New Statewide Housing Partnership Formed to Lower Housing Costs

The State of Michigan Wednesday unveiled a new executive order by Governor Gretchen Whitmer establishing the Statewide Housing Partnership.

Michigan Municipal League CEO and Executive Director Dan Gilmartin is featured prominently in the release touting the new partnership within the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA). Coming up with solutions to Michigan’s ongoing housing crisis is a top priority for the League.

The partnership will develop a strategy to implement Michigan’s Statewide Housing Plan and ensure that every Michigander has access to affordable housing that meets their needs. Additionally, Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist joined the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in Lansing to announce Michigan Strategic Fund approval of $83.8 million in grant funding across 22 statewide affordable housing and community development projects around Michigan through the Revitalization and Placemaking Program.

Here’s what Dan had to say in the release:

“It is more important than ever to invest in affordable housing, multi-use development, and placemaking in our downtowns,” said Dan Gilmartin, Executive Director and CEO of the Michigan Municipal League. “Today’s announcement of the Michigan Statewide Housing Partnership and the Michigan Strategic Fund’s approval of $83 million in Revitalization and Placemaking awards will grow our economy, generate opportunity, and create communities where people want to live, work, and play. I am grateful for the Whitmer-Gilchrist administration’s work on this issue and look forward to continuing our efforts to build a Michigan with prosperous, vibrant, and affordable communities for everyone.”

View the full press release here.

The executive order can be viewed here.

Online Voting Now Open for Bridge Builders Microgrant Projects

Bridge Builders online voting is now open! Help shine a spotlight on your local visionaries, change-makers, and community leaders by voting for the Bridge Builders Microgrant project that inspires you.

Voting for Bridge Builders semi-finalist projects is open from August 22 through September 4. Voting is allowed once per day, per person. Our statewide juries will consider vote totals along with other factors when they select this year’s grantees, so get your votes in!

The Bridge Builders Microgrants program offers small, one-time grants to people or organizations within Michigan Municipal League communities. These grants support the little things—dynamic, creative activities that bring people together. To learn more about this year’s funding categories click here.

There are projects from 22 communities vying to be this year’s recipients of $500 and $5,000 in grants. The projects are in the following communities: Bridgman, Cassopolis. Cheboygan, Chelsea, Coopersville, Dearborn Heights, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Hancock, Harper Woods, Hastings, Iron Mountain, Lennon, Monroe, Mt. Pleasant, New Haven, Ortonville, Rochester Hills, Romeo, Romulus, and Traverse City.

Please support these projects by voting here: https://mmlfoundation.org/vote/

IIJA Funding Resource: Capitalizing on New Federal Funding Opportunities: A Webinar Series

The Sustainable States Network (SSN) and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) have organized three upcoming webinars that will explore key opportunities for cities to act on climate change through energy efficiency investments—including by capitalizing on new federal funding. You can learn more about these webinars and register through the links below:  

New Federal Funding Opportunities for Affordable Housing Retrofits                                                                              

Thursday, August 4 | 2:00pm-3:00pm ET 

This ACEEE webinar will explore how state and local governments can leverage a historic influx of federal funding to increase investments in retrofits for low- and moderate-income housing. Two jurisdictions that are already taking these steps will share early insights. 

Taking Advantage of Federal Funds: Local Energy Efficiency Policies and Programs to Consider 

Tuesday, September 20 | 2:00pm-3:00pm ET 

This ACEEE/SSN webinar will showcase leading energy efficiency programs from across the country that communities can learn from and replicate as they prepare to leverage new federal funding opportunities. 

ACEEE’s Self-Scoring Tool: Results from the Community Energy Challenge                                      

Thursday, September 29 | 1:00pm-2:00pm ET  

This ACEEE/SSN webinar will show communities how they can use ACEEE’s latest self-scoring tool to measure their energy efficiency and clean energy progress, and highlight results from the most recent cohort of SSN’s Community Energy Challenge. 

SSN Webinar Poster

Herasanna Richards is a legislative associate handling energy, environmental, elections, and external municipal services for the League. She can be reached at hrichards@mml.org or 517-908-0309.

Community Development Course for Regional Leaders Taking Place in Lansing this Month

The Michigan Municipal League is sharing this with our members at the request of some of our partner organizations:

In partnership with the Michigan Association of Regions (MAR) and the Economic Development Administration (EDA), Ball State University is bringing a Community Development Course to Lansing June 21-23.

