Today, the full Senate passed out SB 394 (adopted S-2 version: SB 394 S-2), a bill to fold townships into the mix of those local communities who qualify for the Housing Law, clarifies that inspection programs are optional at the local level, and states a rental inspection fee cannot be required to be paid more than 6 months prior to the actual inspection.  The League testified in support of this legislation when it was in Senate committee.

Again, thank you to Sen. Robertson, his staff, Rental Property Owners Association, and Apartment Association of Michigan for working with us on this issue to address our concerns from last session’s legislation.

The legislation now goes to the House.

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

This was a big week for SB 556, a bill to eliminate the sunset of the Commercial Rehabilitation Act (set to sunset at the end of this year). On Wednesday, the bill was amended on the Senate floor to extend the sunset of the act to 2020 (instead of an elimination of the sunset) and passed out of the full Senate unanimously.  The legislation was then taken up Thursday morning in the House Government Operations committee and passed out of the committee the same day.

Thank you to Sen. Horn for continuing to be an advocate on this issue and keeping a valuable local tool that assists our communities in blight control and economic development.  Additionally, thank you to Rep. Brad Jacobson, chair of the House Government Operations committee, for taking this bill up so quickly and moving it to the House floor.

The League was joined by Chris Miller, Economic Development Director for the city of Adrian, in extending our support for the legislation through testimony today.

The legislation now awaits action on the House floor.

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

As the conversation around Downtown Development Authority/Tax Increment Financing reforms and lack of reporting continues this legislative session, the MML in conjunction with the MEDC and Michigan Downtown Association has create an informational piece reminding DDAs (the TIF tool that sees the most scrutiny) of the reporting requirements they should be complying with. Please ensure your DDA leadership is equipped with this information.  That statement is below:

ATTENTION: Downtown Development Authorities

DDAs are required to submit annually to the State Tax Commission (STC) a report on the status of the tax increment financing account, pursuant to Act 197 of 1975, as amended.

It is estimated that less than 25 percent of DDAs are meeting the reporting requirement. For ease, a TIF reporting template can be found HERE. Please note that the template is not mandatory, and it is not an official Treasury document.  The information on the form is required; the template is not.

Per Act 196 of 1975, the report shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality and shall include the following:
(a) The amount and source of revenue in the account.
(b) The amount in any bond reserve account.
(c) The amount and purpose of expenditures from the account.
(d) The amount of principal and interest on any outstanding bonded indebtedness.
(e) The initial assessed value of the project area.
(f) The captured assessed value retained by the authority.
(g) The tax increment revenues received.
(h) The number of jobs created as a result of the implementation of the tax increment financing plan.
(i) Any additional information the governing body or the state tax commission considers necessary.

Helpful Hints:

• Form 2604 is not the annual financial report; some have mistakenly sent it thinking it fulfills the requirement. Form 2604 is required only of authorities capturing school taxes. Those capturing school taxes must file both the 2604 and the annual financial report.
• The DDA statute additionally requires annual  reporting to be provided to the “governing body” (i.e., the city council /village council/township board) as well.
• “Captured Values” should be broken down by property class.
• “Tax Increment Revenue” should be broken down by the jurisdictions from which it was captured.
• The report is preferred to be received in an Excel format.

Annual reporting should be sent to the STC at mailto:Treas_LAFD@michigan.gov within ninety (90) days of the end of the fiscal year for the authority.  As there has been ongoing concern regarding the lack of transparency of DDA’s, please comply, publish, and submit your annual report in a timely manner.

If you have additional questions regarding the report, please direct them to Jim Mills with the Department of Treasury at MILLSJ@michigan.gov.

Additional Resources:

• MEDC Community Assistance Team Specialist!
• Michigan Municipal League: Nikole Brown is best and can be reached at 517-908-0305 or nbrown@mml.org.
• Michigan Downtown Association: Jerry Dettloff is best and can be reached at 248-838-9711 or director@michigandowntowns.com.

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

Here is a new Michigan Municipal League media statement issued today regarding efforts to fix Michigan’s infrastructure:

Michigan Municipal League Urges Legislature to Pass a Long-Term Sustainable Roads Solution

The following statement is from Dan Gilmartin, executive director and CEO of the Michigan Municipal League. Gilmartin is commenting on the continuing efforts by the state Legislature to pass a package of bills aimed at fixing Michigan’s crumbling roads and bridges.

“The League continues to express our concerns with any road plan that relies on a significant amount of general fund revenue. The League believes a plan overly reliant on existing tax dollars could establish a foundation for potential cuts to local police and fire protection, higher education, economic development and our ability to attract and retain a talented workforce. We encourage continued discussion on this topic and stand ready to work with the Legislature and Governor on a long-term sustainable solution that invests in our road network, protects essential services, provides funding for transit and does not jeopardize future state and local government budgets.”

End of statement

Post from last week:

Last week, the Michigan House of Representative passed a plan that would raise $1.2 billion to fix Michigan’s infrastructure but relies heavily on state general fund revenue to do so. The plan could have a significant negative impact on the essential services that communities provide and Michigan Municipal League has consistently expressed our concern with any road funding solution that would jeopardize the long-term fiscal sustainability of this state and its communities.

