Bay City received an $1.9 million appropriation in the new state budget. The money is a reimbursement for repairs at the Lafayette Bridge. This allows the city to fill a budget gap for road projects, which sparked concern by local officials.
“Limited resources impact what we can do. And so, these funds will be able to then be reinvested in the local street projects,” said Bay City Mayor Christopher Girard.
Girard says details on the projects will be released by city staff “in the next few weeks.”
“They didn't want to announce them without having those resources available to actually do the projects,” he said.
Late last year, state House Republicans clawed back hundred-of-millions in unspent state money. Around $370 million of that spending remains stuck in limbo amid a court case.
That included reimbursement funds to pay back Bay City for the cost of the Lafayette Bridge renovation project, which was initially $1.6 million.
But Girard says the cost of the bridge project went up to $1.9 million.
“We would have had to pay it out and not get it back, but in the scope of things, we're paying it to the state, and then the state's giving it right back to us,” he said.
State Rep. Timmy Beson, R-Bay City, who voted to claw back the funds, says the millions of dollars that were revoked would have mostly served as "slush fund" for state departments. Still, Beson acknowledged good projects like the Lafayette Bridge were caught up in the maneuver.
“Pausing work projects was about fixing a broken system, not abandoning good projects,” he said in February.
Beson told WCMU on Wednesday he spoke with local Bay City officials to understand how much they needed the reimbursements.
“They're like, actually, Tim, it's not even close to 1.6, it's almost $2 million. So that's exactly what I got for that bridge,” Beson said.
Beson formally requested the money be added to the general budget.
The Lafayette Brdge is set to re-open in 2027.
