Yesterday the Senate Local Government and Elections Committee heard testimony on House Bill 4624, a bill that would make a full-time firefighter’s ability to work as a firefighter in another community a prohibited subject of bargaining.The legislation is supported by the fire chiefs and the Michigan Townships Association.

The League is opposed to this legislation as it violates local control in the bargaining process. 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

Yesterday the Senate Local Government and Elections Committee consideredHouse Bill 4939, a bill that would allow a department head to serve as a city manager.

The legislation was prompted by a community in Rep. Knezek’s (D-Garden City) district where the police chief is serving as interim city manager. Under the current statute this is permissible in communities with less than 25,000 population. This legislation would expand it to larger communities. The substitute that passed committee would limit this option to communities of 100,000 people. We are interested in ensuring that exception is available for communities of all sizes.

We anticipate a 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

Yesterday the Senate Local Government and Elections Committee held testimony on Senate Bill 733, a bill that would amend the governmental immunity law to limit the highway defect liability of a governmental agency for bodily injury to a pedestrian or other person who was not traveling in a motor vehicle on the improved portion of a highway, or for damage to the person’s property.

Under the bill the plaintiff would have to prove that the governmental agency knew or should have known of the highway defect at least 30 days before the incident. In addition the governmental agency would be presumed to have maintained the highway in reasonable repair.

The presumption could be rebutted only by proof that a vertical discontinuity defect of two inches or more in the highway, or another dangerous condition in the highway itself of a particular character, or both, was a proximate cause of the injury or damage.

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

Yesterday the Governor announced his Fiscal Year 2015 budget which included the same level of funding for fire protection grants that was appropriated last year – $9.2 million.

Fire protection grants are awarded to communities who have state buildings that are not on the tax rolls to include state office buildings, universities and prisons.

We expect budget hearings to begin in the next week, and we will continue to push for additional funding for fire protection grants.

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 morning the Governor presented his Fiscal Year 2015 Budget to a joint meeting of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee. The budget will include a 3 percent increase in funding to the Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP), as well as a 12 percent infusion into a new EVIP line item that eligible communities can tap into, an increase that totals $36 million. Constitutional revenue sharing has also increased by 3 percent totaling $19.4 million. This means there will be an additional $55.4 million coming to cities, villages and townships through these increases. You can view the entire executive recommendation on the State Budget Office’s website (EVIP begins on page 83).

Unfortunately, while we hope this means there is recognition of the importance of reinvesting in communities, the Governor and Legislature have cut funding by more than $6 billion in the last decade. Our municipal finance system is broken, and we will not be able to create prosperous communities without addressing this critical issue.

In addition, there are still significant problems with the EVIP program. Governor Snyder proposes creating a “gold standard” for communities who meet certain criteria. The exact language was not made available, but it could include criteria like high credit ratings and low unfunded liabilities. Communities who meet the “gold standard” would not have to comply with EVIP.

The Governor is also proposing an additional $28.8 million in EVIP for which eligible communities can qualify. It is population based; however, communities who qualify for EVIP would be eligible for this funding if they meet certain criteria that would bump their population numbers by 10 percent for each one they meet.

The criteria are: the “gold standard”; if a community is in the top 25 percent for violent crime; if a community is in the top 25 percent of unemployment or if a community has submitted an approved deficit elimination plan to the Department of Treasury. These new criteria are in addition to EVIP, and frankly they are very confusing. We will be working to make eliminate the current burdensome EVIP criteria, and that will certainly include not adding additional confusing criteria to the mix.

There is no recommendation that we increase transportation funding which is obviously problematic for our local transportation systems. The League has released a statement on the budget that thanks the Governor for recommending an increase in spending but calls on him to address our broken municipal finance system and increase money for transportation.

We look forward to working on both the general government and transportation budgets as hearings start in the coming weeks.

Governor Rick Snyder calls for a 15% increase to revenue sharing in his 2015 fiscal year budget, but the plan does not address the state's broken municipal finance system.

“We appreciate the Governor recommending a 15 percent increase in statutory revenue sharing. We are hopeful that this proposal is an indication that the Governor and Legislature recognize they must stop their annual disinvestment in local communities, and that they understand Michigan will not prosper again until we have local places where people want to live, work and thrive. It is a big step symbolically, but we have a long way to go. While it will mean about $36 million more for local communities, the Legislature and Governor have cut local funding by $6 billion since the late 1990s. Restoring a fraction of lost funding is not cause for jubilation from Main Street, Michigan, and it does not address our broken municipal finance system.

“To move Michigan forward, the League, along with numerous partners, has developed a policy vision and plan for Michigan’s cities called the Partnership for Place: An Agenda for a Competitive 21st Century Michigan. You can view this policy agenda here: www.mml.org/advocacy/partnership-for-place.html.”

This week the Senate Banking and Financial Services Committee heard testimony on 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 committee did not vote on the legislation.

This Wednesday morning, the House Tax Policy committee will be holding a shortened committee hearing on TIFs/DDAs.  We will be testifying in support of these tax capture districts and the Michigan Association of Counties will be testifying as well, likely discussing their desire for more opt out ability.

As this conversation heats up, it would be very helpful if you could contact your legislators and not only discuss with them the benefit these districts have provided to your community but also invite them to the district so they can see firsthand the positive impact.  Have them talk with business owners, residents, etc. to get their perspective of the positive impact as well as from the local community’s perspective.

This is the perfect opportunity for communities to show the benefits of their TIF districts and the great things that have happened because of them that not only benefit the local community but also the region surrounding it.  Discuss with them what an opt-out would do to the economic development efforts of your community and how useful these tools truly are.

Please feel free to contact me to talk about this further or with any questions.

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 week the Senate Finance Committee reported HB 5074, a bill that would change the monthly interest rate that a county treasurer can charge other taxable units in the county that have delinquent property taxes due. The current monthly rate of interest is one percent. Under the bill, the monthly rate of interest would be “up to” one percent.

Under Michigan’s tax reversion process, county treasurers can assess “chargebacks” under the protocol they follow when local units of government have borrowed from a county’s delinquent tax revolving fund. If summer and winter property taxes are not collected by March 1 of the following year that the tax is owed, local treasurers pass on notices of unpaid or delinquent taxes to county treasurers. In many counties, the county treasurer runs a delinquent tax revolving fund.

This week the Senate Economic Development Committee considered Senate Bills 658 and 659, bills that would force more online retailers to collect sales tax at the point of the sale. Current law requires customers to report online sales and pay taxes on those sales, but enforcement is not efficient.

This legislation goes hand in hand with the Marketplace Fairness legislation the League has been supporting at the federal level.

The League supports the bills, and 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