Category Archives: Infrastructure

FEMA Region 5 to host Federal Mitigation and Infrastructure Task Force Roundtable for SE Michigan

Posted on by

Join member agencies of the Federal Mitigation and Infrastructure Task Force virtually on December 8, 2021, to participate in a Federal resources roundtable that will showcase the Federal government’s resources to mitigate and support Infrastructure reinvestment.

This meeting is the culmination of five months of coordination with the intent to assist communities in Southeastern Michigan recover and become more resilient to flooding events. The roundtable will be your opportunity to interact with agency experts, ask questions and share infrastructure needs and possible mitigation projects.

Breakout sessions will take place to ensure you have an opportunity to speak with agency representatives. In addition, FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance staff will be in the breakout rooms to answer any FEMA grant questions. The State of Michigan Task Force on Aging Infrastructure and the Michigan State Police Division of Emergency Management & Homeland Security have been instrumental in providing a list of infrastructure projects from communities of Southeastern Michigan.

Audience:

  • Federal Infrastructure Task Force: FEMA, HUD, NOAA, USACE, USDOI, USGS, and other Federal agencies (TBD)
  • State Infrastructure Task Force: City of Detroit, Macomb County, MI Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), MI Environmental Great Lakes & Energy (EGLE), MI Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (MLARA), MI Department of Transportation (MDOT), MI State Police (MSP), Oakland County, Wayne County, Washtenaw County

Those interested in attending may register in advance here. The program is anticipated to run from 9am to noon and provide interactive sessions with federal agencies.

Any questions on the convening can be directed to Contact Scott Bailey or Brian Killen with questions regarding this meeting.

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.

 

Governor Signs State Budget – Local Governments See Numerous Wins

Posted on by

Update: View excel spreadsheet detailing bridge appropriations.

The conference reports on Senate Bill 82 and House Bill 4400 were signed yesterday, one week after the Legislature sent the record-setting state spending plan for Fiscal Year 2021-22 to her desk.  This budget, which takes effect October 1st,  appropriates nearly $70 billion overall with nearly $12 billion from General Fund revenues.  Additionally, the budget agreement includes another $2 billion in spending for the current FY20-21 fiscal year, mainly from available federal stimulus funds.  While most of the revenue for this budget agreement comes from available state revenues, about $700 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds were appropriated to fund additional programs and grants between the current and coming fiscal year.  Beyond this budget, the state still has nearly $5.8 billion in federal ARPA stimulus funds they have yet to appropriate, along with over $2 billion in General Fund balance they have available to spend.  A string of supplemental budget appropriation bills are expected over the course of this fall that will focus these remaining funds into specific topics like water and sewer and economic development.

While the budget agreement represents a significant development from a relationship standpoint between the Governor and Legislature, there were a few areas of disagreement in the budget boilerplate language that the Governor called out in her transmittal letter to the House and Senate, accompanying her signature on the plan.  While few spending lines appear to have been vetoed, the Governor did weigh in on approximately 40 different boilerplate directives that the Legislature had included in the overall budget.  Many of the items she declared “unenforceable” were tied back to concerns about the language violating the separation of powers between the Executive and Legislative branches and issues of amendment by reference.

While the Governor did declare unenforceable a series of references to mask orders related to child care facilities and local public health department orders, she did not weigh in on language that was inserted in every departmental budget section related to prohibiting COVID-19 vaccination requirements.  Language in the General Government budget, which controls spending by the Michigan Department of Treasury for items like revenue sharing (found in Section 225 on page 95 of the conference report) specifically states:

Sec. 225. (1) Any department, agency, board, commission, or public officer that receives funding under part 1 shall not:
(a) Require as a condition of accessing any facility or receiving services that an individual provide proof that he or she has received a COVID-19 vaccine except as provided by federal law or as a condition of receiving federal Medicare or Medicaid funding.
(b) Produce, develop, issue, or require a COVID-19 vaccine passport.
(c) Develop a database or make any existing database publicly available to access an individual’s COVID-19 vaccine status by any person, company, or governmental entity.
(d) Require as a condition of employment that an employee or official provide proof that he or she has received a COVID-19 vaccine. This subdivision does not apply to any hospital, congregate care facility, or other medical facility or any hospital, congregate care facility, or other medical facility operated by a local subdivision that receives federal Medicare or Medicaid funding.
(2) A department, agency, board, commission, or public officer may not subject any individual to any negative employment consequence, retaliation, or retribution because of that individual’s COVID-19 vaccine status.
(3) Subsection (1) does not prohibit any person, department, agency, board, commission, or public officer from transmitting proof of an individual’s COVID-19 vaccine status to any person, company, or governmental entity, so long as the individual provides affirmative consent.
(4) If a department, agency, board, commission, subdivision, or official or public officer is required to establish a vaccine policy due to a federal mandate, it must provide exemptions to any COVID-19 vaccine policy to the following individuals:
(a) An individual for whom a physician certifies that a COVID-19 vaccine is or may be detrimental to the individual’s health or is not appropriate.
(b) An individual who provides a written statement to the effect that the requirements of the COVID-19 vaccine policy cannot be met because of religious convictions or other consistently held objection to immunization.
(5) As used in this section, “public officer” means a person appointed by the governor or another executive department official or an elected or appointed official of this state or a political subdivision of this state.

The Governor’s transmittal letter interprets this language as providing “a roadmap for public employers to ensure their employees either receive the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine or undergo regular testing to keep their co-workers safe. It also avoids any conflict with federal law, recognizing that federal authorities may issue vaccination requirements.”  This last comment appears to be in reference to forthcoming US Department of Labor rules that would align with the President’s recent call for vaccination or testing requirements for large employers.  This language is still being evaluated, especially in light of the potential costs related to implementing a stringent testing program at the local government level.

When reviewing the 964 page state operating budget document and the related 179 page House Fiscal Agency summary there are a number of key items of interest to municipalities and some significant victories for local government:

Overall, there is a $500 million deposit into the state’s Budget Stabilization Fund

Statutory Revenue Sharing will see a 2% ($5.2M) increase added into the overall base for cities, villages, and townships.

MML advocacy also helped to successfully restore $433,000 for more than 100 local units that were forced to return the federal CARES funding they received in August of 2020 as replacement for the state budget elimination of the August revenue sharing payment last year

Additionally in Treasury, the legislature approved the Governor’s recommendation for a $5M grant program to assist local governments with training and recruitment of first responders.  $3M was included to increase funding for the Michigan Infrastructure Council and $16M was added to fund infrastructure enhancements for E-911 systems.

Key funding items in other state departments:

Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy –

  • $15M for drinking water emergency assistance related to contamination response
  • $14.5M PFAS contamination remediation for water systems
  • $10M contaminated site clean up
  • $10M lead service line replacement and drinking water safety improvements in the City of  Benton Harbor
  • $19M for public and private dam safety and emergency response grants
  • While funding for the Governor’s MI Clean Water Plan was not included in this budget, it is expected that a larger water/sewer/storm water spending plan will be proposed from available ARPA funds this fall.

Labor and Economic Opportunity –

  • $100M of ARP funds for Community Revitalization Program and Placemaking grants to local units (identified blight and historic rehab projects in downtowns and outdoor dining and social district investments)
  • $1.5M increase in arts and culture grants funding
  • $3.5M increase in the Rural Jobs & Capital Investment Fund
  • $48M for 25 targeted local infrastructure grants across the state
  • $147M for 175 distinct local “enhancement grants” in communities statewide

Dept of Technology, Management, & Budget –

  • $20M for Cybersecurity

Dept of Natural Resources –

  • $7M of available federal funds for local recreation lands and facilities through Land & Water Conservation Fund payments

Michigan State Police –

  • $45M of federal funds for disaster and emergency response activities
  • $2M one-time increase to secondary road patrol grants
  • $500,000 to provide de-escalation training for law enforcement officers

MI Dept of Transportation –

  • $52.8M increase to the MTF for local road funding from full implementation of the $600M road plan income tax earmark
  • $12.8M restoration of last year’s cuts to the Transportation Economic Development Fund
  • $3M restoration of last year’s cuts to local bus transit operating support
  • $5.6M increase to state rail programs

Beyond the funding for the coming fiscal year, over $2 billion dollars was added to the current year (FY21) budget

