water-related problem and create recreational space, all at the same time. It also helps address non-point source pollution – pollution that doesn’t come out of a pipe, but affects our waters. We need to focus on creating and recreating green spaces – parks, rain gardens, and even swales and ponds – that can absorb stormwater. This will lower our costs while protecting our beaches and the health of the Great Lakes – a real win-win.”

Among other priorities, the message included making Michigan the trail state, managing invasive species, and developing a water plan. In order to accomplish these goals, we need to make sure agencies at the state and local levels are in alignment as we work toward these common outcomes.

View the entire message.

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

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November 29, 2012 – SEMCOG provides fiscal and operational benchmark data on its Web site that communities can use for comparison purposes. Many times, local officials ask how the benchmarks are determined. Obviously, no single community is the best at everything, so the benchmarks are established based on our analysis of all the communities in Southeast Michigan as well as across the state. The best 20% are identified based on their fiscal and operational performance. Some of the best-performing communities are listed below. Note the hyperlinks for each local government directs you to their respective Munetrix site that provides additional comparable information.

• Sterling Heights – This community leads the way in terms of performance measurement in Southeast Michigan. Their best practices provided the foundation for SEMCOG’s fiscal and operational consulting efforts underway since 2008 when the municipal fiscal crisis began. Their performance in almost every category is stellar.

• Rochester – Disciplined cost controls have helped this community accelerate their debt payments and sustain their economic development efforts to position themselves very positively for the future.

• Southgate – Collaboration with neighboring communities and internal consolidations have enabled this downriver community to reduce costs and balance budgets while concurrently increasing the fund balance, all without raising taxes.

• Green Oak Twp. – Township officials have effectively managed their finances such that their fiscal indicator score is one of the best in the region.

• Washington Twp. – This community’s fund balance is almost twice their annual expenditures, and coupled with little debt, provides an effective safety net for unforeseen vulnerabilities the township may experience.

• Frenchtown Twp. – No debt, coupled with a relative low 12% drop in taxable values from peak, have kept tax rates down in this Monroe County township.

• Oakland County – Cost per capita for this county government is one of the lowest in the country while concurrently providing world-class services. The multi-year budgeting process in place for years is one of the key enablers leading to their success.

If your community needs help dealing with fiscal or operational challenges, SEMCOG can assist. For example, click here for information on an upcoming Webinar on Maximizing Taxable Values, scheduled for November 29 at 10 a.m. Or contact SEMCOG’s Dave Boerger Boerger@semcog.org for assistance dealing with your issues. There is no cost for member local governments.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

 

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November 27, 2012 – SEMCOG is in the process of developing its 2040 Regional Transportation Plan and we are looking for ways to get your comments into the mix. We update our long-range plan every four years. The purpose of the plan is to review our transportation needs and prioritize them against the dollars we project to be available. No matter how often we do this, there are never enough dollars to address our needs! This is where you come in. Where and how should we spend our limited dollars in order to make the most impact?

Should we spend more on our failing pavement? If the answer is yes, then what do we spend less on?  We do not have enough to fix everything.

We have developed a series of short videos on the various components of the transportation system – pavement and bridges, biking and walking, transit, freight, safety, congestion, and funding. The purpose of these videos is to introduce the issue with some facts, and get you thinking on the topic.

Each of the videos will then invite you to answer a few questions. Videos already on our Web site are pavement and bridges and walking and biking. Transit will be up shortly and freight will be the topic next week.

Please take a few minutes to view these short videos and answer a few questions. After you complete your answers, you will get a running summary of comments received so far to let you know how others have answered the same questions. If you have more in depth comments, please send them to infocenter@semcog.org.

I will report back what we hear from you. In the coming months, the draft 2040 Transportation Plan will be developed and we will be asking you to review it and tell us if we addressed the comments you gave us. Now is the time to tell us what you think.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

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November 19, 2012 – Last week we took another step forward on the Ann Arbor-Detroit Commuter Rail project. The refurbished rail cars were moved from Owosso to Pontiac and run on the tracks between Pontiac and Jackson and back again. Amtrak personnel, riding on a locomotive provided by Amtrak under contract to MDOT, performed the tests. No other people were allowed on the cars while the test was being performed.

The test was conducted at 79 miles per hour and the train stopped at each station along the way. The purpose of the test was to familiarize Amtrak personnel with the cars, ensure compatibility between the cars and Amtrak’s locomotive, and simulate commuter service.

The test was a success! A lot of people put a lot of time and effort into getting us this far and I want to thank each and every one of them.

I also want to thank all of the advocates who braved the cold and the dark and took the limited information we had from Amtrak and waited to see the train pass their location and stop at the various stations. We tried to provide as much information as we could given we were in test mode. I appreciate the pictures they took as well. I have attached a couple to this blog, but will load up all the pictures we have on our Web site in the next few days as well as the official results of the test once we have received them.

Thanks again for your patience and continued support. I know it has taken a long time to get to this point, but we continue to move forward and take one hurdle at a time. We will be getting together with MDOT soon to map out the next steps.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

 

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November 15, 2012 – How often did you hear those TV anchors or political analysts mentioning “demographics” on election night? It continues to dominate the media after Tuesday in reviewing the election.
 
In our world of planning, demography is a dominating and long-term driver of change. I have talked about the aging of our population, which will reconfigure the services that we provide, from healthcare to housing and transportation alternatives. Another significant change in our demographics is the increasing racial and ethnic diversification of population. Although we don’t have as many new immigrants as some other regions in the South and West, SEMCOG forecasts the percentage of Hispanic population will double from 4% to 8% in the next 30 years in our region. The percent of Asian and others will almost double, growing from 6 percent to 11 percent, while the percent of White population will decrease from 68% to 60%; and the share of Black population will remain relatively unchanged, from 22% to 21%.

