The White House has announced that $600 Million will be available for the next round of TIGER grants. The Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) can be found on the DOT website at www.dot.gov/TIGER<http://www.dot.gov/TIGER along with information on upcoming informational webinars. Initially created as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the previous five rounds of the program have funded 270 projects across all fifty states. Some of the details this year include:

*       No pre-applications are required for this round of TIGER.

*       Up to $35 million may be awarded for Planning Grants.

*       Date for Grants.gov to Begin Receiving Applications: April 3, 2014.

*       Deadline for Final Applications: April 28, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. EDT

For further information click here: http://www.dot.gov/tiger/nofa

Summer Minnick is the Director of Policy Initiatives and Federal Affairs. She can be reached at 517-908-0301 or sminnick@mml.org.

 

 

 

In 2011 the legislature passed a number of reforms to help employers control costs and be better stewards of taxpayer resources. One of the, if not the, most significant reform was to prohibit retroactive pay increases after a contract has expired. This game changing statute, PA 54 of 2011, has helped communities settle contracts more quickly and provides more certainty in municipal budgets. We are hearing the House Commerce Committee will be taking up House Bill 5097, a bill that would exempt police and fire from PA 54 so they can have retroactive pay increases after a contract expires. This would be detrimental to our ability to settle contracts quickly and efficiently.  The bill was taken up for testimony this morning in the House Commerce committee.

The committee reaction was relatively expected. There was a lot of talk about legislative history and the intent of this legislation being school employees not municipal employees.

The League testified along with a labor attorney who works with a number of communities. We indicates that PA 312 numbers are down and this statute is working well. We don’t see a need to change it.

I urge you to contact your legislators to let them know how detrimental this carve out would be. The arguments the public safety groups use for supporting this bill are that the number of PA 312 filings would proliferate and the legislature only intended this bill to impact teachers.

According to the Michigan Employment Relations Commission there were only 43 PA 312 filings in 2013 as opposed to 69 in 2011. PA 312 filings are significantly lower than they were before enactment of PA 54.

In addition, even if the legislature only intended this for teachers, it has been a game changer for municipal budgets, and it’s critical that we keep this tool to allow local units the opportunity to settle contracts expeditiously and save taxpayers money.

We appreciate all the members who have already contacted their lawmakers on this issue and we hope others follow their lead. It is critical that you please contact your legislators and ask them to OPPOSE House Bill 5097. You can find the contact information for your Legislators here.

We’re also starting to see some traction on this issue in the media, including an article in Gongwer News Service with the headline “MML Beginning Opposition Campaign on Retroactive Pay Raises Bill”. The article, which can be viewed here if you subscribe to Gongwer, includes references to this blog post.

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 Senate General Government Appropriations Subcommittee heard testimony on the Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP). The League testified about the need for additional funding and the problems with the program in general.

The chair, Sen. John Pappageorge (R-Troy), indicated that he would not be including EVIP in the Senate’s General Government budget recommendations. He did, however, express an interest in getting additional money to struggling communities.

We expect to see the budget recommendation language in the next couple of 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

Ways and Means Chairman David Camp (R-MI) has released his long awaited tax reform proposal. And, unfortunately within the 1,000 page bill, there is an impact of the tax exempt nature of municipal bonds. It’s not a complete elimination, however it is significant in that, a greater proportion of investors are in the tax bracket facing the new tax. Specifically, the proposal would:

• Partially tax otherwise tax-exempt municipal bond interest for taxpayers in the new 35-percent tax bracket, which would apply to individuals with income of at least $400,000 and married couples with incomes of at least $450,000. For these taxpayers, the proposal would effectively impose a 10-percent tax on otherwise tax-exempt interest income. The tax would apply to interest earned on both new issues and outstanding bonds.
• Prohibit the future issuance of tax-exempt private-activity bonds, including bonds issued by private, non-profit entities. In addition, the proposal would prohibit the use of mortgage credit certificates in lieu of tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds.
• Eliminate the ability to issue advance refunding bonds.
• Market discount on municipal and other bonds would be required to be accreted and recognized as income annually over the life of an investment rather than at one time when a bond is sold or redeemed.
• Eliminate the income tax deduction for state and local taxes paid by residents.

The League’s position is that since the inception of our nation, there has been a legal arrangement that one government entity would not tax another governmental entity’s funding of essential services. We believe that covenant needs to remain intact and urge Congress to remove these components from the package when it begins work on it. We will be taking this message to Congress when leaders of the League visit Washington DC.

Summer Minnick is the Director of Policy Initiatives and Federal Affairs. She can be reached at 517-908-0301 or sminnick@mml.org.

This morning (March 4, 2014) the Michigan State Senate passed a 10-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 House for consideration.  The House Tax Policy Committee has scheduled two hearings on the bills next week. We anticipate the bills moving quickly through the legislative process, likely before spring break in April.

League staff and League members (Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly, Holland Mayor Kurt Dykstra, Flint Mayor Dayne Walling and Delta Township Manager Richard Watkins) joined Lt. Gov. Brian Calley yesterday in a news conference about the new PPT package. Go here to read about the news conference. View more photos from today’s PPT press conference. View a League press release about the announcement.