  • $150M ARP deposit into the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund
  • $168M from GF and Federal funds into the Water State Revolving Funds to fund loan demand for local water pollution control facilities
  • $121M of ARP funds for a Homeowners Assistance Fund within LEO that will support housing needs – includes utility payments and delinquent property taxes
  • $36.3M of federal funding for Low Income Household Water Assistance support through DHHS
  • A series of line items within MDOT from available December 2020 federal stimulus funds –
    • $196M local bridge bundling program – will allow for repair/replacement of 100 local bridges across Michigan. View excel spreadsheet detailing bridge appropriations.
    • $68M for Michigan’s 15 primary airports
    • $2M for Michigan’s general aviation airports
    • $65M for local road & bridge programs
    • $55M for local/rural transit agencies
    • $3.3M for the intercity bus program

With the signing of the budget, leaders will now turn their attention to appropriating the remaining American Rescue Plan dollars, available state General Fund revenues that continue to come in above revenue estimates, and any additional federal revenue that may result from the federal budget reconciliation process and/or the Infrastructure and Jobs Act discussion in Washington, DC.  The League’s State & Federal Affairs team will be extremely active in these upcoming budget discussions, pushing areas of priority for League members, like housing, community development, and additional support for local budgets and services.

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

Rochester Hills Wins 2021 Community Excellence Award Competition

Posted on by

Rochester Hills wins 2021 Michigan Municipal League Community Excellence Award.

Here’s a press release we just sent out to the media from our 2021 Michigan Municipal League Convention in Grand Rapids.

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan – The community of Rochester Hills was honored with the Michigan Municipal League’s 2021 Community Excellence Award on Sept. 24 during the League’s annual Convention in Grand Rapids.

The peer-nominated Community Excellence Award (CEA), affectionately called “The Race for the Cup,” was started by the League in 2007 to recognize innovative solutions taking place in Michigan’s cities, villages, and urban townships. It’s the highest and most prestigious award bestowed on a community by the statewide League.

The winning community, which is selected through a ballot-box style vote of League members attending Convention, receives a large trophy cup that they get to have on display for the next year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the last winner was the Uptown Bay City Project in 2019.

Rochester Hills, located in Oakland County with a population of about 76,000, won the CEA for its Reimaging, Reinventing, and Renewing Auburn Road project.

“We are honored to have been selected by our peers,” said Bryan Barnett, Mayor of Rochester Hills.  “We are really lucky to live in what we think is one of greatest communities in Michigan. To take this home for our staff and our residents is a huge honor for our community. I loved our project and was confident, but after I watched the other three finalists, I thought all of them had great presentations and projects. So, to win among such a strong field is a great honor. A huge congratulations to all the finalists.”

After decades of discussion, Rochester Hills engaged in deliberate planning to transform the city’s aging Auburn Road corridor into a safe and attractive place for vehicles and pedestrians with the goal of creating a more walkable environment, encouraging (re)development opportunities, increasing parking, incorporating art and landscaping, and developing public open space to create a vibrant, desirable district. The project has served as a catalyst for community redevelopment, igniting investment and a true entrepreneurial ecosystem for businesses. The result is a safer, more connected and walkable corridor that supports economic development, spurs people to engage, and renews community pride.

Here’s a look at the other three finalists:

  • Delta Charter Township brought together regional partners to coordinate the Waverly Pathway Project with the reconstruction of a county road and a $60 million freeway project. Delta and adjacent Lansing Charter Township worked with multiple agencies to plan the new shared-use pathway to solve a lack of facilities and serious hazards to walkers and bikers in the project area. Neither community could afford to build the pathway on its own, so they worked together to secure three different grants totaling $874,000. The Waverly Pathway project was made possible through extraordinary multi-agency collaboration that improved safety, strengthened multimodal transportation connectivity, and enhanced recreational opportunities for residents of both communities.
  • East Lansing’s “ Nighttime. Anytime. Place Project” was originally envisioned to help the city’s downtown business community address the complex challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic by providing enhanced options for outdoor dining and curbside pickup. As the city’s vision evolved, the project was expanded to include simple, cost-effective tactical urbanism techniques that reactivated and enhanced East Lansing’s downtown district through an eclectic mix of interesting, comfortable places, activities, and amenities. An underutilized parking garage was transformed into a farmers market; more than 300 pieces of K-12 student art were deployed at local businesses through an Art Popup Program; grass turf, tables and chairs, and hammocks were installed to create safe, welcoming spaces for relaxing, socializing, and outdoor dining, and more. Although these creative placemaking strategies were driven by the pandemic, the city hopes the “Daytime. Nighttime. Anytime. Place Project” results in long-term, community-driven enhancements and increased citizen engagement in downtown East Lansing.
  • Sterling Heights’ REcreating Recreation project is a transformational placemaking initiative that represents the single largest investment in quality-of-life services in the city’s history. Funded by a new millage, the ambitious project has provided opportunities for current and prospective residents to connect with their community in new, exciting, fun and inclusive ways, such as a new community center; an outdoor splash pad; a summer farmers market pavilion that transforms into a refrigerated ice rink in winter; a captivating skate park for all ages that prevents damage to other buildings; a mini-turf soccer field and an indoor bocce ball court; a new dog park for breeds of all sizes; a trail linking a city park with the city’s nature preserve featuring multiple respite and bike repair stations; and universally accessible paddle docks on the Clinton River for canoers and kayakers of all abilities, even those in wheelchairs.

The 2021 Race for the Cup began in the spring. The awards program received 25 entries this year, which is the most in a single year since the program started 14 years ago. Communities were encouraged to enter based on Civic Engagement, Innovative Delivery of Services, Intergovernmental Cooperation, Placemaking, Redevelopment, and COVID-19 Response & Recovery.

The competition included an online voting component open to the public with the top online vote getter (Sterling Heights) automatically advancing to the final four to compete at the Convention. The other three projects (Delta Charter Township, East Lansing, and Rochester Hills) were selected by a panel of judges.  The projects’ final score was based on the judges’ ranking (75 percent) and online voting (25 percent).

Judges for this year’s competition were Alfredo Hernandez, Racial Equity Officer, Michigan Department of Civil Rights; Amy Hovey, Special Projects Coordinator, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation; and Chad Livengood, Senior Editor, Crain’s Detroit Business.

“We always get some amazing projects, programs, and initiatives for our Community Excellence Award program and this year was no exception,” said Dan Gilmartin, CEO and Executive Director of the Michigan Municipal League. “The four finalists all gave fantastic presentations at our Convention, and I’m told the voting among our members was extremely close. Congratulations to all the participants in this year’s record-setting CEA program.”

Representatives from the final four presented their projects at the League’s 2021 Convention in Grand Rapids, Sept. 22-24. After hearing the presentations, Convention attendees voted for their favorite project, with Rochester Hills receiving the most votes. View past CEA winners here.

For photos of the CEA winners, go to the “Awards and Honors” album on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/michigancommunities/albums/72157710904993143

Additional photos can be downloaded from the League’s flickr page for free. We just ask that the following photo credit be given: Michigan Municipal League/mml.org

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.

Michigan Municipal League Applauds Infrastructure Plan Approved in U.S. Senate

Posted on by

Dan Gilmartin, MML

Michigan Municipal League released a statement earlier this week about the U.S. Senate approving a $1 trillion plan to address the nation’s infrastructure needs. The statement is from Dan Gilmartin, the League’s CEO and Executive Director.

Here is the statement we sent out to the media:

“The Michigan Municipal League applauds the U.S. Senate’s vote today approving the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This investment takes a critical step toward ensuring access to safe roads, clean drinking water, reliable public transit, and high-speed broadband across Michigan and the nation. We implore the House to act quickly so these resources can be deployed. Bold action must continue in our effort to strengthen communities and improve the quality of life for residents. Congressional leaders should continue to work toward providing resources that support communities, address our housing needs, invest in our workforce, and foster sustainable and resilient places. It is time to meet this challenge and fully realize our nation’s enormous capacity to equitably invest in community wealth building, and we are ready and willing to add our voice to the process.”

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.

 

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

Posted on by

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.

Additional Briefings from White House About American Rescue Plan Guidelines Set for Today and Tomorrow

Posted on by

Here are some of ineligible uses of the American Rescue Plan support for municipalities. These were shared Monday as part of a presentation by the U.S. Department of the Treasury during a webinar Monday.