Southeast Michigan is becoming a “melting pot” of diverse population groups. The following map shows the race and ethnic groups that had the largest population gain from 2000 to 2010 by Census block-group. The Asian population is not just growing in the traditional corridor from Ann Arbor to Troy, but also in many other places. The number of African Americans is growing rapidly outside Detroit. The Hispanic population is certainly not just growing in Southwest Detroit. They are growing everywhere. The race and ethnic groups of the region’s population is getting more and more dispersed and integrated. A sign in Mexicantown, “Diversity is our strength,” applies across the region.

Interested in knowing how SEMCOG’s data impacts local governments and residents in Southeast Michigan? Then, you’ll want to read Xuan’s weekly posts.

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November 13, 2012 – Now that Election Day is finally over, let’s look at how the 19 communities in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties that held millage votes to raise taxes fared. Often elected officials place such measures on the ballot only if they believe no more cuts are possible and the only remaining option is a millage increase. So let’s take a deeper dive to see if that is the case for these 19 communities.

From a citizen’s perspective, how much each resident is currently paying for similar services compared to the best communities can be a key factor in their decision on whether to increase taxes. As a voter, an increase may only be prudent if the community has implemented efficiencies to the level of the best. To illustrate, the following cost per capita data versus the best regional benchmarks from the Munetrix fiscal database is provided. Note that the benchmarks for cities, villages, and townships are all different since services provided vary. The benchmarks represent the levels attained by the best 20% of the communities in each category across Southeast Michigan. Also indicated below are the type of millage and the results of the vote for each of the 19 communities.

*Indicated SEMCOG member.

All of the millage proposals in the five communities that had costs better than the benchmark went down to defeat; however, millage votes for five of the 14 communities with costs above the benchmark passed. Over the last year, SEMCOG’s Local Government Effectiveness team worked with four of the five communities in which voters approved millage increases.

Conclusion: Voters expect local governments to run efficiently, but can be convinced to support a millage increase if the jurisdictions apply the successful best practices the SEMCOG team has learned.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

 

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November 12, 2012 – Well, thank God that election 2012 is finally over. Hopefully, we can now survey the field, identify what needs to be done, and find a way to work together to improve our country. So what were the impacts of the election results on us? I have some observations…from a local perspective:

• We were told to let the “people decide” about a new bridge. The people did decide – they decided we need a new bridge. Now, we are being told people really still want to vote on the bridge – just don’t want it in the constitution. How do the proponents of the issue know this?
• Did anyone else find it strange that all you needed was a simple majority vote to decide if we wanted a 2/3 majority vote to decide future state tax issues?

From a national perspective, the re-election of President Obama is almost guarantee that we will continue to have the help from his administration as we try to implement transit improvements in our region. Transportation Secretary LaHood has been to Detroit several times in the past few years trying to help us establish a regional transit Authority (RTA). He’s promised $25 million to the M-1 Streetcar project and speaks of millions more to improve public transit and institute bus rapid transit (BRT) once an RTA has been put in place. It is an offer we cannot afford to pass up. I just hope we are smart enough to take advantage of the offer of help and funding.

A new congress and legislature can signal the beginning of a new understanding that we cannot achieve what we want without working together. Maybe the incumbents can begin to understand this and work with the newly elected representatives to make the difficult choices that need to be made in order to move forward.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

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November 8, 2012 – Have a nonmotorized path, safe routes to school program, green streets project, or a combination of all of these that is ready to go and needs funding?

If so, it’s time to get ready and act quickly.

SEMCOG is facilitating a grant program through the new MAP 21 federal transportation legislation that created the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP). This legislation has resulted in a $5 million grant program for which SEMCOG has issued a call for projects.

The best way to learn more about this program is to attend our SEMCOG University on November 16th: Introduction to the new $5 million Transportation Alternatives Program. Applicants interested in applying for TAP funds will learn about:

• eligible projects,
• submitting a TAP application, and
• project selection.

Registration is required for this SEMCOG University. Please register here.

In order to meet the deadlines set in the legislation, projects must be submitted to SEMCOG by December 14th. While this deadline is quick, it’s an excellent opportunity for communities that receive Act 51 Transportation dollars. We encourage you to take advantage of it!

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

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November 6, 2012 – Finally, Election Day is here. Thank heaven. In the upcoming days, we, and armies of political pundits, will have plenty to say about the results. As folks go to the polls today, I have two observations.

First and foremost, Election Day is our democracy at work…citizens making the effort to ensure their voices are heard. Agree/disagree with the eventual outcomes, our peaceful, non-threatened, responsible trek to the polls (or absentee voting) makes us a worldwide model for “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

A second thought…we have an elections process that is in need of serious repair. The escalation of money spent on candidates and ballot proposals, and the frequency of blatant distortion of fact and outright lies scares me. This trend has dropped us to new lows. An informed electorate is essential. A manipulated electorate runs counter to democracy.

So, let’s celebrate another successful election. At the same time, let’s look to needed reform. The next century of our democracy depends on it.

Paul Tait joined SEMCOG in 1972 and has served in a variety of planning and administrative capacities – becoming Executive Director in 1998. This experience gives Paul a rich perspective on the past, present, and future of our region. Please join him as he blogs about issues of importance to the region’s local governments and residents. Paul is also president of SEMCOG’s partner organization – the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition (MAC) – a coalition of business, labor, government and education.

