Madison Heights asks voters to renew neighborhood road millage with Proposal R4

A Madison Heights staff member said Madison Heights will ask residents to approve Proposal R4 on the Aug. 4 ballot, a replacement road millage that would continue dedicated funding for neighborhood street repairs through 2036.

The announcement stressed that R4 is not a new tax but a replacement and restoration of the road millage voters have approved three times since 1996. "For 30 years, Madison Heights has had a dedicated millage for neighborhood roads," the staff member said, and the current millage expires this year.

City officials said the millage funds repair and reconstruction of residential streets within Madison Heights city limits — the streets people drive, walk and bike on daily. The staff member said the program has helped repair nearly 35 miles of neighborhood streets over the past three decades and that Proposal R4 would continue that commitment.

The city provided an estimated homeowner cost: "For the average homeowner, the millage will cost about $126 per year," the staff member said, which the city characterized as a little under $11 per month based on the average taxable value of a Madison Heights home.

Proposal R4 will appear on the Aug. 4 ballot; absentee ballots are scheduled to be mailed in early July. The city said it will host a series of informational meetings in the weeks before the election to help residents understand the proposal and answer questions. Residents were directed to madisonheightsmi.gov/r4 for more information.

The measure is being presented as a continuation of a decades-old dedicated funding stream for neighborhood roads; no formal vote or public hearing is recorded in this announcement.