PONTIAC, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Pontiac resident Betty Lewis-Rand made news last week when she started filling in the potholes on her street because the road was in such disrepair and the city hadn’t responded.

The city responded it didn’t have enough money.

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“We have made progress repairing or constructing some of our roads, but clearly, more needs to be done. However, that will only happen when there is a significant increase in funding from the State,” the city of Pontiac stated, according to WXYZ.

Road funds.

Overall, the city of Pontiac has seen a large increase in its general fund revenues, which can be allocated for road repairs. The city’s general fund revenues have increased from $37.3 million in 2019, a year before the pandemic, to $62.5 million in 2024. That’s according to city budget documents.

The city also has two special revenue funds dedicated specifically for road repairs that are provided by the state – a major streets fund and a local streets fund.

State contributions.

The state has increased its contributions to the local streets fund from $1.5 million in 2018-19 to a projected $2.1 million in 2024-25. The major streets fund has jumped from $4.9 million to a projected $6.3 million over that same six-year period.

Here is the city of Pontiac full statement given to WXYZ:

“Much like cities around the state, we recognize that Pontiac’s roads are experiencing extreme wear. Our DPW crews are out there every shift, weather permitting, working to fill potholes with hot and cold patch mixes, which are commonly used to repair them. You can even see the patches that were previously made in the shared video.”

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The statement continued, “Since January of this year, DPW has placed 507 tons of patch filling more than 20,000 potholes around the city. The new DPW director has thoroughly reviewed the situation and provided the Mayor and Council with information in April on a new method that could increase the effectiveness of patching potholes. He has also added another member to the crew to work on this issue. We have made progress repairing or constructing some of our roads, but clearly, more needs to be done. However, that will only happen when there is a significant increase in funding from the State.”