 

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November 5, 2012 – Well, there has sure been a lot of talking going on about a new bridge. I don’t know about you, but I am getting tired of it and can’t wait till the election is over. But, there is one relevant point that both sides of the bridge argument agree on – the existing bridge and any future bridge is extremely important to Michigan’s economy and the economy of several other states as well. One reason we know this is that the Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO) conducts periodic surveys of goods going over the bridge to gain information on what is going over, where it is going to, by what route, and what value it has. Guess what – they are doing one right now!

The MTO is conducting commercial vehicle intercept surveys at all Ontario’s border crossings with the U.S. Surveys at the Ambassador Bridge, the Blue Water Bridge, the Detroit-Windsor Bridge and all of the Ontario crossings with New York are either already completed or will be this month. They are collecting information that can be used to describe current conditions and feed travel models and freight forecasts. The last survey done was in 2005 and yes, complications with the bridge dispute did have an impact on why it has been seven years since the last survey was done. 

New bridge or no new bridge, we need to make freight movement more efficient if we are going to expand our place in the market. Understanding the border and making it work as securely and efficiently as possible is important and this survey is just one of several ways we get the information we need to improve.

Next summer, the MTO is planning to conduct passenger surveys at the Michigan crossings. That will provide us with a great deal of information on how people travel, from where to where, and on what routes.

No matter what your position is on the bridge, or any of the other proposals for that matter, it is important that you go out and vote tomorrow. It is a right and a duty you have that many people gave their lives for. Don’t treat it lightly.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

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November 1, 2012 – SEMCOG recently added 2040 Forecast data to its popular Community Profiles page. On the “People” tab, forecast population and households are added to tables and charts. This allows data users to quickly compare the past trends, current status, and future perspectives for each community. For example, the population by age chart and table show the dramatic shift of population age groups.

On the “Economy & Jobs” tab, current and forecast numbers of jobs by industry are added. Our estimated current daytime population is also added on this tab. This information is particularly useful for job-rich communities, where there could be significantly more people during the day for work than at night. Public services need to be planned for accordingly.

We’ve also added links to the 2009-2011 3-Year ACS (American Community Survey) data for convenient access to the most recent census data. This data set includes detailed information on population, race, age, education, employment, household income, housing units, and commuting statistics for communities with 20,000 or more residents. The link is at the top of each community (population 20,000 or more) profile page as shown below:

Interested in knowing how SEMCOG’s data impacts local governments and residents in Southeast Michigan? Then, you’ll want to read Xuan’s weekly posts.

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October 31, 2012 – Water….I don’t know about you, but I take it for granted that when I turn on my tap, fresh, clean water is coming out. That’s generally what we want the public to think about their drinking water, but there’s a lot more that goes into it.

SEMCOG, in partnership with the Macomb County Water Resources Advisory Council, has been facilitating a process to ensure that a monitoring program, established to monitor drinking water intakes, can continue.

The Huron to Erie Drinking Water Monitoring Program is a linked water monitoring system that detects spills in the drinking water that’s used by nearly three million residents in Southeast Michigan that get their drinking water from Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair to the Detroit River to Lake Erie.

Funded largely with grant dollars in the past, SEMCOG has been working with plant operators to design a system that protects public health and is fiscally sustainable. Communities with drinking water systems are currently being asked to officially join the partnership.

A few communities quickly joined up, including Marysville, Marine City, Algonac, and Detroit. As the largest supplier of drinking water in Southeast Michigan, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is an important addition. “We appreciate the support from the City of Detroit in this important plan. The Huron to Erie Drinking Water Monitoring Program will continue to allow for local communities to collaborate and keep our waterways safe and clean,” noted Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel.

The Drinking Water Monitoring network is regional cooperation at its best. In these times of tight budgets, plant operators have been working judiciously to come up with a monitoring network that protects the public and, at the same time, is fiscally sustainable into the future. Thank you to those communities setting the example by joining early in the program!

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

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October 30, 2012 – SEMCOG local governments purchase a significant amount of goods and services. Using some of the techniques and best practices from the following communities can reduce your costs:

For no cost assistance in reducing your purchased goods and services costs, SEMCOG member local governments can contact Dave Boerger at Boerger@semcog.org.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

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October 29, 2012 – Scary thought, isn’t it? Cars driving themselves? Just type in your destination, sit back, turn up the radio, get on the phone, do your make-up, comb your hair, drink your coffee – and wait to arrive at your destination safe and sound! This is truly a Jetsonian concept, right? Well, it may be closer to reality than you might think.

Google has been testing driverless vehicles on public roads with a person sitting in the driver seat for some time now. You may have recently seen a segment on “60 Minutes” where a blind person went “driving” in a Google vehicle. They have logged more than 300,000 miles using a fleet of autonomous vehicles on U.S. roads and predict the vehicles could be available to consumers within a decade.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently said it is preparing regulations setting performance standards for autonomous cars. They believe the technology could one day save thousands of lives. The technology could allow blind and senior citizens who can no longer drive safely to use cars for personal mobility. The vehicles could also have other benefits, including providing more direct routing of trips, avoiding traffic backups. This could significantly reduce the cost of congestion and fuel usage.

Don’t worry – there’s still lots of work to do before you start seeing these cars on the road. The manufacturers will have to find a way for people to have confidence in the technology and ensure safety of the software so that hackers can’t get into the system. Think of the size of that traffic jam!

Progress always has problems to overcome and this is no different. My preferred technology is the “Beam me up Scotty” approach – but a driverless car gets us one step closer!

