ALPENA — The Legislature will pass a budget that includes more money for roads but will not include the 45-cents-per-gallon gas tax increase proposed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Northeast Michigan lawmakers said Friday.

Whitmer, a Democrat, on Friday did not back down from her threat to veto any budget that does not adequately address road funding. If she doesn’t sign a budget by Oct. 1, the state government will shut down.

Also Friday, Alpena’s representatives in Lansing and Alpena County’s roads chief questioned a recent report saying Northeast Michigan’s 106th state House District has the worst roads in the state.

State Sen. Jim Stamas, R-Midland, who represents Northeast Michigan and chairs the state Senate Appropriations Committee, said Friday an increase in road funding is likely, and education and water are two other high priorities.

But Stamas said Democratic leaders in the House and Senate haven’t even raised the issue of the gas-tax increase for the new budget.

“To be honest, they haven’t even put the 45-cent increase forward, and most of the discussion has been around how they don’t want to get in front of the governor’s plan,” Stamas said. “We can have an increase, but we also want to be sure it is going straight into the roads.”

Meanwhile, state Rep. Sue Allor, R-Wolverine, who represents the 106th, said in a statement she won’t support raising taxes.

“We expect to deliver a budget to Governor Whitmer ahead of the constitutional deadline — dedicating more resources than ever before to schools and roads,” Allor said in a written statement. “This budget plan will also do more to protect our environment and our precious water supplies families depend on and deserve. It will be a good plan for northern Michigan, accomplished without tax increases. I urge the governor to sign it when it reaches her desk.”

UNFACTORED ROADS

Recently, Crain’s Detroit Business analyzed Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating data compiled by the Michigan Transportation Asset Management Council and concluded that roads in Allor’s district — which includes Alpena, Presque Isle, Alcona, and Iosco counties, as well as part of Cheboygan County — were graded the worst of all of the state House districts.

Both Allor and Alpena County’s road chief said that’s not a fair representation.

PASER scores paved road, of which the 106th has 1,265 miles — 43% — rated in poor condition. The Transportation Asset Management Council rated 267 miles of state roads in the district in poor condition, as well as 997 miles of paved local roads.

What the PASER scores doesn’t account for, however, are the many miles of gravel roads in rural counties that also need repair.

Alpena County Road Commission Managing Director Larry Orcutt said that, because of a lack of funding but need for repairs on gravel roads, road commissioners are often forced to spend less on paved streets. Orcutt said crews often reseal roads, which will improve their PASER scores, but the fix doesn’t last long.

“In Alpena County, we only have a third of our roads that are paved, and our other roads aren’t factored into the system in Lansing,” Orcutt said. “Still, we are compared to systems that are 90% paved or more, where most of the money they receive are put into them.”

Allor said she was shocked at Crain’s findings and believes there’s more to the story. She said the entire road system should be graded, not just the paved ones.

Allor said she has spoken to some road commissioners who would be willing to put off more funding because they don’t have enough employees to take on more projects and hiring contractors would be costlier.

“You’ll never hear me say I don’t want any more money,” Orcutt said. “If they challenged me to find a way to spend it, I would do my best to do just that.”

‘NEEDS TO BE MUCH MORE EQUITABLE’

Questions about how roads should be rated and which roads should get money are part of the reason Whitmer’s plan, announced early this year, has faced such opposition.

Less than 1% of the funds from Whitmer’s proposed gas tax hike would go to rural roads. Allor said that isn’t good enough. She said Northeast Michigan’s roads should be considered for funding the same as those in Wayne, Macomb, and Oakland counties.

“It needs to be much more equitable, and more money definitely needs to be allocated to the more rural areas,” she said.

Stamas said Friday that said state roads in the region, such as M-32 and M-65, are in good shape, overall, but more attention needs to be given to smaller, local roads.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.