Economists say Michigan has more than a $200 million budget surplus this year. They say revenues will continue to grow in the coming years as the economy improves. Republican state lawmakers say that supports their plan to use projected growth in the state budget to fix Michigan’s roads.
But state Budget Director John Roberts says it’s still too early to tell how much money will be available long-term.“It’s easy to say, hey, we’ve got a little more revenue. But it’s going to take us a little bit to build in and say, yes, you’re going to have revenue growth, but what are your cost growths going to look like?”
Roberts says the administration wants a dedicated funding source for roads instead of one-time money.