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

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My skepticism quickly turned to unbridled enthusiasm. Mayor Fetterman leads a community that lost 90 percent of its population when the steel industry around Pittsburgh tanked, folks fled to the suburbs, and leadership was lacking. In short, his community experienced all the challenges Southeast Michigan faces…only many times more concentrated, many times more severe.

A Harvard grad with a street-smart sense for his community, he is turning around Braddock. He has rekindled hope and opportunity for his town’s youth. Atlantic Magazine labeled him one of the “Brave New Thinkers.”

I am truly excited to hear him. Braddock’s success can give us ideas. Mayor Fetterman’s passion can give us inspiration. Check him out on the video highlighted in the General Assembly meeting notice.

Join us for the SEMCOG General Assembly on November 8th. Mayor Fetterman will speak after the business meeting. I personally have high expectations for his presentation. I’m quite confident he will exceed them.

Paul Tait joined SEMCOG in 1972 and has served in a variety of planning and administrative capacities – becoming Executive Director in 1998. This experience gives Paul a rich perspective on the past, present, and future of our region. Please join him as he blogs about issues of importance to the region’s local governments and residents. Paul is also president of SEMCOG’s partner organization – the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition (MAC) – a coalition of business, labor, government and education.

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Annual population estimates, Southeast Michigan, 2000-2012

The latest population estimation data are available for the region, each county, and community in Southeast Michigan in the Community Profiles section of SEMCOG’s Web site. As time passes further and further from the 2010 Census, this updated data has increased significance and many uses for local community planning. For example, the City of Dearborn is using it for the statistical section of their Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.

Interested in knowing how SEMCOG’s data impacts local governments and residents in Southeast Michigan? Then, you’ll want to read Xuan’s weekly posts.

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October 23, 2012 – During recent internal SEMCOG meeting, Executive Director Paul Tait acknowledged that the Local Government Effectiveness & Collaboration (LGEC) team had beaten its budget by 12% during this past fiscal year and asked if that was due to reduced demand for our services. Since year-over-year demand was actually up, the budget under-run resulted totally from productivity improvements, several of which are listed below that could also be applicable to our member local governments:

• AgileGov – This searchable database of over 1,000 documented municipal government best practices and shared service arrangements from across the region has allowed the LGEC team to readily find and share ideas with member local governments that offer better, faster, cheaper (BFC) services.
  
• Munetrix – All the current and historical fiscal information for member local governments is captured on this SEMCOG partner Web site that identifies year-over-year trends and provides fiscal data for comparable communities (and schools), including how any local government stacks up to benchmarks and the state’s fiscal indicator score. As a result, SEMCOG no longer has to pay the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) for comparable benchmarking data, as more timely and accurate data from the Michigan Local Government Benchmarking Consortium (MLGBC) and the State Treasury are used at no cost.
  
• Smart phones – As the LGEC team of four consultants routinely assist local governments, they communicate with each other via smart phones that do not accrue minutes for calls between those phones, that allow real-time e-mail, text messaging, and scheduling capability, that feature video/audio conferencing, and that have mapping/GPS navigation to help us efficiently travel between municipal government locations across the region. Effective multi-tasking is real for the LGEC Team!
  
• SEMCOG University Webinars – Initially, SEMCOG University sessions were held 3-4 times per year at our offices requiring local government presenters as well as the 20-30 attendees to drive downtown to participate. Now, online Webinars are held 8-10 times per year on timely topics that enable the presenters and SEMCOG members to participate remotely. We now typically have 50-60 Webinar registrants, plus the many more who routinely view the archived Webinars online.

The above examples are just a few of the productivity efforts that contributed to SEMCOG providing better, faster, and cheaper services for our members. Also, click here to view other BFC examples from across the nation from Governing Magazine. For no-cost assistance implementing similar concepts in your local government, contact Dave Boerger at Boerger@semcog.org.

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

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October 22, 2012 – So, earlier this year Governor Snyder signed into law a bill that no longer requires motorcyclists to have to wear helmets while driving on the road. Now, there are whispers out of Lansing that certain legislators want to do away with the law that makes not wearing your seat belt a primary offense.

We have spent a great deal of time and money on programs designed to improve traffic safety in the state. We have passed laws to try to make it safer for young drivers, educate our older drivers, warn people of the dangers of drunk and buzzed driving. The legislature and various cities have passed laws restricting or banning the use of cell phones and/or texting while driving. All of these measures have been done in an effort to make our roads safer – and they have worked! Deaths and traffic crashes have declined over the years. Until now. Crashes increased last year over the previous year and now we have gotten rid of the helmet law and now they are going after the seat belt law.

Well, this time, there are well documented impacts of decreasing the use of seat belts. Currently, New Hampshire is the only state with a seat belt law that does not require belt use for occupants 18 years of age and older. The observed belt use rate in New Hampshire in 2010 was 72.2%. So what would reducing the belt rate use to 72% mean for Michigan:

• It would result in 84 additional fatalities and 9,810 injuries per year in Michigan.
• The estimated societal cost to Michigan associated with these additional deaths and injuries is $1.2 billion. This is a 14% increase from the current cost of crashes in 2011.
• $1.2 billion represents an additional cost per licensed driver of $168 per year or $119 per Michigan resident per year.

Increasing seat belt use has been one of the most effective approaches to reducing deaths and injury in motor-vehicle crashes. Since 1975, seat belts are estimated to have saved approximately 280,000 lives in the U.S. Conversely, we all know someone who has been negatively impacted by not wearing a seat belt.

