From ACT 51
Note on Townships
Townships do not have jurisdiction over public roads in the Michigan; there are no "township roads" recognized in state law. Furthermore, townships are not legally required to contribute to the construction, reconstruction, or maintenance of county roads. However, Section 14 (6) of Act 51 does permit townships to contribute to the cost of maintenance or improvement of the local county road system, and many townships do provide such funding to supplement county road commission funds. Furthermore, Section 12(15) of Act 51 limits how much MTF revenue a county road commission can spend on local county road construction (50% of project cost), and local county road bridge construction (75% of project cost). Costs not covered by MTF
revenue must be provided by other sources— often from township contributions.
Michigan townships contributed approximately $96.7 million for local county road improvements in FY 2004-05—the most recent complete year of data.
For this document, all 83 county road agencies are referred to as "road commissions." In fact, Wayne County does not have a separate road commission; Wayne County roads are managed by the Wayne County Department of Public Services under the authority of the Wayne County Board of Commissioners.
ACT 51 PRIMER
PAGE 8 HOUSE FISCAL AGENCY: FEBRUARY 2007