Due to the overwhelming interest in this topic, the White House and U.S. Department of the Treasury are having additional briefings on the new guidelines municipalities must follow for the American Rescue Plan assistance. The National League of Cities and the Michigan Municipal League also have free informational virtual events to share Michigan-specific information later today and Monday. Register for today’s NLC event here and the MML’s Live with the League conversation on Monday here when we will discuss the new guidelines and what they mean for our members.

The new guidelines, which are 151 pages long (view them here and view an MML break-down of them here), were released Monday and White House briefings for municipalities reached capacity so these new briefings have been scheduled for 5 p.m. today (May 12) and 4 p.m. tomorrow (May 13). Register here for today’s briefing and here for tomorrow’s briefing.

In addition, here are some resources provided by the White House and Treasury Department:

Here are some additional resources provided by NLC and the federal government:

The National League of Cities has sent the MML the following documents detailing the guidelines and allocations:

Here is a video from the League about our new talking points (printable pdf of the talking points is here):

 

Legislature Preps Competing Versions of State Budget

Posted on by

Since their return from Spring Break last month, the House and Senate budget subcommittees have been working to finalize their respective versions of the state budget for every state department and program for the upcoming FY21-22 state fiscal year.  Those budget subcommittees recently released their proposed spending plans and they are now being considered by the full Appropriations committees in each chamber before they will cross to the opposing chamber for further consideration and conference committee discussions, which are expected following the state’s May Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference scheduled for Friday, May 21st.  These House and Senate proposals are being developed in response to the Governor’s Executive Budget recommendation released earlier this year.

The League has been extremely active on a number of key state budget components, especially revenue sharing and transportation funding, among other municipal priorities.  None of the proposed budget versions described below have been negotiated with the other chamber or with the Whitmer Administration and a final budget agreement, expected prior to the summer recess, will look extremely different as all three sides negotiate for their priorities.

In the House:

The General Government budget for FY 21-22 funds a number of state departments, including revenue sharing and the Treasury department and the Labor & Economic Opportunity department (MEDC) spending. This spending proposal is being developed within House Bill 4398.

  • The House proposal provides a 1% increase ($2.6M) to statutory revenue sharing as opposed to the Governor’s recommendation for a 2% increase ($5.2M).
  • The House language would also require any increased CVTRS revenue sharing a community received that is “underfunded” on their pension system to spend any increase from revenue sharing on their pension system.
  • Additionally, the House has added new language that would require all cities, villages, townships, and counties to maintain the same level of public safety funding as their prior budget had expended as a condition for receiving statutory revenue sharing.
  • Following a League request, the bill does include $290,000 to restore August revenue sharing payment losses for any community that was unable to utilize the CARES funding they received as a replacement for the stricken August CVTRS payment last year.  Also included is a $245,000 line item that we had requested to provide for a restoration of any forfeited revenue sharing payments due to a community missing the December 1, 2020 “dashboard” reporting and certification requirement, so long as the certification was submitted by February 1, 2021.
  • The Governor’s recommendation of $40M for shoreline erosion grants for the coming budget year were referenced in this bill with a $100 placeholder amount.  As an alternative approach, the House did propose funding that $40M in recommended spending for shoreline erosion in their current year budget supplemental proposal (HB 4420) which is outlined later in this article.
  • The House version did not include the Governor’s recommended $5M recommendation for grants to local units for recruiting and training first responders.
  • This bill does also not include the Governor’s recommendation for $10M to be deposited into MSHDA’s Housing and Community Development Fund and reduces the Business Attraction and Community Revitalization line items by $5.9M.
  • The House version does insert an additional $500,000 into the Rural Jobs and Capital Investment Fund for a total line item of $1.5M.

The House proposal for the Michigan Department of Transportation budget is outlined in House Bill 4409.  While the overall revenue available to the State Trunkline Fund is expected to stay relatively flat for the coming year, balancing lower gas tax and vehicle registration fee revenue against the full $600M earmark from the state income tax and expected higher federal aid opportunities, the following items are important for local road agencies:

  • Local road agencies are estimated to receive an additional $52.8M through their PA 51 distribution.
  • The House version agrees with the Governor’s recommendation to restore $12.8M to the Transportation Economic Development Fund and a $3M restoration to transit agencies through the Comprehensive Transportation Fund.
  • The House adds a $226M line item aimed at local road and bridge repair and replacement, and a new program funded with $374M designed to repay existing transportation bond debt.