Make the madness stop right here.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

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October 19, 2012 – Southeast Michigan’s property tax revenues continue to shrink, a reflection of the bursting of the real estate bubble that started in 2007. But the losses are slowing and will bottom-out in the near future. In 2012, the region’s real property taxable value declined by 4.3 percent, taxable value for residential property fell by 3.5 percent, while taxable value for nonresidential property fell by 6.5 percent.

For 2013, taxable value is projected to decline by only 1.1 percent region-wide, as compared to nearly 10 percent in 2010. The forecast is flat for 2014, while 2015 shows the first increase (by 1.4 percent) since 2008. These are some of the findings in the recently released SEMCOG report Community Fiscal Capacities, 2012, This year is the fifth consecutive year that the region lost SEV (State Equalized Value), and the fourth consecutive year of losing taxable value. When the inflation factor is taken into account, SEMCOG estimates the region will have lost 33 percent of its tax base by 2015 (see figure below). What this means is that the region will lose almost one-third of its purchasing power from property-tax revenues. For many communities, the decline will be even greater.

What does this mean for the future? Considering the constraints imposed by Proposal A and the Headlee Amendment, the only way local governments can increase their tax base in real dollars is with new construction. However, high vacancy rates mean demand for new housing construction and nonresidential building will remain low. For the coming years, the best case scenario for taxable value growth is the rate of inflation. Therefore, despite the improving economy in the region, local governments will need to closely monitor their finances continuously and plan accordingly.

Expected Loss in Real Property (inflation-adjusted), Southeast Michigan

Interested in knowing how SEMCOG’s data impacts local governments and residents in Southeast Michigan? Then, you’ll want to read Xuan’s weekly posts.

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October 18, 2012 – Who’s the road for? It’s easy to say trucks, cars, buses…but we need to keep in mind that roads are for pedestrians as well. That being said, we have some work to do in this area to make our roads safer for pedestrians. The Federal Highway Administration has identified Detroit a focus city because there are a high number of pedestrian fatalities.

How many fatalities? In 2011, there were 140 in Michigan and 25 fatalities in Detroit.

Monday and Tuesday of this week, SEMCOG hosted a workshop bringing in national experts to train communities on the latest techniques for designing roads with pedestrians in mind. Our next step will be to identify corridors for a pedestrian audit and implement fixes that will lower the number and severity of crashes involving pedestrians.

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

 

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Nothing has happened because we have yet to address the same old issues that have plagued us for years: the Detroit delegation is concerned about shifting too much control away from the city, and suburban lawmakers worry about paying for a transit system that many suburbanites don’t use.

LaHood reminded us again that metro Detroit is the only big city in the country without a regional authority to oversee public transit. He is prepared to put millions on the table to help build a rapid-transit bus system on major routes such as Woodward, Gratiot, and Michigan Avenue, in addition to $25 million for a private venture to build a streetcar on Woodward from downtown to the New Center area, “if this community can get its act together.”

So there it is – again! Get our act together and get millions of dollars from the federal government that will improve our transportation system, enhance economic development opportunities, and help more people get to essential services. Or do nothing and lose the opportunity to improve our situation. The decision is ours. 

Last time we were in this situation, Gerald Ford was president and promised us $600 million to build a subway if we could agree on how to spend it. We never did and we have been living with that decision every day since. We have another chance. Please let’s not blow it! This could be our last chance for many years to come.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

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October 15, 2012 – One of the key enablers to reducing costs while maintaining service delivery is through collaboration. To that end, a SEMCOG University Webinar is scheduled for October 18th on the subject, especially as it relates to EVIP and collaboration grants from the state. Click here for more information and to register. Below are several successful examples of shared service arrangements from across the region that are documented in SEMCOG’s AgileGov searchable database of successfully implemented ideas and best practices:

As a follow-up to my previous blog on Municipal Bankruptcy, this recent article from Governing Magazine provides insight into the subject matter and includes a segment on Michigan’s current situation.

For no cost assistance with your fiscal and operational issues or for help facilitating a potential collaborative venture with neighboring communities, please contact Dave Boerger at Boerger@semcog.org

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

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In creating this new plan we look at transportation from the narrow perspective of our current and future needs for safely and efficiently moving us around the region to work, health care, school, shopping, and other amenities. Also in this plan, we’re taking a much more far reaching look at how transportation can help make our region vibrant and successful.

SEMCOG’s Creating Success initiative lays the groundwork for that broader look. How will our transportation investment:

• Lead us to the greatest possible economic prosperity?
• Make our communities more desirable for ourselves and the future workers we will need for that economic prosperity?
• Maintain and enhance fiscally sustainable public services?
• Ensure reliable, quality infrastructure, particularly our transportation infrastructure?
• Preserve and enhance healthy and attractive environmental assets?
• Ensure access to services, jobs, markets, and amenities for all of us individually and the region’s businesses?

This is an ambitious, broad look at what we need in our transportation plan and, ultimately, in the transportation projects we build. That look will shape a plan that meets both transportation-specific needs, as well as help us achieve a highly successful future for our region.

We need your help. Tell us what you think are the highest priorities for investing in our roads, bridges, transit, and other transportation projects. How important is the quality of our pavement, safety, battling congestion, moving freight, bikeway and pedestrian pathways when we make investment choices with too little money to do everything?

How do you do this?

• Respond to the public opinion survey currently on our Web site.
• Watch our video explaining how the public can make an impact.
• Follow us on our Web site, Facebook, and Twitter for updates on plan development.
• Send your comments directly to us.

Help us make transportation in our region the strongest asset possible in the first class, prosperous region we know we can be.