This 2 1/2-day course brings from multiple states experts with decades of community economic development experience. The session is designed for all economic development stakeholders, including elected officials, community leaders, civic groups, regional developers, and anyone who is passionate about where they live and are dedicated to the work of making it even better!

Registration is through MAR at a steep discount. View the pdf with more details about the course here.

For questions contact Geoff Schomacker gbschomacker@bsu.edu at Ball State University or M.J. Smith michiganassociationofregions@gmail.com, executive director of the Michigan Association of Regions .

Here is the Registration Link for Monday’s U.S. Treasury Live Demo on ARP Funding

The registration link for the second of two U.S. Treasury live demonstrations is now available. The training on how to do the Project & Expenditure Report submission will take place 2 p.m. Monday EST.

Register in advance for this webinar here: https://ustreasury.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_W81pJmmZSVWa1yKzmfCCoA

This training comes as a key deadline is quickly approaching for Non-Entitlement Units of Local Government (NEU) receiving American Rescue Plan dollars. Each NEU must submit a Project and Expenditure Report by April 30, 2022, and then quarterly or annually thereafter, based on their total allocation. If you are an NEU that received over $10 million, you are required to report quarterly.

The State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) reporting team at Treasury will provide a live demonstration of a Project & Expenditure Report submission. The demonstration will include an example of a revenue loss submission.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

 

Please note that this event has a capacity of 5,000 registrants. If members are unable to access this event, they can instead view any of following videos that offer the demo:

Additionally, any questions about the portal should be directed to SLFRP@treasury.gov. For login related questions such as determining roles, contact COVIDReliefITSupport@treasury.gov. Members can also call Treasury at (844) 529-9527 for further assistance.

Legislative Session Reaches Mid-Point

The Michigan House and Senate wrapped up their work last week for the calendar year as the mid-point of the current 2021-22 legislative session.  Following the holidays, the legislature will return to session on Wednesday, January 12, 2022 to resume action.  All legislation introduced during 2021 remains eligible for action through the end of 2022.

Year-end legislative activity centered on the book closing supplemental (HB 4398) and the passage of the Economic Development package (SB 769,771 and HB 4082, 5603) that the small taxpayer PPT expansion was tied into (HB 5351).

The book closing supplemental appropriated nearly $850 million between Fiscal Years 20-21 and 21-22 across a variety of state departments.  Of main interest to League members was the appropriation of $140 million in federal emergency rental assistance funds for rental and utility assistance to preserve housing and avoid eviction, almost $200 million in non-discretionary ARPA funds through MDOT for airports and transit agencies with nearly $170 million of that appropriation aimed at the state’s primary airports, and $140 million of FEMA funds to the Michigan State Police for emergency and disaster response and mitigation.

The Economic Development package (SOAR – Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve) was signed by the Governor this week and has been outlined as follows:

  • $1 billion for two new MEDC job creation funds to use for cash incentives for large corporations and construction site improvements
  • $409 million in grants for businesses affected by the COVID-19 shut-downs

https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/michigan-legislature-passes-1b-incentive-plan-big-projects-gm

The inclusion of the expansion of the Small Taxpayer Exemption component of the Personal Property Tax reimbursement system was outlined in our Inside 208 blog following the late night action last week and was also discussed on the MIRS News Monday Podcast.  In the Governor and Legislature’s final move to secure the necessary votes for passage of this piece in the Senate, they added $75 million into the funding bill for the SOAR package (Senate Bill 85) to cover the first year’s cost of the expansion (which doesn’t kick in until 2023). The Senate Majority Leader and numerous other legislators made public comments committing to securing a long term reimbursement mechanism and discussions on this replacement will be a top priority for the League in the new year.

Three different supplemental budget proposals also saw action by one chamber during recent weeks.  House Bills 5522, 5523 and SB 565 provide some insights into legislative ARPA spending priorities around public safety, public health investments, and water and sewer infrastructure. These bills will likely form the basis for ongoing ARPA and state GF/GP fund balance spending negotiations that will continue in earnest in the new year.  Our team is heavily engaged, through our coalition efforts, in shaping the spending proposals within these bills and developing additional spending plans outside of these subject areas.

