House Bill 5397, a bill creating the Municipal Utility Residential Clean Energy Program Act, received a committee hearing in the Senate Energy and Technology committee today.  This would enable municipalities that own electric utilities to establish a program to help provide financing to residential property owners for energy efficiency projects. This is modeled after the PACE Act.

This legislation passed the full House prior to the legislative recess in June on a 108 to 2 vote.

This is an idea that was brought to Rep. Joe Haveman’s attention by the city of Holland who would like the opportunity to create a program such as this.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the League handling municipal finance issues.  She can be reached at sharkins@mml.org or 517-908-0306.

Today, the Senate Energy and Technology reported out of committee SB 493, a bill dealing with amateur radio operations.  As it was introduced, it had a significant impact on local control and zoning.  However, through a workgroup process, the bill was made significantly better (substitute found here: SB 493 S2 (3)) and now mirrors the Federal regulations that our local communities are already required to adhere to.

It also discusses an advisory council made up of amateur radio industry folks and local government folks so anyone with a question can seek feedback and research from this group either at the industry level or the community level.

We appreciate the work the bill sponsor and his office put into the legislation and hearing our concerns from a local government perspective. Also, a big thank you to Tim Wolff, village manager of Lake Isabella, for attending the workgroup meetings with me and providing valuable feedback.

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development and land use issues.  She can be reached at nbrown@mml.org or 517-908-0305.

Earlier this year the Michigan Supreme Court held in People v. Cunningham that a court may impose costs in a criminal case only if those costs are authorized by statute. This decision has a huge impact on courts across Michigan including our district courts.

The House Judiciary Committee passed House Bill 5785, legislation that would allow a court to impose any reasonable cost on a defendant found guilty of a crime. The League is supportive of this legislation.

Reasonable costs include salaries and benefits of court personnel; goods and services necessary for operation of the court; and/or necessary expenses for the operation and maintenance of court buildings and facilities.

The bill requires the court to make available to the general public and the defendant information about any costs, fines or assessments imposed beginning June 18, 2014.

The legislation now goes to the full House for consideration.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the League handling municipal finance issues.  She can be reached at sharkins@mml.org or 517-908-0306.

Rep. Eileen Kowall plans to introduce legislation this week (draft of that legislation can be found here:TIF Draft 1 (2)) making significant changes to TIF districts.  Also available is a copy of the PowerPoint that was used to present the over all plan (with not a lot of detailed specifics): Tax Increment Financing Reform Presentation (9 11 2014).

Some of the goals of the legislation include:

1. combine all the TIF acts into one (but leaving Brownfields and Nonprofit Railway Act on their own),
2. increase in transparency along with an incentive to comply,
3. define what activities TIF dollars can be used for, and
4. add in special assessment capabilities similar to what is allowed for a Principal Shopping District, in addition to the up to 2 mill levy allowed currently under the DDA act.

Here is a brief analysis of what the Draft 1 legislation does: Brief analysis of Draft 1 TIF legislation.

The legislative timeline for completion is a fast one.  The bill is expected to be introduced this week followed by two weeks of testimony beginning September 24 with the goal of passing it out of the House before they leave at the beginning of October.  That would leave the Senate for lame duck.

As you read through the analysis and/or draft legislation and have questions or comments (especially feedback on how this will specifically impact your local communities) please contact me so we can continue to compile local impact lists.  Additionally, if you have any interest in testifying either next week or the following week, we would love to have you to put some local faces to the problems this legislation could create.

Please contact your Representatives with the local impact of the legislation and ask them to not rush a vote just to get something done before the end of the year.  This is a significant change and deserves a significant amount of attention, work, discussion and detail put into it so we are not creating bad public policy.

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development and land use issues.  She can be reached at nbrown@mml.org or 517-908-0305.

Yesterday morning the House Financial Liabilities Reform Committee passed Senate Bill 922, a bill to extend the sunset for bonding for other post employment benefits (OPEB) and the costs of switching from defined benefit to defined contribution. This is an option for communities with a AA credit rating.

The sunset will be extended to December 31, 2015. The League has been pushing for an additional change to allow communities with an A rating or better to use this option if they purchase bond insurance. Thus far we have not been successful in getting this amendment.

The legislation now goes to the full House for consideration.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the League handling municipal finance issues.  She can be reached at sharkins@mml.org or 517-908-0306.

This afternoon the House Oversight Committee heard testimony on HB 5580, legislation that would amend the Open Meetings Act (OMA) to require minutes of meetings to be more detailed.

The legislation would require minutes to detail how each member voted. If the meeting is not recorded, the minutes would be required to include the main points of discussing in support or opposition to each issue. It would also require a summary of the remarks of every person who addresses the public body.

The League was joined by the Michigan Association of Counties and the Michigan Townships Association in opposing the legislation. The fear is that this will have unintended consequences for communities. The legislation is vaguely written, and as a result could result in inadvertent violations of the Act.

The committee did not vote on the legislation.

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

Just a reminder that Treasury Form 5192 to claim reimbursement for millage levied in July 2014 for the debt loss/school debt loss from the personal property 2014 small taxpayer exemption loss is due by September 5. Forms returned by September 5 should be processed for October 2014 reimbursement.

To be eligible for reimbursement a local unit must have levied debt millage in 2013. Form 5192 is posted under Reimbursement Forms on the Treasury web page.

The reimbursement form for debt millage levied in December 2014 will be available next month.

Please contact Treasury with any form related questions at TreasORTA@michigan.gov.

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 State’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget includes grants for financially distressed cities, villages and townships. Applications for that program are now posted on the Department of Treasury’s website.

Any city or village currently experiencing at least one condition of “probable financial distress,” as enumerated in the Local Financial Stability and Choice Act passed in 2012 is eligible to apply for funding.

There is $8 million has been appropriated for the grant program this fiscal year, with a $2 million limit for each local unit of government. Applications must be submitted to Treasury by the close of business on Friday, October 31, 2014. For more information visit www.michigan.gov/revenuesharing.

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