Paul Tait joined SEMCOG in 1972 and has served in a variety of planning and administrative capacities – becoming Executive Director in 1998. This experience gives Paul a rich perspective on the past, present, and future of our region. Please join him as he blogs about issues of importance to the region’s local governments and residents. Paul is also president of SEMCOG’s partner organization – the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition (MAC) – a coalition of business, labor, government and education.

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October 10, 2012 – I’ve just discovered a program on PBS Detroit called “Discover the D.”

Discover the 'D' shines a well-deserved spotlight on the 'D,' home of cars, culture, gaming, music, and sports...which is barely the tip of the iceberg. Discover and rediscover one of the coolest places in the country – filled with the most inspired, creative, cutting-edge businesses, attractions, and the people who move it forward – Detroit.

This week’s program highlights one of our members – the City of New Baltimore – and the efforts of Macomb County to develop the Blue Economy. I have been lucky enough to help Macomb County with this initiative and commend them and others across the region who are doing similar initiatives.

Congrats to New Baltimore and Macomb County!

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

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This has been a very dangerous year for driving on our roads. Some 16,300 people died on our nation’s roads in the first six months of 2012. This represents an increase of about 9 percent as compared to the estimated 14,950 fatalities that occurred in the first half of 2011. In fact, this 9 percent increase represents the largest increase during the first half of a year in recorded history – 1975 was the first year data was collected on such crashes.

The big question is, “What is going on here?” Is this the beginning of a new long-term trend or just a blip on the screen? Traffic crashes and fatalities have been steadily declining for the past several years. In fact, 2011 was the safest year to be traveling in our history! Should we be worried? What has changed over the past months that can explain this increase?

Well, I am not sure that anyone knows the answer to this yet. Yes, the economy is better and travel is up for the first time in a long time. More inattention, less patience, more cell phone use, younger drivers, older drivers, road rage? We don’t know if these are all contributing factors, but we will be looking for answers as the data is analyzed.

And talking about crashes – tis the time of year to be especially careful for car/deer crashes. Last year was the first year in some time that we had fewer encounters between motor vehicles and our antlered friends – and we would like to keep it that way! There were over 2,000 fewer encounters statewide and over 600 fewer in Southeast Michigan. That is a trend we want to build on.

While better, this is still not good enough. Eight people lost their lives in car/deer crashes statewide – two in Southeast Michigan – one of the two people killed was driving a motorcycle.

The table below identifies the total encounters between motor vehicles and deer for 2011 and 2010. For more information on crashes and specifically car/deer crashes, go to the SEMCOG Web site at www.semcog.org and be careful, especially at dusk!

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

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October 5, 2012 – A couple weeks ago, I expressed in my blog concern over the misleading, distorting, and incorrect content in the ads supporting State Ballot Proposal 6. It would require a vote of the people before proceeding on financing or constructing a new international bridge or tunnel. The clear intent of these ads is to ensure a continued monopoly for the Ambassador Bridge. To my dismay, the new ads continue the blatant and incorrect scare tactics. Both SEMCOG and our partner organization, Metropolitan Affairs Coalition (MAC), emphatically support construction of a new bridge to Canada.

It is time to cut through the deception. The new bridge is needed to ensure a strong trade future with Canada…our largest trading partner. The new bridge will be financed by Canada and Canada will assume the risk for cost overruns or insufficient toll revenue. The funds for the bridge will be used to match federal transportation funding for Michigan. And, construction of the bridge will create new jobs. It is a win-win for everyone but the monopolist…the Ambassador Bridge Company.

This week, Governor Snyder hosted the Paul W. Smith show on WJR radio. He and Canadian Consul General, Roy Norton, most succinctly clarified the facts. I encourage you to listen to the podcast of that interview.

Vote No on Proposal 6! Build a new bridge to Canada! Build it Now!

Paul Tait joined SEMCOG in 1972 and has served in a variety of planning and administrative capacities – becoming Executive Director in 1998. This experience gives Paul a rich perspective on the past, present, and future of our region. Please join him as he blogs about issues of importance to the region’s local governments and residents. Paul is also president of SEMCOG’s partner organization – the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition (MAC) – a coalition of business, labor, government and education.

 

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This report continues SEMCOG’s analysis of future demographic trends in the region. It particularly provides insight into future change patterns in the region’s school-age population, as well as forecast data for all ages by eight groups – pre-school population (0-4), school-age population (5-17), college-bound (18-24), working-age (25-34 and 35-59), pre-seniors (60-64), and seniors (65-74, and 75+) for each school district in Southeast Michigan. We also updated our interactive forecast data search tool on SEMCOG’s Web site. The tool is a very easy to use and a comprehensive resource that provides forecast data for each community and school district in the region. Data can be downloaded in PDF format for each community or for the region as a whole.

Southeast Michigan School District Population Forecast, Age 5 to 17, 2010-2040

Interested in knowing how SEMCOG’s data impacts local governments and residents in Southeast Michigan? Then, you’ll want to read Xuan’s weekly posts.

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October 3, 2012 – The Local Government Effectiveness Team met recently with officials from a local government facing severe fiscal and operational challenges. With the uncertainty of the outcome of the upcoming referendum on PA 4 of 2011, the Emergency Manager Law, this local government wanted to understand all the potential scenarios associated with severe fiscal distress, including the possibility of municipal bankruptcy and the likely implications. After some research, this recent article from Governing Magazine provides insight into the subject matter and includes a segment on Michigan’s current situation.

Our team has worked with virtually every one of SEMCOG’s 156 member local governments; all are facing unparalleled fiscal and operational challenges. A great many are aggressively addressing the issues and are effectively applying the tools and best practices provided to them to balance budgets while sustaining critical services for citizens. Knock on wood, but to-date, none of the communities we’ve worked with have gone into emergency management or bankruptcy.