Other year-end legislative action can be headlined for League members by what did not happen.  No further action took place on HB 4722, the short-term rental zoning preemption or on SB 429, the aggregate mining preemption bill.  The legislature also failed to act on an extension for continuing to allow remote meetings under the Open Meetings Act.  As of December 31, 2021, local emergency declarations will no longer be allowed for remote meetings of public bodies under the OMA.  The marijuana caregiver package we are supporting was also held up, pending additional negotiations.

The Legislature did finalize action on Senate Bill 698, that extends the freeze on situs for assessment of equipment being used by remote workers and House Bills 5502-5506 which shifts the personal property tax business filing to a one-time filing with Treasury.  The state-funded cancer presumption for workers compensation was expanded to include part-time, paid on-call, and volunteer firefighters in House Bill 4172. The cost of this expansion will be supported by deposits to the state’s First Responder Presumed Coverage Fund from the state’s internet wagering proceeds.  A five-year extension of the sunset for the Transformational Brownfield program was also sent to the Governor prior to last week’s recess in Senate Bill 671 with League support.

A local fiscal “early warning” proposal was introduced right before the holiday recess.  Senate Bill 780 was introduced alongside a full repeal of the state’s Emergency Manager law.  SB 779 simply repeals all of Act 436 of 2012. The two bills are not tie-barred together but we expect the legislature to begin deliberation on the two proposals in the new year. In discussions with the Department of Treasury and the bill sponsor prior to introduction, we expressed grave concerns with the original approaches outlined in SB 780 and proposed numerous revisions.  We continue to work with the Department and the bill sponsor to ensure local autonomy in fiscal decisions and raise awareness of the broad range of factors outside of a local unit’s control that could contribute to a community’s financial situation and ensure that those factors are acknowledged by any legislation on this topic.

Also introduced last week was the reform of the disabled veteran property tax exemption that the League has been requesting.  Senate Bills 783784 were introduced on December 8th and the proposal would shift the burden of the veteran property tax exemption to the state’s income tax through the Homestead Property Tax credit program.  These bills have 12 bi-partisan Senate sponsors and we will be aggressively advocating for passage of these bills in the coming year.  League members are encouraged to contact their legislators to express support for these bills.

Following their return in January, the legislature will resume action on the remaining ARPA and state budget fund balance spending plans as they prepare for the Governor’s next executive budget recommendation and State of the State speech in late January/early February.

Chris Hackbarth is the League’s director of state & federal affairs. He can be reached at 517-908-0304 and chackbarth@mml.org.

PPT Exemption Expansion Gets Wrapped Into Economic Development Deal

Much of the focus of this final week of legislative session for the calendar year focused on negotiations between the Governor and Legislature on an economic development proposal reacting to Ford Motor Company’s recent decision to locate their new battery/electric vehicle plant in Tennessee.

As a component of the larger package, legislative leadership aggressively pursued a broader-based business tax relief proposal to counter the impression that the economic development package would only help a few, large businesses.  The House, Senate, and Governor came together, despite strong opposition from local governments and other taxing units, to include a major expansion of the Small Taxpayer Exemption portion of the state’s new Personal Property Tax system in the overall package.

Action between the two legislative chambers and the Governor’s office accelerated over the past few days on House Bill 5351, following the bill being reported from the House Tax Policy committee late last week, despite the objections of the League and other local government organizations. While the committee reported the introduced version of HB 5351, which would have simply instituted an annual CPI increase to the current $80,000 True Cash Value (TCV) Small Taxpayer Exemption threshold, the bill was completely altered by the House to double the existing $80,000 threshold to exempt all commercial and industrial personal property owned by a business below $160,000 in TCV. This change by the House was done without providing any replacement revenue to local governments to cover the roughly $50 million ongoing burden the expanded exemption would have cost local communities.

The League and our partners reacted quickly to the House’s action with a coordinated effort to convince the Michigan Senate and the Administration to slow these discussions and consider the impact this cut would have on local finances.  We contacted every Senate office to raise concerns about the state’s inability to properly estimate the cost of the proposed expansion, the lack of urgency to move the bill since the supposed relief to small taxpayers wouldn’t take effect until 2023, spotlighting the complete misperception that this change would help small, main street businesses, and explaining the unintended consequences that this proposal would have on the other parts of the complex personal property tax reimbursement system.  At its core, this expansion perversely serves as a disincentive to local economic development efforts as the cost of this expansion will be paid through a reduction in reimbursement funds for communities that have experienced new investments.

