Michigan voters reject $1.9 billion road repair measure

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[May 06, 2015]  By Joseph White
 
 DETROIT (Reuters) - Michigan voters Tuesday rejected a ballot proposal to hike the state sales tax to pay for fixing the state's crumbling roads and bridges.

The final vote reported by the Michigan Secretary of State's office was 80 percent opposed, and 20 percent in favor. Polls taken ahead of the vote had indicated the measure was headed for defeat.

The complex $1.9 billion measure included proposals to amend the state constitution to increase the state sales tax to 7 percent from six percent, raise motor vehicle fuel taxes and peg them to inflation, send more money to schools and enhance an earned income tax credit that benefits lower income residents.

Michigan's Republican Gov. Rick Snyder campaigned for the plan, saying it would raise an additional $1.3 billion to fix the state's highways and bridges, many of them in poor condition after years of harsh weather, heavy truck traffic and funding cuts. The plague of potholes in the state that's home to auto giants General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co has become a searing political headache for Michigan elected officials.

Opponents of the proposal criticized the ballot measure as an unnecessary tax increase for residents still recovering from the last recession. The measure's complexity became a target for its opponents, who said more than 30 percent of the money from the so-called road package would go to other purposes than roads.

(Reporting By Joe White; Editing by Christian Plumb)

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