Voters will decide whether to support a millage on the Aug. 4 ballot that helps fund programs like Spec-Tran, which provides rides to people with disabilities. (Courtesy of CATA)

Know the Ballot: Transportation Services for Elderly and Disabled Persons

Ingham County voters will decide Aug. 4 whether to renew a millage that funds public transportation services for senior citizens and people with disabilities. The millage has been in place for at least 20 years, according to Ingham County Deputy Controller Jared Cypher.

If voters approve the millage, it will be renewed for six years, until 2032. The millage will levy .6 mills, or 60 cents per $1,000 of taxable value on property owners. This means the millage would cost the owner of a home with a market value of $200,000 and a taxable value of $100,000 about $60 per year, Cypher said.

If it is renewed, the millage is expected to provide more than $6.1 million in the first year. The funding is collected by the county, which then contracts with Capital Area Transportation Authority, or CATA, to provide most of the services covered. 

Language that will appear on the Aug. 4, 2026 ballot.

Cypher said the millage funding is split into three areas, the majority of which is used for Spec-Tran services, providing seniors with door-to-door transportation that “helps keep folks in their homes and independent,” he said.

The other main program the millage assists is CATA Rural Service, which supports Ingham County seniors who live in areas such as Williamston and Mason. Rural service connects people living in outlying areas of Ingham County with main CATA lines.

Programs the millage contributes to provided more than 350,000 rides in CATA’s last fiscal year. More than 320,000 rides were through the Spec-Tran program and more than 32,000 were through the rural service program, according to data provided by CATA.

About $180,000 annually is set aside to work with the county’s Veterans Affairs Department, Cypher said. 

“It transports veterans to medical appointments specifically at the hospital in Ann Arbor,” he said. “They have a van that goes there. It pays for the van, and it pays for the driver.”

Correction 6/23: This story was updated to correct data about how many rides are provided through the millage and the cover photo was replaced.