This afternoon the Senate Local Government and Elections Committee heard testimony on Senate Bills 495-498, a package of bills that seek to induce heavier enforcement of the constitutional prohibition on unfunded mandates for local units of government.

The bills require the legislature to appropriate money in accordance with the Headlee Amendment. They also create a Local Government Mandate Panel to create a fiscal note to determine the financial impact on local units of government before legislation passes each chamber.

Among other requirements the legislation creates a Special Master in the Court of Appeals to specifically assist in Headlee cases. The legislation specifically states that local units would not have to comply with state mandates that were the subject of an action before the Court of Appeals if the court did not finally adjudicate the matter within six months.

The committee is expected to vote on this legislation next week.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

Last week the Michigan Senate Appropriations Committee reported its version of the budget that scraps the Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP) and reworks the revenue sharing formula.

The Senate’s proposal includes an additional $31 million for revenue sharing for local communities. The proposal would give a 1 percent increase to all cities, villages and townships who were eligible for EVIP in 2013-14 upon showing they have a dashboard (the only bit of EVIP left in this proposal.)

The remaining $28.6 million would be distributed based upon a formula that looks at adjusted unit type population, taxable value, and tax yield equalization. No payments of less than $3,500 would be made.

In computing unit type population, townships over 20,000 and townships over 10,000 that offer 24-hour police and fire services and water and sewer services to more than 50 percent of their residents would receive the same weight as cities.

The Senate proposal also includes $10 million in grants to communities who show signs of probable financial distress. A community could receive up to $2 million for projects or services to help them move toward fiscal stability.

The Senate Fiscal Agency has put together a comparison of the House and Senate EVIP recommendations that is available here: EVIP comparison

A huge thank you to Senator Pappageorge for removing these burdensome EVIP requirements. We are always yelling when we don’t like something, so please make sure you take time to say thank you. You can email Senator Pappageorge here.

We are also pleased that we are having a discussion about distributing scarce resources to communities who are providing services. Of the three proposals before us, this one is certainly moving in the best direction to help communities provide essential services and create the kinds of places that will attract and retain talented employees and jobs.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

Yesterday the Senate General Government Appropriations Subcommittee reported its version of the budget that scraps the Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP) and reworks the revenue sharing formula.

The Senate’s proposal includes an additional $31 million for revenue sharing for local communities. The proposal would give a 1 percent increase to all cities, villages and townships who were eligible for EVIP in 2013-14 upon showing they have a dashboard (the only bit of EVIP left in this proposal.)

The remaining $28.6 million would be distributed based upon a formula that looks at adjusted unit type population, taxable value, and tax yield equalization. No payments of less than $3,500 would be made.

In computing unit type population, townships over 20,000 and townships over 10,000 that offer 24-hour police and fire services and water and sewer services to more than 50 percent of their residents would receive the same weight as cities.

The Senate proposal also includes $10 million in grants to communities who show signs of probable financial distress. A community could receive up to $2 million for projects or services to help them move toward fiscal stability.

The Senate Fiscal Agency has put together a comparison of the House and Senate EVIP recommendations that is available here: EVIP comparison

A huge thank you to Senator Pappageorge for removing these burdensome EVIP requirements. We are always yelling when we don’t like something, so please make sure you take time to say thank you. You can email Senator Pappageorge here.

We are also pleased that we are having a discussion about distributing scarce resources to communities who are providing services. Of the three proposals before us, this one is certainly moving in the best direction to help communities provide essential services and create the kinds of places that will attract and retain talented employees and jobs.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

Yesterday afternoon the House Appropriations Committee reported its recommendations for the general government budget that includes the Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP).

Under this proposal category 1, the dashboard, would remain in effect without change. Category 2 would require 5 percent of the second EVIP payment to be committed to road construction or preservation. Category 3 would require 5 percent of the payment to be committed to unfunded liabilities. The language further says that a community that receives less than $50,000 in EVIP funding would not have to comply with the EVIP requirements.