Under pressure to finalize their deal on the overall economic development package, the Governor and legislative leaders ended up agreeing to further expand the Small Taxpayer Exemption threshold up to $180,000 of equipment TCV (more than double the current $80,000 level), but in response to our messaging and League member engagement, $75 million was appropriated to the Local Community Stabilization Authority in Senate Bill 85 to cover the estimated cost of the first year of this expanded exemption.  In addition to this one year of funding support, we secured bipartisan public commitments from legislative leaders to pass a long term funding mechanism to support the ongoing costs of this expansion.

The headline of the Senate Majority Leader’s public statement following passage of the full package read, “Senate Majority Leader Applauds Economic Development Progress, Commits to Long-Term PPT Solution”.

Senator Ruth Johnson (R – 14th District), in a statement on the Senate floor, explained that she had concerns with the cut to local revenue and said the reason for her yes vote was because “I’ve been given a solid commitment that this body and our colleagues in the House will work to address the loss in revenue.”

Senator Jeremy Moss (D – 11th District) continued his staunch defense of local government in his floor speech explaining why he was voting no. “This funding pays for things that we depend on. Our residents who pay taxes depend on police and fire to show up when there is an emergency, so do – I presume – the businesses too, who pay this tax,” Moss said. “By repealing this tax in perpetuity with no replacement to local communities beyond the first year, you are directly defunding the money that goes towards public safety.”

While yesterday’s action did not have the outcome we had worked toward, the Municipal League and our local government partners will work together with our collective memberships to hold the legislature’s and Governor’s feet to the fire to pass an ongoing revenue replacement for this tax cut as soon as possible in the new year. We worked with our partners at the Michigan Association of Counties and the Michigan Townships Association to release this joint statement after the bill passed last night. We encourage all of our communities to remind their State Representatives and Senators of the need to make this a top priority for 2022.

Chris Hackbarth is the League’s director of state & federal affairs. He can be reached at 517-908-0304 and chackbarth@mml.org.

 

 

MAR and MSU Offering Free Workshops for Local Government about American Rescue Plan Funding

The Michigan Association of Regions and members of the Michigan State University (MSU) Extension faculty are offering a series of free workshops in the coming weeks for local government officials on the American Rescue Plan.

MSU asked the Michigan Municipal League to share this information with our members.

Go here to view the full schedule and to register.

Member regions of the Michigan Association of Regions will host the MSU Extension faculty and local and tribal government officials to explore Local Fiscal Recovery Fund spending opportunities in a regional context. Join other local leaders to learn about:

  • ARPA Local Fiscal Recovery Fund Basic Rules
  • Best Practices for Local Fiscal Recovery Fund Spending
  • Practical Considerations for Contracts, Accounting, and Project Management
  • Group Discussions Related to Regional Collaboration
  • Leveraging Other State and Federal Funding and Priorities

The workshops are intended for regional planning and development board members, other local elected and appointed officials, tribal government officials, economic development practitioners, and other public and non-profit community development organization staff.

Program Details:
All workshops run 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (registration opens at 9 a.m. for in-person programs). Format varies by region from virtual (exclusive Zoom), hybrid (choice of in-person or Zoom attendance), or in-person.

The first workshop is Thursday, Sept. 23, in Traverse City and the last is a virtual option on Oct. 28.Other in-person workshops are happening in Sault Ste Marie, Marquette, Hancock, Gaylord, Lawrence, and Gladwin. There is no cost to attend the workshops. Instructors include Eric Scorsone, PhD, Associate Professor and Director of the MSU Extension Center for Local Government Finance and Policy; Arnold Weinfeld, Director for Workforce and Economic Development Partnerships, Office for Public Engagement and Scholarship; Associate Director – Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, College of Social Science; MSU Extension – Government & Community Vitality educators; and regional staff.

Accept your American Rescue Plan Funds AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

Time is running out for Michigan communities to accept the American Rescue Plan dollars. The Michigan Department of Treasury has provided regular updates to the Michigan Municipal League on this issue and told us a large majority of our communities have submitted their application for this funding. Thank you to all those communities that have accepted the funding!

But state officials tell us there are still a number of communities that need to complete the submission portal. The original deadline to declare intentions for the funding was Tuesday, July 27, but Treasury officials said they will continue to accept requests for this funding through the state’s submission portal here.