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 Senate passed SB 631, a bill that would give local communities the ability to regulate carrier pigeons (currently they are not allowed to so).  The local community cannot ban them but could regulate them.  A resident in Allen Park testified in support of this legislation given the situation she is forced to live next to (200 carrier pigeons in a residential neighborhood, pigeons less than 30 feet from her home).  The city offered free land for the owner to house the carrier pigeons, which he refused.  The smell and feces droppings are affecting the resident’s quality of life surrounding the owner.  This bill would allow a local community to regulate the placement of these pigeons.

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

In 2011 the legislature passed a number of reforms to help employers control costs and be better stewards of taxpayer resources. One of the, if not the, most significant reform was to prohibit retroactive pay increases after a contract has expired. This game changing statute, PA 54 of 2011, has helped communities settle contracts more quickly and provides more certainty in municipal budgets. We are hearing the House Commerce Committee will be taking up House Bill 5097, a bill that would exempt police and fire from PA 54 so they can have retroactive pay increases after a contract expires. This would be detrimental to our ability to settle contracts quickly and efficiently.  The bill will be taken up in committee on Wednesday, March 5.

I urge you to contact your legislators to let them know how detrimental this carve out would be. The arguments the public safety groups use for supporting this bill are that the number of PA 312 filings would proliferate and the legislature only intended this bill to impact teachers.

According to the Michigan Employment Relations Commission there were only 43 PA 312 filings in 2013 as opposed to 69 in 2011. PA 312 filings are significantly lower than they were before enactment of PA 54.

In addition, even if the legislature only intended this for teachers, it has been a game changer for municipal budgets, and it’s critical that we keep this tool to allow local units the opportunity to settle contracts expeditiously and save taxpayers money.

We appreciate all the members who have already contacted their lawmakers on this issue and we hope others follow their lead. It is critical that you please contact your legislators and ask them to OPPOSE House Bill 5097. You can find the contact information for your Legislators here.

We’re also starting to see some traction on this issue in the media, including an article in Gongwer News Service with the headline “MML Beginning Opposition Campaign on Retroactive Py Raises Bill”. The article, which can be viewed here if you subscribe to Gongwer, includes references to this blog post.

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

 

For years the League has been working on a tax reduction loophole that was created due to the 2002 Michigan Supreme Court case of WPW Acquisition Company v. City of Troy. After Proposal A created the term taxable value, the Legislature passed legislation that allowed for an increase and decrease of certain commercial property’s taxable value based on their occupancy. This was meant to allow the taxable value of income producing property to reflect the ebb and flow of the economy.

Under that system, the City of Troy granted a reduction to WPW Acquisition Company due to a reduced occupancy. However, when the City increased their taxable value when they were more fully occupied, WPW Acquisition Company sued the City, claiming they could not increase their taxable value above 5% or the rate of inflation, whichever is less, due to Proposal A. The Supreme Court addressed the question of increases in occupancy and agreed with WPW. However, the reduction issue due to occupancy was never in question, so a legal loophole, creating tax inequity, was born.

This morning the House Tax Policy Committee passed Senate Bill 114, a bill introduced by Senator Vince Gregory (D-Southfield) that amends the General Property Tax Act. The Act’s definition of “losses” includes an adjustment in value, if any, due to a decrease in the property’s occupancy rate, to the extent provided by law. The definition of “additions” includes an increase in value attributable to the property’s occupancy rate if a loss had been previously allowed because of a decrease in occupancy rate, or if the value of new construction was reduced because of a below- market occupancy rate.

The bill would limit the use of occupancy rates in the determination of losses to the period before December 31, 2013. The use of occupancy rates in the determination of additions would be limited to the period before December 31, 2001.

This afternoon the Senate Finance Committee unanimously 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, will be taken up by the full Senate next week. We anticipate the bills moving quickly through the legislative process, likely before spring break in April.

League staff and League members (Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly, Holland Mayor Kurt Dykstra, Flint Mayor Dayne Walling and Delta Township Manager Richard Watkins) joined Lt. Gov. Brian Calley yesterday in a news conference about the new PPT package. Go here to read about the news conference. View more photos from today’s PPT press conference. View a League press release about the announcement.

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 Senate Banking and Financial Services Committee passed Senate Bill 295, a bill that works to prohibit individuals who own blighted properties from purchasing additional properties.

The legislation would prohibit a prospective bidder from bidding on foreclosed property if the person had any unpaid fines for the violation of a local blight or nuisance ordinance. It would also require prospective bidders to register with the foreclosing governmental unit at least 14 days before a sale.

The bill would require prospective bidders to certify that they did not own property that was subject to a foreclosure judgment in the previous three tax years, or that had been included in a foreclosure petition in the tax year in which the sale was held.

In addition the bill would require the deed for transferred property to provide for the title to revert to the foreclosing governmental unit if, within five years after the sale, the property were transferred to the person who owned it when the foreclosure judgment was entered.

The League supports the concept behind the bill, and we are working with the sponsor’s office to ensure the process is workable.  The legislation now goes to the full Senate for approval.