Grand Traverse County weighs $2.6 million trails millage for TART Trails
A 0.3-mill trails levy could raise $2.6 million a year and go to voters Nov. 3, giving TART Trails steadier county-backed funding.
Grand Traverse County is weighing a 0.3-mill trails levy that would raise about $2.6 million a year. If placed on the Nov. 3 ballot for a 10-year term through 2036, the proposal would cost property owners 30 cents for every $1,000 of taxable value, with the money aimed at keeping the region’s trail network maintained, expanded and usable year-round.
County staff met with representatives from Traverse Area Recreation Trails, known as TART Trails, on June 8 to discuss the proposal. A July 15 county presentation gives the Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners oversight and final approval authority over annual budgets, funding allocations and expenditures, with a Trail Millage Coordinator and Trails Advisory Committee built into the structure.
Trails require resurfacing, snow removal, vegetation management, safety upgrades, signage, engineering, land acquisition and long-range planning. TART’s regional network ties into US Bicycle Route 35 in Michigan, and the West Bay segment alone serves more than one million users a year.
Residents would first notice work in the busiest corridors in Traverse City, especially around West Bay and the bayfront. TART’s Bayfront Improvement and Extension project is already moving, and trail work also intersects the city’s Grandview Parkway reconstruction. On the ownership side, the stretch between Carter Road and Aero Park Drive is owned by the City of Traverse City, while the section from Aero Park Drive to the Bates/Lautner segment is owned by the Grand Traverse County Road Commission. The corridor also runs by Garfield Avenue, Division Street, Peninsula Avenue and Eastern Avenue, where trail access links into the city grid.
A millage presentation puts support at 74% of trail users for a recurring public funding program, and 98% of surveyed county residents currently want to participate, or want to participate, in walking and hiking. The levy would help connect neighborhoods, schools, parks, jobs and downtown destinations while reducing short car trips.
Commissioners are also weighing whether the term should be shorter so voters can revisit the question sooner.
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