County liaison hears Lansing update: Oakland’s road funding rises, revenue sharing steady

Oakland County’s legislative liaison told the Liaison Committee that the recently passed state budget increased the county’s transportation funding and left revenue sharing roughly flat while other program line items were uncertain.

The liaison said the county’s transportation share rose from $129 million last year to $175 million in the current budget, and that a separate road-funding package will add further money for roads. He said the governor had until she signed or vetoed parts of the package and that lawmakers went past the constitutional Oct. 1 deadline to finish the budget.

The liaison also said the county’s revenue sharing amount is largely unchanged from last year. He noted a $1.24 million public safety allocation that will be routed to the Oakland County Board of Commissioners to direct, rather than directly to the sheriff. He warned that while per-pupil education funding rose, other education line items were cut in the budget package, and some local programs — including items in Michigan Works — saw reductions. He and county members said staff would follow up for details on specific program cuts.

Committee members asked about the budget’s knock-on effects: one commissioner said superintendents told him the package was not uniformly "great for the schools," and members asked staff to check on how Michigan Works and particular education programs were affected. The liaison said the state is in a holding pattern on some Medicaid-related funding questions while awaiting clarity from the federal budget process and that the county will monitor effects on rural hospitals and other services.

No vote was required for the legislative update, and committee members asked the liaison to return with more detailed analyses of how individual local programs (for example, Michigan Works line items) were affected.