Plymouth Township property owners will start paying a new transit tax after voters narrowly approved the Wayne County Public Transportation Millage on Tuesday, Aug. 4, bringing SMART bus service to the community for the first time.
The measure passed 4,884 to 4,567, a margin of just 317 votes, with 51.68% voting yes, according to unofficial results posted by the Plymouth Township Clerk early Wednesday with all six precincts reporting.
The millage will cost homeowners 0.9831 mills, roughly $8 per month for a home with a market value of $200,000, for 10 years beginning in 2026. Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans described the cost in those terms to WXYZ on July 15 ahead of the vote.
Plymouth Township was one of 17 Wayne County communities that had opted out of the SMART system and received no fixed-route bus service. A 2025 state law signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ended the opt-out option, putting the millage before voters this year, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The result marks a reversal for Plymouth Township, where voters rejected two transit-related measures in November 2016, one by a wide margin and one narrowly.
What comes next
SMART's pre-vote implementation plan targets 2027 for new routes serving the township, including Route 295 along Plymouth Road, Route 290 on Newburgh and Route 345 on Haggerty, according to a joint Board of Trustees work session held March 3. SMART has not issued a post-vote statement confirming a specific launch date.
The millage is expected to generate approximately $57.6 million countywide in its first year, distributed among Wayne County, SMART, DDOT and other transit providers, according to county estimates reported by WXYZ.
Plymouth Township resident Steve Barnaby told CBS Detroit on June 2, ahead of the vote, that he supported the measure. "I would vote for this because I look at this as an investment into the community, not an expense," Barnaby said.
Not everyone was convinced. Plymouth resident Ron Picard told CBS Detroit in the same June 2 report that he was skeptical, pointing to Oakland County's 2022 millage and arguing that actual service delivered was "just a tiny fraction of what they promised."
Stevens wins Senate primary locally
In the other marquee race on the ballot, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens won the Democratic U.S. Senate primary in Plymouth Township with 3,335 votes (50.19%) to Abdul El-Sayed's 3,135 (47.18%). Mallory McMorrow received 174 votes.
Stevens' local margin was driven by absentee ballots: she received 2,433 absentee votes to El-Sayed's 1,464, while El-Sayed led among Election Day voters 1,353 to 675.
The statewide race had not been officially called as of early Wednesday. The contest drew $98.2 million in ad spending, making it the third most expensive Senate primary in U.S. history, according to Bridge Michigan.
Republican Mike Rogers ran essentially uncontested locally with 3,416 votes.
Other results
Turnout across Plymouth Township hit 43.96%, with 10,556 of 24,012 registered voters casting ballots. In other races, Jocelyn Benson won the Democratic gubernatorial primary locally with 87.36%, and John James led the Republican gubernatorial field with 53.51%. U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell and state Sen. Matt Koleszar ran uncontested in their respective Democratic primaries.
Certified results are pending. Residents can contact the Plymouth Township Clerk's office for updates.
