Committee advances bill letting cities form special‑assessment districts for private roads

The House Local Government and Municipal Finance Committee on Monday advanced Senate Bill 896, a measure that would amend the Home Rule City Act to allow a city’s legislative body to create a special‑assessment district to pay for maintenance or improvements on private roads.

Daniella, legislative director for Sen. Hertel, told the committee that the problem is illustrated in Algonac, where residents on private Eckfield Street cannot get needed repairs because the Home Rule City Act currently bars cities from creating special‑assessment districts for private roads. “Eckfield Street in particular is in such poor condition that it compromises the residents’ abilities to receive basic services like trash collection or even receiving package deliveries,” Daniella said.

Daniella framed the bill as correcting a disparity between cities and townships: if the same street were located in a township, residents could already form an assessment district to pay for repairs. Representative Hill asked whether the change could unintentionally affect seasonal roads in the upper peninsula; Daniella said she would follow up with additional detail. “From my understanding ... there is no difference on private roads between cities and townships,” she said, and offered to return information on seasonal‑road implications.

Representative Burns moved to report SB 896 with recommendation; the clerk recorded the vote and the bill was reported out of committee. The committee did not read a public comment card on this bill.

Next steps: SB 896 was reported with recommendation and will proceed according to the House’s rules for committee reports and subsequent floor action.