Voters have rejected a proposal that would have generated about $430,000 a year for the next 10 years to fix roads in Niles Charter Township.

Clerk Terry Eull said the up to $65 per parcel special assessment was defeated with 752 “no” votes and 542 “yes” votes.

“Yes, I am a bit disappointed,” Eull said. “It would have been nice to get that done for the township residents.”

The proposal would have generated about $3.7 million over 10 years to combat what township officials say is the No. 1 complaint they get — poor roads.

The Berrien County Road Commission is the entity responsible for fixing the township’s roads, but the commission has been hampered by a lack of funding from the state over the past several years.

State legislators have been unable to come up with solution to the problem, so road conditions in the township, county and state continue to decline.

Eull said he and others on the township board thought the proposal would have been an economical way to fix roads while maintaining local control of the money.

“People will have to sit back and wait for the state, which I am not very optimistic about,” he said. “The burden falls back on the Berrien County Road Commission and the state to make a plan. That was our shot and it didn’t work.”

Eull said he doesn’t expect the township will attempt another millage or special assessment to fix roads in the near future.

“The only thing we could do is put a little (general fund) money like we have been,” he said.