This plan contains $600 million in new revenue and $600 million in general fund revenue. The new revenue would be generated by increasing gas taxes by 3.3 cents and registration fees by 40%. The plan does not identify where the existing revenue will come from. The following bills were included in the House passed plan.

• HB 4370 provides $200 million in tax relief by expanding the Homestead Property Tax Credit and also dedicates $600 million of income tax revenue to transportation. Based on current revenue and expenditure projections, this statutory dedication of General Funds would not result in a year end budget deficit greater than $60 million in the next five years.

• HB 4736  increases passenger and commercial vehicle registrations an average of $55 (40%) per vehicle. Additionally, the bill provides for plug-in hybrid ($30) and electric ($100) vehicle registration fee increases resulting in $400 million revenue increase for transportation.

• HB 4614, HB 4616, and HB 4738 provide for gas/diesel tax increases to 22.3 cents (increase of 3.3 cents) per gallon by 2019. The bills also implement diesel parity, institute a process for taxing alternative fuels, and tie the fuel tax rate to inflation resulting in $200 million revenue increase for transportation.

• HB 4610 allows townships contributing 50% or more to a road project to require an RFP for pavement projects over $50,000 and gravel projects over $25,000.

• HB 4611 requires an RFP process for all projects over $100,000 for MDOT. Local road agencies must do RFPs for all projects, excluding routine maintenance, over $100,000, unless the local road agency affirmatively finds that they can do it themselves for less.

• HB 4737 requires MDOT and local road agencies to secure warranties, where possible, for construction and preservation projects over two million dollars.

• SB 414 creates an automatic rollback of the income tax rate equal to the amount General Fund revenue exceeds the rate of inflation annually. The rollback begins on January 1, 2019 and the tax cut level will be dictated by annual General Fund levels and will vary from year to year.

The League strongly encourages Governor Snyder and quadrant leaders to restart their conversation and come up with a road funding plan that does not jeopardize the essential services that Michigan citizens rely on, such as police and fire protection, schools and public transit.

Additionally, the League encourages members to contact their Senator and ask them to pass a long-term fiscally sustainable solution that relies more on new revenue and less on general fund revenue, does not jeopardizes future state budgets and does not negatively impact the essential services communities provide.

View a League media statement on the House roads plan.

John LaMacchia is a Legislative Associate for the League handling transportation, infrastructure, and energy issues. He can be reached at jlamacchia@mml.org or 517-908-0303.

Posted by Matt Bach, director of media relations for the Michigan Municipal League.

This week, the Senate Economic Development committee voted out SB 556, a bill to eliminate the sunset of the Commercial Rehabilitation Act.  Testimony was given last week on the importance of this tool for our communities and economic development now and in the future.

SB 556 now moves onto the full Senate for consideration.

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

Today, the Senate Local Government Committee passed out SB 394 (adopted S-2 version: SB 394 s-2) , a bill to fold townships into the mix of those local communities who qualify for the act, clarifies that inspection programs are optional at the local level, and states a rental inspection fee cannot be required to be paid more than 6 months prior to the actual inspection.  The League testified in support of this legislation during the last committee hearing.

Again, thank you to Sen. Robertson, his staff, Rental Property Owners Association, and Apartment Association of Michigan for working with us on this issue to address our concerns from last session’s legislation.

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

This week, US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told Congress that the deadline for the United States running out of cash to pay its bill is now November 3rd. There are only 10 legislative days left before the deadline, and the House still has not determined who they will be electing as a new Speaker. There are many in doubt that a deal will be reached by the deadline, which has many financial analysts starting to predict a variety of negative impacts, including a downgrading of the federal credit rating and a downward spiral of consumer confidence.

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

Today, the Senate Economic Development Committee heard testimony on SB 556, a bill to eliminate the sunset on the Commercial Rehabilitation Act.  This act has been used in communities across the state to assist in eradicating blight and putting properties back to productive use.

I would like to extend a thank you to Sen. Ken Horn, the bill sponsor and the chair of the committee, for taking up this issue and being an advocate for its continued use.  Thank you also to Sen. Wayne Schmidt for all of his work on this issue as well.

Additionally, thank you to the cities of Novi and Howell who were in attendance to testify.  In addition to the MML supporting the legislation, it is also supported by Michigan Townships Association, Department of Treasury, Detroit Regional Chamber, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, Bedrock Real Estate,  International Council of Shopping Centers, Building Owners and Managers Association, and the Michigan Historic Preservation Network.

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development, land use, and municipal services issues.  She can be reached at nbrown@mml.org.

Last week Congress passes another short term budget measure, a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund federal programs at current levels through December 11th, 2015th. This happened a few hours before a federal shutdown would have begun. It was a narrow escape, but more difficult deadlines are approaching as the House leadership situation is not making things run smoothly at the moment. US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has given November 5th as a date for when the US will not be able to pay its bills unless the debt ceiling is raised. And this week President Obama stated firmly that he will not sign another short term spending bill. Many in Washington are talking about using the debt ceiling debate as a way to work a bigger deal for the budget and/or long term federal transportation funding. However, that seems like a big ask for Congress in the next 3 weeks.

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