In addition the House proposes changing how EVIP funds are distributed. A local unit would receive a 1 percent increase if they were eligible for payment in the current fiscal year or $7.14609 per capita, whichever is greater. The per capita formula would add include hundreds of additional communities to the formula without regard to service provision.

The League has significant concerns about this language and its disregard for both local control in spending and distribution to communities who provide services. We will continue to work on language that helps invest in communities who provide essential services and does not penalize them by requiring that they spend money as the legislature dictates. Contact your legislators and urge them to oppose these changes.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

Yesterday the Governor announced a proposal to double the state’s recycling rate over the next two years.  The proposal is intended to increase the state’s current 15 percent recycling rate to 30 percent by 2017.

The initiative focuses on several important pieces including benchmarking progress, education and technical assistance for communities, ensuring convenient access to recycling and developing market opportunities for recycled products.

The League was part stakeholder groups working through this issue in the last year. We are supportive of incentives to help local communities increase recycling access, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Department of Environmental Quality to help our communities reach these goals.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

Renowned economist and Hillsdale College Professor Dr. Gary Wolfram has released a report calling on the state to commit to restoring state revenue sharing dollars and remove restraints on road funding enacted in the PA 51 funding formula.

The report indicates that statutory revenue sharing is still 26 percent lower than it should be despite nominal increases in the last few years. Dr. Wolfram also emphasizes the challenges communities face in the ability to raise revenue because property tax growth is capped by 5 percent or the rate of inflation whichever is less.

You can view Dr. Wolfram’s report here: Wolfram report

We appreciate this well researched take on the status of municipal finance in Michigan. Last month the League released The Great Revenue Sharing Heist which emphasizes the significant financial impact $6.2 billion in revenue sharing cuts has had on our communities.

Dr. Wolfram concludes that it should be a priority of the state to “restore its commitment to its local governments. In particular, it should use some of the projected surplus to return revenue sharing to full statutory funding. It should also remove constraints on local governments in Act 51 that limit their ability to maintain local roads.” We could not agree more, Dr. Wolfram.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

This week the campaign to pass the August 5, 2014 ballot proposal, the last step in personal property tax (PPT) reform, kicked off with a series of press conferences. The Michigan Citizens for Strong and Safe Communities coalition is seeking to pass a ballot referendum that would allow for use of a portion of the currently collected statewide use tax to fully reimburse communities for PPT loss.

League members attended and led press conferences in Dearborn, Flint, Saginaw and Traverse City.

The coalition has launched a website and you can also follow it on Facebook and Twitter.

We encourage members to support the full replacement of PPT dollars with a significantly more stable reimbursement mechanism by voting “yes” on August 5.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

The legislature is on spring break until late April. The House is scheduled to be in next on Thursday, April 17. The Senate is scheduled to be back the week of April 22.

In the interim the lobbying team is still hard at work with legislative and administration staff on various issues including (but not even close to limited to) EVIP, transportation funding and tax capture district reform. Happy Spring!

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

On Friday Governor Rick Snyder signed a ten bill package that represents months of negotiations on personal property tax (PPT) reform. The Michigan Municipal League’s message on PPT has consistently been 100 percent, guaranteed replacement. The bills do represent 100 percent replacement and a more stable reimbursement mechanism.

The legislation, Senate Bills 821-830, begins fading out PPT in 2016.  The exception is the small parcel exemption for personal property of less than $80,000 true cash value which went into effect December 31, 2013.

The League will be holding a webinar on PPT reform in the coming weeks.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

This afternoon the House passed a ten bill package that represents months of negotiations on personal property tax (PPT) reform. The Michigan Municipal League’s message on PPT has consistently been 100 percent, guaranteed replacement. The bills do represent 100 percent replacement and a more stable reimbursement mechanism.

The bills, Senate Bills 821-830, now head to the Senate for concurrence. We expect the bills to be on the Governor’s desk by the end of the week.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org