Needless to say, this region has seen the impact of bankruptcy in the private sector, a process that should be avoided if at all possible. One of the key enablers to reducing costs and avoiding bankruptcy, without impacting service delivery, is through collaboration. To that end, a SEMCOG University Webinar is scheduled for October 18 on the subject, especially as it relates to EVIP and collaboration grants from the state. Click here for more information and to register.

For no cost assistance with your fiscal and operational issues,  please contact Dave Boerger at Boerger@semcog.org

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

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SEMCOG recently co-hosted the 2012 Winter Maintenance Workshop with the City of Novi, which was attended by over 150 local government and agency staff from 44 agencies. This event brought together many people that were able to network on local sustainable winter maintenance practices in order to address rising salt costs, staff reductions, and budget constraints.

The Cities of Novi and Southfield presented new techniques that other communities can use in their own operations. There was also an opportunity to learn about environmental regulations for storing salt and liquid brine. The City of Novi hosted this workshop inside their DPS garage so that their snow plowing and salting vehicles and equipment, along with their salt and brine storage techniques, could be viewed by other local winter maintenance professionals. Winter maintenance vendors were also invited to showcase their equipment and materials frequently used by local governments.

It was a great way for local governments in Southeast Michigan to learn real ways to improve their own operations while saving money in their budgets. To view the presentations and handouts from this workshop, please visit SEMCOG’s Winter Maintenance Web site.

SEMCOG’s November 8th General Assembly will feature a Winter Maintenance workshop geared for elected officials and city managers.

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

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On the political side, Governor Snyder, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, Oakland County Executive Brooks Patterson, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, and Washtenaw County Chair Conan Smith all want the same thing as the business leaders want, too. What is it? A Regional Transit Authority (RTA)!

All of these leaders, plus SEMCOG, the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition, and others urged the legislature to quickly pass legislation establishing a Regional Transit Authority in Metro Detroit and made their feelings heard at a state legislative hearing on the issue last Thursday.

Why do they think this is so critical to the success of our region and state? Well, they all realize that establishing an RTA is the first step to citizens in our region having more reliable access to jobs, medical care, education, and sports and entertainment centers region-wide. They recognize that we are competing against other regions in this country and around the world for new investment, new companies, and young college-educated professionals that can choose to live anywhere. These leaders realize that areas that work to build a more livable, vibrant community will prosper — and those that don't will be left behind.

The House and the Senate are now in recess until after the election. Please take this opportunity to call or write your elected representatives. Tell them you agree with our elected and business leaders and urge them to pass legislation to establish an RTA.

Our business and political leadership “get it.” Will the state legislature?

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

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To help understand the racial diversity in the region, as a follow-up to SEMCOG’s popular Census 2010 Community Map Books, a new map book is now available for members to assess racial diversity at the community level. The Racial Diversity Map Book, 2000-2010, presents a graphic overview of selected race and ethnicity information from the 2000 and 2010 Censuses of Population and Housing, including population density, percent minority population, predominant minority race, and white population density in 2010, and also the change in these characteristics from 2000-2010.

With 100% of count data being shown at the Census Block level, members can identify areas of increasing racial and cultural diversity within their neighborhoods and where additional bilingual resources may be needed. We may also see more ethnic stores in those areas. SEMCOG members may request an electronic copy in PDF format by e-mailing infocenter@semcog.org or calling (313) 324-3330. Printed copies are available upon request. Click here to view a PDF sample page from the Mapbook, also shown below.

Interested in knowing how SEMCOG’s data impacts local governments and residents in Southeast Michigan? Then, you’ll want to read Xuan’s weekly posts.

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Not only was it a fun afternoon of chatting with professionals from all over Washtenaw County, it was a well-deserved time to reflect on the outstanding career of Janis Bobrin (who has many connections to SEMCOG, I might add).

Janis started her career at SEMCOG and finished it out by receiving our highest award just this past summer, SEMCOG’s Regional Ambassador Award. In between, Janis served for over 20 years as Washtenaw County’s Water Resource Commissioner. As was noted at her retirement party, Janis cares about both the environment and the people – an important trait of this unique position.

What we can learn from Janis is that we can all make a difference in our community, region, and state. Janis, with her quiet dignity and tenacity, did just that. Whether it was changes to state policy or helping local residents with flooding problems, Janis dug right in and helped solve the problem.

Thank you, Janis, for your service. The highest honor that I can say is that 1) what you did made a difference and 2) you set the bar for the next generation of women watershed professionals (like me!). Enjoy retirement!

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

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LGEC Services

• Team of four consultants help member local governments deal with fiscal crisis
• Assist in identifying, developing internal efficiencies 
• Facilitate collaboration among neighboring communities to share services
• Provide comparable fiscal and operational data for member communities
• Document and share best practices and successfully implemented ideas
• Offer monthly training on topical matters via Webinar archived on SEMCOG’s Web site 
• Provide forecast of taxable value trends for member local governments
• Help communities balance budgets and develop long range financial plans 
• Provide no-cost fiscal and operation analysis of the local government operations
• Share collaborative purchasing consortiums to lower costs
• Offer no-cost energy audits and recommendations for local governments
• Employ performance measurement processes within local governments
• Help local governments reduce benefit and legacy costs 
• Provide readiness assessment for potential millage vote
• Help communities qualify for EVIP statutory revenue funds
• Perform organizational structure analysis for local governments
• Prevent communities from requiring state-provided emergency management
• Survey stakeholders within local governments to identify budgetary actions
• Work with communities to privatize non-core services and reduce cost
• Assist local governments to selectively and carefully reduce services 
• Created two searchable databases to aid local governments: AgileGov and Munetrix on SEMCOG’s Web site

Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.