The House Environment, Great Lakes, & Energy Department budget proposal for next year (HB 4397) did include the Governor’s recommendation of $15M for responding to dam safety emergency issues, but the House did not fund the $20M one-time recommendation for contaminated site clean-ups or the Governor’s $290M MI Clean Water Plan proposal.  The House also included a one-time allocation of $25M for PFAS clean-up and other emerging contaminates.

In the Senate:

Their General Government budget proposal is included in Senate Bill 82 –

  • The Senate proposal agreed with the Governor’s recommendation on statutory revenue sharing by funding a 2% ($5.2M) CVTRS increase.  Additionally, the Senate builds this 2% directly into the CVTRS base, where the Governor’s recommendation had this 2% increase listed as one-time.
  • The Senate maintained the current requirement that any CVTRS increase amount must be dedicated to an unfunded pension liability for any community identified as “underfunded” under PA 202.
  • Based upon the League request, the bill also includes $433,000 to restore August revenue sharing payment losses for the more than 100 cities, villages, townships, and counties that were unable to utilize the CARES funding they received as a replacement for the stricken August CVTRS payment last year.
  • The Senate did not include the Governor’s $5M recommendation for local first responder recruitment and training grants, but they did include a $50M 100% matching grant program for any community with a pension system funded at less than 40% that makes an accelerated payment towards that unfunded liability.

In the Senate LEO budget for the coming year (SB 85) the Governor’s recommendation for $10M in MSHDA’s Housing and Community Development Fund was not included.  The subcommittee did recommend an additional $15M for Pure Michigan and increased Arts and Cultural grants by $1.5M above the Governor’s recommendation.

In their EGLE budget proposal (SB 91), the Senate subcommittee included $15M for dam safety and put $10M towards high water and shoreline erosion grants, but declined to fund the $290M MI Clean Water Plan or the $20M recommendation for contaminated site clean-up.

The subcommittee recommendation for the MDOT budget is detailed in SB 92. The Senate included the Governor’s recommendation for increasing local road fund through the MTF by $52.8M and supported the restoration of last year’s cuts to the TEDF ($12.8M) and transit agencies within the CTF ($3M).

 

In addition to the work on the budget for the upcoming state fiscal year, each chamber is discussing competing proposals to spend portions of the December federal stimulus funding and the recently passed American Rescue Plan Act stimulus.  These supplemental budget appropriations would apply to spending in the current state fiscal year and represent very different approaches from the two chambers.  The Administration has issued their recommendations for the spending of the December federal stimulus, but await forthcoming US Treasury guidance before making detailed ARPA spending recommendations.

The House has two General Fund related supplemental budget bills on the House floor awaiting further action.  House Bills 4419 and 4420 propose approximately $6 billion in new, non-education spending for the current budget year.  Highlights from the two House bills that would impact local governments include:

  • HB 4419 would pass through the anticipated $686M in ARPA funds that are designated for the “non-entitlement” local units of government.  Pending the disbursement of those funds from the federal government to Michigan.
  • The bill also includes $103M in federal LIHEAP funding, $378M from the December stimulus proposal for rental and utility assistance and housing stability services, $68M for airports, $65M of federal funds for local road agencies, and $76M for rural transit agencies.
  • HB 4420 moves federal dollars into a number of state GF/GP line items to free up those GF/GP dollars.  The bill then appropriates those state GF dollars into a host of different programs and lines.
  • This bill puts $350M into the state’s rainy day fund.  It directs $40M into high water and shoreline erosion grants and $25M for PFAS remediation and $25M for contaminated site cleanup grants.
  • The bill fully funds the state’s Flint water settlement, appropriating $595M versus the annual $35M bond debt service that is currently planned.  Along the same lines, the bill invests $74M into State Trunkline Fund bond repayment and another $626M into a new Transportation Bond Repayment Sinking Fund.
  • Additionally for infrastructure, this bill would spend $250M for natural gas infrastructure expansion, $150M for broadband expansion, $250M for water and sewer replacement grants, and $300M for local road and bridge replacement and repair.

