AATA bus tax update

As discussed previously, in a post below, the AATA bus system is considering asking Washtenaw County voters for a property tax increase to operate its bus system after the City of Ypsilanti stopped making obligatory payments. The Ann Arbor News reports that the nonprofit AATA's board of directors has agreed to hire a Lansing based P.R. firm to help it research the possibility of a county-wide tax. If a county-wide tax is approved, the board is considering operating the bus system throughout the county, an expansion of the routes that currently run in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti only.

The still unanswered question is the effect of such a proposed tax on Ann Arbor taxpayers, who are already paying a dedicated property tax to fund the AATA. Unlike Ypsilanti, the City of Ann Arbor is also making direct payments to AATA on top of the property taxes its residents pay.

Attentive readers will also recall that Ann Arbor property taxes are already sky high. The owner of an average priced home pays about $5,645 a year, or $470 each month, in property taxes. This currently includes about $250 a year, or $20 a month, to fund the AATA.

The question asked previously and still unanswered is whether this proposed millage increase would simply put taxpayers in the rest of the county on par with Ann Arbor (at least as far as bus service goes) or whether Ann Arbor residents are going to be asked to pay a new tax in addition to paying the existing tax as well as funding the direct payments the city makes to the AATA.