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Let’s say the proposal passes.  It could well signal the end of any additional statewide gas tax increase in the future.  Good, you say.  Besides, the gas tax is getting us fewer dollars each year anyway. It could push us to look at other options.  It could also mean that with no increase in a statewide gas tax, the pressure on local communities to pass local road millages will increase.

Since the state DOT could not raise additional revenue in this scenario, they could also go to the legislature and ask for a redistribution of the existing Act 51 revenues with more going to them and less to local agencies. Why?  Because the state would have no way of raising additional revenue, while local units of government would.  Local officials could go to Lansing and ask the legislature for more local option tax tools other than just the property tax.  What about funding for public transit?

In short, funding for our transportation system could become a hodgepodge of county- by- county or even city – by – city decision-making.  You think things are bad now?  Well I think that could be even worse.

Hopefully, this scenario will not occur.  The Detroit News reported this morning that support for the proposal is dropping, although it is still over 50% today.  I hope it continues to drop.  Look for the governor to renew his attempt to increase revenues for transportation improvements in the coming weeks given that this could be the last opportunity to have a simple majority of the legislature make a decision on statewide funding.  How did we get from being governed by a majority rule to being asked to vote on being governed by the minority?

Makes no sense to me.

If you want to know what about anything related to transportation in Southeast Michigan, don’t miss Carmine Palombo's blog. Carmine has more than 30 years of experience in various phases of transportation planning at SEMCOG. He is responsible for administering SEMCOG’s transportation planning program, which includes the region’s long-range transportation plan and short-term transportation plan.

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• After bottoming-out in 2010, more than 100,000 jobs have been added to the region’s economy, an increase of 5%.
• While automotive manufacturing no longer dominates the region’s economy as it once did, it is still a critical industry to the region’s overall well-being, and it is now adding jobs.
• Michigan’s labor underutilization rate – which measures not only the unemployed, but also workers who are underemployed and marginally attached to the workforce – has fallen from a peak of 21.5 % in 2009 to 18.8% in 2011.
• After years of losses, the region’s real per capita personal income and real gross domestic product grew in 2010.
  • Real per capita income grew by 1.6%; it now stands at $34,247.
  • Real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 2.8%.
• Housing values are bottoming-out. The Case-Shiller Housing Price Index has recorded 12 straight months of annualized growth for the Detroit metropolitan area. The most recent measure (June 2012) estimates values to be 2.3% higher than one year earlier.
• In 2011, residential construction permits reached 4,200 units – the highest number recorded for the region since 2007. Permits have been steadily increasing since hitting bottom in 2009. Comparing the first seven months of residential construction permits for 2012 to the same in 2011 shows a 12% increase in permits so far this year.
• Nonresidential development is showing promise in 2012 as well, with 4.4 million square feet of new space completed or under construction, and another 5.7 million square feet in planned projects.
• Educational attainment (the percentage of the population with bachelor’s and associate’s degrees) has grown at a faster rate than the nation, since 2000.
  • Percent of people with a bachelor’s degree rose by 4.1 percentage points for Southeast Michigan, compared to 3.8 percentage points for U.S.
  • Percent with an associate’s degree rose by 2.3 percentage points for Southeast Michigan, compared to 1.4 percentage points for U.S

We are certainly not where we need to or want to be yet. But we’ve made a good start and have strengths to build on for a brighter future.

Interested in knowing how SEMCOG’s data impacts local governments and residents in Southeast Michigan? Then, you’ll want to read Xuan’s weekly posts.

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But what we don’t want to hear is “Blue Green.” Blue-green algae that is. Blue-green algae, when in large quantities, can pose a health challenge to people and animals and can impact our drinking water.

Western Lake Erie, and the water plants that use Lake Erie water, are grappling with just such an issue.

Blue-green algae is naturally present in lakes and streams. It is usually present in low numbers, but it can become very abundant in warm, shallow, undisturbed surface water that receives a lot of sunlight.

The City of Monroe Treatment Plant is combating this serious issue by participating in the Huron to Erie Drinking Water Monitoring Program. Water treatment plants up and down the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River, and Lake Erie have banned together to monitor their intakes to keep our drinking water safe. SEMCOG is facilitating the meetings.

The City of Monroe has additional monitoring equipment and has adjusted their treatment process when blue-green algae counts are high. This past summer the amount of algae jumped significantly within hours. That’s where this real-time monitoring equipment kicks in. The city was able to adjust its treatment process to deal with this issue and keep the drinking water safe for its residents.

Thanks to all those communities that have stepped up to the plate to participate in this effort. For those treatment plants not involved, look for a special letter from SEMCOG inviting your participation.

You can leverage your SEMCOG membership to help your local government become more sustainable and effective. Amy’s posts will focus on SEMCOG’s member services.

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These forecasts are based upon both residential and commercial property value trends across the region showing slight signs of improvement that eventually impact taxable values.

In order to prepare for their budgets, individual communities can use this data as a starting point for projecting property taxes, the primary revenue source for most local governments. Typically, by comparing an individual community’s historic taxable value trends to the region-wide average, a reasonable projection is possible at the local level. Of course, consultation with your assessor and local real estate brokers is also recommended to refine your property tax collections for the upcoming year and beyond.

To that end, some communities have not seen their taxable values drop as precipitously as others, and SEMCOG is researching how they’ve been able to weather the fiscal storm so effectively. The chart below shows some of the best performing cities as measured by their overall drop in taxable values since 2007: