Michigan § 124.405 - Southeastern Michigan transportation authority; establishment; resolution of withdrawal; veto; effect of withdrawal; cessation of operation or dissolution; state guaranteed payment of claims; lien of state; citizens planning and advisory councils.

The southeastern Michigan transportation authority which shall include the counties of Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw, and Wayne is established, but a county choosing not to participate in the authority may withdraw by a resolution of withdrawal approved by a majority vote of its elected county board of commissioners within 1 year after the establishment of the authority and by a 2/3 vote of the members elected to and serving on the county board of commissioners at any time thereafter. However, if the county has an elected county executive pursuant to Act No. 139 of the Public Acts of 1973, as amended, the county executive may veto the resolution. A veto may be overridden by a 2/3 vote of the members elected to and serving on the county board of commissioners. A county that withdraws from the southeastern Michigan transportation authority and whose chief executive officer is or was required to form a corporation pursuant to section 4a, shall lose its seat on the council, shall not retain any assets of the authority, and shall not contract for public transportation services with the authority.

If a county whose chief executive officer is not required to form a corporation pursuant to section 4a elects to withdraw from the authority within 12 months after the effective date of the 1988 amendatory act that added this subsection, the authority shall convey to that county and to any local authority that has a service area within that county all assets and liabilities utilized by or attributable to that county or local authority. The state transportation department shall reduce the level of state funding to the authority by the amount attributable to that county or local authority and transmit these funds directly to the county or local authority that has a service area within the county that elected to withdraw.

If the southeastern Michigan transportation authority ceases to operate or is dissolved and a successor agency is not created to assume its assets and liabilities, and perform its functions, and if the southeastern Michigan transportation authority is authorized to secure the payment of compensation under section 611(1)(a) of Act No. 317 of the Public Acts of 1969, as amended, being section 418.611 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, then the state guarantees the payment of claims for benefits arising under Act No. 317 of the Public Acts of 1969, as amended, being sections 418.101 to 418.941 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, against the southeastern Michigan transportation authority during the time they were approved as a self-insured employer. The state shall be entitled to a lien which shall take precedence over all other liens on its portion of the assets of the southeastern Michigan transportation authority in satisfaction of the payment of claims for benefits under Act No. 317 of the Public Acts of 1969, as amended.

A community or group of communities in the southeastern Michigan transportation authority region may create citizens planning and advisory councils to relate their particular concerns to the board on a regularly scheduled basis. These councils shall have memberships representative of the various neighborhoods within those cities.