The Senate’s supplemental budget bill for the current year (SB 36) focuses mainly on appropriating the remaining December federal stimulus funds.  The only ARPA dollars in this bill are related to anticipated day care funding the state expects to receive from the March federal bill.  This bill is also on the Senate floor awaiting further action.

  • SB 36 appropriates the $378M federal emergency rental and utility assistance dollars allocated to Michigan.  $46M of additional FEMA disaster assistance.
  • Of the transportation funds the December stimulus allocated to Michigan, the Senate proposes a statute change that would allow all of the dollars coming into Michigan to be distributed solely to cities, villages and counties.  Under this proposal, cities and villages would receive $93.5M and counties would get $167.8M.  State trunklines would not receive any of these stimulus dollars.

 

With additional federal guidance on ARPA expected in the next week and the state’s May revenue estimating conference scheduled for later this month, most of the upcoming budget activity will likely focus on positioning the budget and supplemental bills for final negotiations between legislative leadership and the governor.

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

US Treasury Releases ARPA Pre-Award Requirements

Posted on by

Late last week, the US Treasury Department released the pre-award requirements that local governments will need to comply with in order to receive their allocated payments from Treasury for the Coronavirus State & Local Fiscal Recovery Fund in a timely fashion.  These requirements are similar to what local units needed to follow to access the CARES dollars that were distributed last year.

The following text was taken from the US Treasury webpage and provides the pre-award criteria to follow for municipalities that have been classified as Metropolitan Cities according to the ARPA (those cities that will receive a direct payment from Treasury) and those cities, villages, and townships that are classified as Non-Entitlement Units of Local Government that will receive their funds following pass-through from the state budget.  All League members should note that US Treasury has not finalized allocations or final classifications for cities and expect to have necessary spending guidance out in the coming weeks.

Prior to the formal launch of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Program, those entities that are eligible to receive a direct payment of funds from Treasury under the program should prepare certain information in advance as outlined below. By undertaking these preparatory steps, eligible entities will be better positioned to receive payments from Treasury in a more timely manner after the program is launched.
Direct payment from Treasury will be made to:

  • States (defined to include the District of Columbia)
  • Territories
  • Tribal governments
  • Counties
  • Metropolitan cities

All Federal financial assistance recipients must have a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and an active registration with the System for Award Management (SAM) database at SAM.gov. As a result, all eligible entities receiving direct payment from Treasury under the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Program will need a DUNS number and an active SAM registration to receive payment. The DUNS and SAM registration process may take several business days to complete. Therefore, Treasury recommends that eligible entities begin those registration processes if they have not already completed them.

As soon as possible, these governments should take the steps below.

  1. Ensure the entity has a valid DUNS number. A DUNS number is a unique nine-character number used to identify an organization and is issued by Dun & Bradstreet. The federal government uses the DUNS number to track how federal money is allocated. A DUNS number is required prior to registering with the SAM database, which is outlined below. Registering for a DUNS number is free of charge.
    If an entity does not have a valid DUNS number, please visit https://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/ or call 1-866-705-5711 to begin the registration process.
  2. Ensure the entity has an active SAM registration. SAM is the official government-wide database to register with in order to do business with the U.S. government. All Federal financial assistance recipients must register on SAM.gov and renew their SAM registration annually to maintain an active status to be eligible to receive Federal financial assistance. There is no charge to register or maintain your entity SAM registration.
    If an entity does not have an active SAM registration, please visit, SAM.gov to begin the entity registration or renewal process. Please note that SAM registration can take up to three weeks; delay in registering in SAM could impact timely payment of funds.
    Click here for a quick overview for SAM registration
  3. Gather the entity’s payment information, including:
    • Entity Identification Number (EIN), name, and contact information
    • Name and title of an authorized representative of the entity
    • Financial institution information (e.g., routing and account number, financial institution name and contact information)

Eligible Non-entitlement Units of Local Government will receive a distribution of funds from their respective state government. “Non-entitlement units of local government” are defined in 42 U.S.C. 5302(a)(5) that are not metropolitan cities. For these Non-entitlement units of local government, Treasury will allocate and pay funds to state governments, and the state will distribute funds to non-entitlement units of local government in proportion to population. Non-entitlement units must have a valid DUNS number to meet reporting the requirements under the program. If an entity does not have a valid DUNS number, please visit https://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/ or call 1-866-705-5711 to begin the registration process.

