State Park Issues Increased Vehicle Fees To Fund Road Repairs
Income, Attendance Up This Summer
By Ryan Schlehuber

Paved roads in Mackinac Island State Park are cracked and deteriorating under heavy truck use for construction projects, prompting the Mackinac Island State Park Commission to post stiffer fees for motorized vehicles. Commissioners, meeting Friday, September 24, at Audie’s Restaurant in Mackinaw City, also raised admission fees to historic sites on the Island and in Mackinaw City.

The Commission’s new policy for temporary motor vehicle permit fees will be to charge based on vehicle type, rather than according to the season in which the permit is issued.

The five vehicle types and their new permit fees will be:

1) golf cart, motorized lawn mowers, lawn tractors (an annual fee of $55);

2) Automobile, van, pick-up truck ($100);

3) Panel truck, stake truck, five-yard dump truck, backhoe, excavator, bucket truck, and forklift ($150);

4) Bulldozer, grader, front-end loader, crane, a 10-yard dump truck, concrete mixer truck, single-bottom tractor-trailer, and dumpster truck ($200);

5) Vehicles used to move a modular home unit, or a propane tanker truck ($300).

Motor vehicles such as snowmobiles, city-certified electric-assist bicycles, and electric wheelchairs are exempt from the Commission’s permit fee. City vehicles and contractors operating on State Park roads for public utilities projects are exempt, as well.

The new fee structure, according to Park Director Phil Porter, will begin to address the costs of maintaining and repairing Park roads that were not constructed for heavy vehicle use.

Last year, the Commission charged minimal fees according to season to cover only the cost of processing a permit application. In the non-tourist summer season, October 15 to May 15, a fee of $33 was issued to each vehicle each time it made a trip on Park roads. From May 15 to May 31, the shoulder season, a fee of $55 was issued to each vehicle. During the tourist season, June 1 to September 15, any vehicle operating on Park roads was assessed a fee of $80 each time it rode on a Park road.

“It’s become increasingly apparent that the increase of heavy vehicles is damaging our roads,” said Mr. Porter. “There are a number of cracks on British Landing Road.”

Much of the wear and tear of Park roads comes from vehicles being shipped by boat from the mainland to the State Park’s British Landing dock. The dock is used to deliver vehicles that are too large for the downtown docks and for moving solid waste off the Island.

Mr. Porter told commissioners that the road in worst repair is the East Bluff, which he said is “in horrible shape.” The cost to repair the road is estimated to be $45,000, money the Commission doesn’t have.

The permit fees will be deposited into a special fund and used only for repairs and improvements in the state park.

“We need to secure money now that can help in repairs in the future,” Mr. Porter said.

He noted that the new motor vehicle use fees are still much less expensive than the costs to haul material by horse and dray.

With the approval of the new policy, Commissioners also agreed a study should be conducted to see if the rates should be adjusted in the future.

Commissioner Bob Traxler suggested the fees should be higher, especially for the heavier vehicles.

Commissioner Richard Manoogian said the staff needs to study the financial impact a fee increase would have on the construction of a single family home and other projects. The Commission, he said, should stick with the proposed fees and take a harder look at the impact of raising them later.

The Park Commission approved various admission fee increases to its historic sites, ranging from 25¢ to 75¢. Adult tickets, for example, will go from $9 per adult to $9.50 at Fort Mackinac and Colonial Michilimackinac.

The biggest increase in admission fees was with the Mackinac Combination tickets, which went from $18.50 for an adult to $25. That ticket now includes the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse site that opened this summer. Other sites included in the combination ticket are Fort Mackinac, Colonial Michilimackinac, and Historic Mill Creek.

Because of weak attendance, rates at Historic Mill Creek will remain unchanged.

Base admission fees were not raised last year, said Mr. Porter.

Mackinac State Historic Parks saw a rise in attendance and sales this year. Through September 10, attendance at the historic sites, overall, is up 5.5 percent compared to the same period last year. Mr. Porter credits the opening of Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse and a strong attendance at Colonial Michilimackinac for the increase. Fort Mackinac and Historic Mill Creek attendance were down five percent and 6.5 percent, respectively.

Overall revenue is up, although it is 3.2 percent less than the agency’s projected goal for this year.

“Poor weather, a sluggish Michigan economy, and high gas prices have negatively impacted tourism across northern Michigan, and we are no exception,” said Mr. Porter in his report to the Commission.

The Mackinac Island State Park Commission expects its general fund appropriation for the next fiscal year to be 4.8 percent higher than this year. The total operating budget is expected to be $5,867,191, a one percent increase, or a $57,987 difference, from last year.

Some of that will be used to keep Fort Mackinac open one-and-a-half hours longer from June 12 to August next summer and to open Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse in May. Its grand opening was in June this year. Mr. Porter said visitors on the Island tend to stay longer now and Mackinac State Historic Parks needs to take advantage of that.

Historic Mill Creek is scheduled to close two weeks earlier next year, though it will feature the new Millwright House exhibit that is expected to be open next summer.