Committee recommends county board approve intergovernmental public‑transportation agreement with Livingston and Ford counties

The finance committee recommended that the county board approve an intergovernmental agreement to provide regional public transportation with Livingston and Ford counties and forwarded the measure to the full board for Tuesday’s meeting.

Committee members said the agreement would establish a shared public‑transportation arrangement among the counties but warned the county could face future matching‑fund obligations. Committee members also asked for clarity on how counties would select representatives to the new entity and how hiring for a shared site monitor and program staff would proceed.

Committee staff told members the county’s attorney proposed a minor wording change to the agreement’s paragraph about matching funds; the version before the committee requires participating counties to be responsible for “any and all matching funds” as described in paragraph 6. Staff said Livingston and Ford counties will separately vote on the same document and that those counties’ attorneys may submit additional comments.

Committee members raised implementation questions including how the regional entity would be staffed and which county would host initial positions. One member said job descriptions are still being drafted and that some counties have already used the proposed service while others have not returned formal comments.

A motion to recommend approval was made and then confirmed in committee. The motion was made by Don and seconded by Kathy. A roll‑call recorded the following yes votes: Levinson, Wagner, Spartan, Carl and LaF; the committee recommended that the county board take up the agreement at its next meeting.

Because the intergovernmental agreement requires separate votes by the partner counties, the committee noted the county is not yet contractually bound until all jurisdictions complete their approvals or submit changes for negotiation. Staff said any substantial revisions from Livingston or Ford would be returned to the committee for review before the county executes the agreement.

The committee did not set a date for final execution; it forwarded the recommendation and the draft agreement to the full county board for consideration on Tuesday.