Muskegon commissioners weigh smaller regional transit authority as neighbors opt out

Deputy City Manager Leanne updated the Muskegon City Commission on Monday on ongoing work to form a Regional Transit Authority after several neighboring communities signaled they would not join the full proposed district.

Leanne said the city approved articles of incorporation last October to join a regional authority and that Roosevelt Park and Norton Shores have since hesitated; Norton Shores did not take a vote. She said the current discussion is whether to form the authority with fewer members — potentially only Muskegon City and Muskegon Heights — and asked the commission for feedback.

The discussion matters because an authority could be granted taxing power and levy a millage across its jurisdiction to fund operations, Leanne said. "One of the reasons for going forward with an authority is that it gives us the power to, put forth to have taxing authority. So, one of the goals would be that we would have a millage," she said. She emphasized that any millage would apply only inside the…