There are 1,724 cities, villages and townships classified as Non-Entitlement Units (NEUs) that are eligible to receive American Rescue Plan Act dollars. State officials tell us that nearly all Michigan’s NEU cities and a majority of the NEU villages have accepted the funding.

Please submit your requests ASAP. The League’s ServeMICity program is here to help. Simply email servemicity@mml.org and someone will respond quickly with support for your questions.

The ServeMICity program can help you do two things:

  1. Fill out the submission request to ensure your funds are not wasted or given away.
  2. Assist you in deciding how to use the American Rescue Plan funding for your community once you’ve accepted it. Remember, the funding does not need to be budgeted until the end of 2024 and fully spent until the end of 2026. There is no risk in accepting the funds now and taking your time to figure out how to spend the dollars.

Here is a very helpful and detailed, step-by-step Treasury Department video with the instructions. Please note you have three options in filling out the forms, and the video explains each: Time stamps to skip forward: Option 1: Accept the funds (6:36); Option 2: Decline the funds and transfer  your community’s money to the state of Michigan (10:33); Option 3: Decline the funds and distribute your community’s money to other local units of government (13:40).

Here are step-by-step instructions from the Treasury Department for NEUs filling out the portal:

  • Log on to the ELITE system portal.
    • Select form “ARPA CLFRF Request.”
    • If you do not already have a login for Michigan Treasury’s ELITE system, select “Request Access New User” from the login page.
  • Filing instructions can be found on the state website.
  • All application documents must be saved as PDFs and uploaded during the submission process.
  • The data entered into the ELITE system must match the data entered on all forms or your submission will be denied (i.e., CAO name does not match), and resubmission will be required.
  • For assistance in calculating your Top Line Budget, please review Michigan Department of Treasury Numbered Letter 2021-5. Please note, this calculation is your approved budget with any amendments as of January 27, 2020.

For more detailed step-by-step instructions click here.

More information and resources on CLFRF are available at Michigan.gov/ARPA.

Questions regarding the CLFRF can be directed to the Michigan Department of Treasury by e-mail at Treas-ARPA@michigan.gov.

If you need help, contact the League’s ServeMICity team at servemicity@mml.org.

 

MML Applauds $1.5 Billion Approved by State Senate for Local Bridges and Roads

Michigan Senate ChamberThe Michigan Municipal League today sent out a statement to the media expressing our appreciation of the state Senate approving a $1.5 billion plan for local road agencies and to repair and replace local bridges. Here is our statement from the League’s Dan Gilmartin, CEO and Executive Director:

The following statement from the Michigan Municipal League is in response to the Senate today approving a $1.5 billion plan to address the tremendous need for local bridge and road repair and replacement across the state. This statement can be attributed to Dan Gilmartin, the League’s CEO and Executive Director.

“The scale of resources needed to repair and replace Michigan’s bridges far exceeds the financial ability of Michigan’s local road agencies. That is why the League applauds the Senate’s recognition of this need and their willingness to take action to invest $1.3 billion in local bridges and $200 million for local road agencies to offset transportation revenue lost because of the COVID-19 pandemic. All levels of leadership in Lansing have prioritized the need to invest in this critical part of our community’s infrastructure used by every Michigander and visitor. The Senate’s $1.5 billion proposal recognized the scale of the problem. We estimate this investment is enough to address all our local bridges in critical condition.”

Dan Gilmartin, MML

Gilmartin added, “This is a strong start to the kind of bold investment our communities need. We look forward to partnering on similar strategic proposals for water infrastructure, housing, community and economic development, and public health and safety in a comprehensive and coordinated way to amplify our prosperity now and into the future. The Senate’s action today represents a key first step in catalyzing the impact of available resources. We encourage the Legislature and the governor to continue to work together to fully realize Michigan’s enormous capacity to ensure the health and wealth of its people.”

For additional information, contact the League’s Matt Bach, assistant director of strategic communications, at (810) 874-1073 (cell) and mbach@mml.org.

Michigan Municipal League is dedicated to making Michigan’s communities better by thoughtfully innovating programs, energetically connecting ideas and people, actively serving members with resources and services, and passionately inspiring positive change for Michigan’s greatest centers of potential: its communities. The League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services. Learn more at mml.org.