Program guidance for the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund will be released in the coming weeks. Please continue to check this website for further updates.

Communities are encouraged to track updates from US Treasury and the National League of Cities as new guidance and estimates are prepared. Additionally, last week Treasury announced the formation of a new Office of Recovery Programs to assist with the implementation of many of the federal stimulus programs. The Office of Recovery Programs will oversee programs authorized through the CARES Act, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, and the American Rescue Plan Act, as well as other legislation. These programs include the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, Emergency Rental Assistance, the Homeowner Assistance Fund, the State Small Business Credit Initiative, the Capital Projects Fund, the Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services (CERTS) Program, the Payroll Support Program, the Coronavirus Relief Fund and the Airline and National Security Loan Program.  Additional information on this new office is expected in the coming weeks.

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

League President and Westland Mayor Bill Wild Meets with U.S. Energy Secretary Granholm About American Jobs Plan

Posted on by

Westland Mayor Bill Wild, MML President, and Grand Rapids Mayor Bliss, former MML President, met with U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm Friday about the American Jobs Plan.

Westland Mayor and Michigan Municipal League Board President Bill Wild met with U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm Friday about the American Jobs Plan.

The meeting was organized by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Mayor Wild, along with Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss, former League Board President, gave a presentation to the Energy Secretary. There is language within the $2.3 trillion Jobs Plan to support clean energy bock grants for state, local and tribal governments. The mayors were in support of this provision, Wild said.

“We are pushing to reauthorize the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant from 2009 and not try to create a new block Grant. The data is already available and the results are proven that it met the goals of the program and created/saved jobs,” Mayor Wild said.

President Biden recently announced the American Jobs Plan to rebuild the economy and create good-paying jobs for workers in America’s cities, towns and villages through investments in infrastructure and workforce development.

The League has advocated for additional investment in infrastructure in the traditional sense (roads, bridges, water, and sewer), but also in a more broad-based community infrastructure view (broadband, housing, parks and workforce development). This plan addresses many of those areas. Read more about the Jobs Plan in this Inside 208 post by the League’s John LaMacchia.

Community Excellence Award Program Now Accepting Project Nominations

Posted on by

Please submit your CEA entry by May 14, 2021.

(Submit your CEA entry and learn more here)

There’s no question that this last year has presented tremendous challenges for communities. The scale of this global crisis is unprecedented – and so is the scope of local government response. Time and time again, the Michigan Municipal League has been amazed at the way our members have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.

So this year, in addition to accepting traditional projects, the Michigan Municipal League’s Community Excellence Award (CEA) program will also highlight and uplift the efforts of local leaders during the coronavirus pandemic. These extraordinary efforts will have far-reaching implications to public health, municipal services, and local economies – and deserve to be acknowledged and honored.

The League launched the start of our 2021 Community Excellence Award program at our Capital Conference (CapCon) on March 16. We decided to not have the CEA program, also known as the Race for the Cup, in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but we’re bringing it back this year.

The program is largely the same as it was in 2019, but we have tweaked some of the wording about the CEAs to encourage entries related to coronavirus.

Here is the timeline for the 2021 CEA program:

  • 03/16/21: Start submitting projects
  • 05/14/21: Deadline for submissions
  • 06/01/21: Online voting opens
  • 06/15/21: Online voting deadline
  • 06/17/21: Four finalists announced.
  • September/21: Winner to be selected by League members at 2021 League Convention.

Suggested topics for project entries include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Civic Engagement – encouraging and providing unique ways for citizens to participate in the development and improvement of their community
  • Innovative Delivery of Services – providing residents with city services in new and different ways
  • Intergovernmental Cooperation – partnering with neighboring communities to combine services in order to save money and improve performance
  • Placemaking – developing a community’s place-based assets to attract and retain talent, residents, and businesses
  • Redevelopment – creating new and better uses for existing properties
  • COVID-19 Response & Recovery – innovative response or recovery actions related to the COVID-19 pandemic

We know all of our member communities have done amazing things the past couple years, so we hope you submit a CEA entry this year.

Submit your CEA entry and learn more here.