Presentation by Jacob Rushlow & Karen Mondora, PE
For decades, funding for transportation infrastructure has not kept pace with the cost of maintaining and improving road networks. The City of Farmington Hills was proactively assessing and tracking pavement conditions but did not have adequate funding to make significant improvements as its local road network average PASER score declined to a 4.3. The city prioritized Act 51 funding for major roads, and the city charter required special assessment districts to reconstruct local roads. Insufficient Act 51 funding forced the city to face decisions of using general funds to cover shortfalls for city match requirements towards federal aid eligible road projects as well as local SAD projects.
In 2014 the city proposed ballot language to authorize the levy of a 10-year special tax of 2.0 mills for road infrastructure improvements. City staff began a lengthy public outreach campaign using asset management data, planning, and forecasting to educate residents. Thanks to these efforts, the voters passed this road millage. The new funding was focused on improving the city’s major roads and did not replace the city charter prescribed SAD process for local roads. The SAD requirement was highly unpopular with residents and resulted in 100 miles of local roads falling below a 2.75 PASER score. In 2018 the city returned to the residents with a proposed charter amendment to replace the SAD requirement with a perpetual additional special tax of 2.75 mill specifically for local subdivision road improvements. Again, through significant public outreach and education efforts by city staff the voters passed this additional road millage. With additional funds secured, the city was able to greatly improve the road network showing that progress is possible with the right plan and funding in place!
Presentation by Ahmad Ramadan
Historic infrastructure investments are underway across Michigan and decisive action is needed to ensure the state has the skilled workforce to deliver these projects, then sustain and manage infrastructure post construction.
In April 2024, Governor Whitmer’s Executive Directive charged Program Partners to develop a plan addressing this urgent need.
Panel Discussion by Dr. Jean Hardy, Sarah Mills, & Ron Akers
Michigan communities are facing a surge of data center development with little warning and limited capacity to respond. Municipalities confronting requests for zoning variances, infrastructure upgrades, and community benefits agreements often lack the legal expertise, planning resources, and policy precedents needed to negotiate effectively, leaving them at a structural disadvantage relative to well-resourced developers.
The Michigan Data Center Planning & Development Working Group, convened by the Quello Center for Media and Information Policy at Michigan State University, represents a new model for closing that gap. By bringing together regional planning organizations, local officials, planning professionals, state actors, workforce development professionals, academic researchers, and others in a cross-sector coalition, the working group is building shared capacity for communities that cannot address these challenges alone.
This panel will present the working group's structure, its initial policy priorities, and the tools it is developing (e.g., model ordinances, moratorium guidance, and community engagement frameworks) to help under-resourced municipalities engage data center development on more equitable terms.
Attendees will leave with a practical understanding of how public-private coalition-building can turn infrastructure planning from a reactive scramble into a proactive, community-centered process.
