State lawmakers are finally beginning the process of restoring more than a decade of cuts to Michigan communities.

Thanks to the urging of Michigan Municipal League members in recent days, the state’s conference committee this morning approved a 2014 state budget agreement that includes a 4.8% increase in statutory revenue sharing for local governments. In the past 12 years the state has cut local revenue sharing by more than $6 billion. Previous 2014 state budget recommendations called for no statutory revenue sharing increases to cities, villages and townships, but League staff and League members in recent days and weeks strongly encouraged lawmakers to support the Senate budget plan that included a 4.8 percent increase. It appears the League and our members have been heard. Check out this mlive.com article about the increase.

The budget also removed burdensome posting language, including the latest language that would have required local units of government to disclose the country of origin of their American flags.

The budget also included a 2.8 percent increase in constitutional revenue sharing.

Here is a statement from League CEO and Executive Director Daniel Gilmartin released to the media today:

“We are genuinely grateful to legislative leaders and Gov. Snyder for restoring a small portion of the cuts made by legislatures and governors to local revenue sharing over the past dozen years,” said Gilmartin, noting that the state has cut local revenues and used the funds to fill holes in the state budget, to reduce taxes, and for other state programs and services. “We will continue to seek additional restorations in future state budgets so local communities can also begin to share in the state’s economic recovery, just as the state budget is doing. The massive cuts to local revenue sharing have combined with other fiscal calamities, including slumping real property values, to decimate the finances of many local communities.

“When we need a cop or a firefighter at our homes or businesses, we don’t call the state capital. We call our local public safety agencies, which are largely funded by revenue sharing. When we turn on the faucet at our sinks, the water is clean largely because of revenue sharing funds. When young people are looking for great places to live, work and raise families and corporations are looking for places to locate and expand, they seek places that can deliver essential public services and that provide lifestyle attributes such as parks, art, culture, transportation alternatives to driving, and more. We hope this budget marks the start of a policy of reinvesting in Michigan cities and the end of the state’s policy of disinvestment and broken promises.”

View the full statement here on the League’s media room page.

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 House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act. The League testified about the need for local control and clarity in the Act. We were joined by two city attorneys, Clyde Robinson (Kalamazoo) and Stephen Postema (Ann Arbor) who detailed how those cities have reacted to the 2008 law.

The committee appears to be taking a deliberative and thoughtful look at the Act, and we look forward to partnering with them as we move forward in this process.

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

A series of articles about the financial plight of Michigan cities is being posted from the online-publication, Bridge Magazine. Two of the best entries in the series are a guest viewpoint by Michigan Municipal League President David Lossing, Linden mayor, about the concerns municipalities have over the Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP), formerly known as revenue sharing, and an article about city financial stress that prominently features comments from the League’s Anthony Minghine. These are must reads for anyone who cares about Michigan communities. There are also posts about how vibrant urban centers are able to lure young talent, the financial ratings of Michigan’s communities, what communities like Kalamazoo and Muskegon have done to stay financially solvent, a column by Mitch Bean about how the state has worsened the struggles faced by cities, and why it’s important to know the financial condition of your city.

In addition, Detroit Free Press Editorial Page Editor Stephen Henderson wrote a column about Mitch Bean’s guest viewpoint. Check it out.

Matt Bach is director of media relations for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at mbach@mml.org and (734) 669-6317.

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 afternoon the Senate Finance Committee unanimously 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.

UPDATE: The 4.8 percent increase is now included in the latest budget agreement so the sample letters to the lawmakers have been removed. Read more about this good news for Michigan communities.

Michigan Municipal League Board President David Lossing sent letters to state senators and representatives Tuesday (May 21, 2013) asking for their support of the Senate’s Fiscal Year 2014 general government budget recommendation, which includes a 4.8-percent increase in funding for statutory revenue sharing, now known as the Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP).

The League is asking you to also contact your state lawmakers today on this extremely important issue. To make it convenient, you can use the League’s automated letter service by going here to our Action Center. It is imperative you contact your lawmakers today or tomorrow as we expect a vote on the budget this week or early next week.

While this Senate proposal does not come close to replacing the $6 billion in local revenue sharing cut by Lansing legislators and governors since 2001, it will at least help stop the bleeding and provide desperately needed funds for local police and fire protection, road and bridge maintenance, and other essential local services.

Here is an excerpt of the letter from League President Lossing, mayor of Linden:

As the state’s economy slumped over the past dozen years, past decisions made by the Michigan Legislature to cut local revenue sharing were used to make up for the difference in the state’s budget gap. Now that Michigan is on the rebound, this modest increase to statutory revenue sharing adopted by the Michigan State Senate is reasonable and begins the process of ending fiscal pain felt by many of our communities. Cities and villages across our great state, including the city of Linden, have been tightening our fiscal belts for several years to weather this financial storm.

Now is the time to begin making strategic investments in our communities by increasing statutory revenue sharing in the FY 2013-14 budget, to make “Better Communities, Better Michigan.”

View a version of the Senate letter here. View a version of the House letter here.

The League encourages all our members to contact their lawmakers today on this issue. Feel free to write your own letter and/or use the sample letter provided in our Action Center. You can go here to get the contact information for your state officials.

Matt Bach is director of media relations for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at (734) 669-6317 and mbach@mml.org.

This morning the House Regulatory Reform committee reported House Bill 4743, a bill that adds some new provisions into the existing Michigan Fireworks Safety Act.

The committee substitute combined House Bills 4743 and 4744 to allow local units of government to regulate consumer fireworks between midnight and 8 am on the day before, of and after a national holiday. You will recall that the current statute prohibits local regulation on the date before, of or after a national holiday.

The legislation also ensures fireworks safety fees will go into training for fire departments for the enforcement of the Act.

The intent is to have this legislation to the Governor before the 4th of July to give local units time to pass ordinances regulating fireworks. The bill will now be considered by the full House.

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

 Typically I like to write posts that celebrate the good things going on in communities across the State of Michigan. This serves to present a different dialogue and change the conversation from the usual norm. It is an honest effort to showcase the efforts of local leaders, from public officials, to those in business and non-profit as well as caring and thoughtful residents and neighborhood activists. But it is not meant to gloss over the challenges facing folks such as these and our communities in general. So without further delay, it is time for a reality check.

I have heard it said many times in many places over the last couple of months that Michigan is coming out of its recession. This is due to a number of factors, from the federal bailout of the auto industry to aggressive and sometimes controversial actions at the state level as well as efforts at the local level. As is usually the case it is never any one thing.

But despite all the talk about Michigan’s economic recovery there is no amount of relentless, positive action that can disguise the fact that many of our communities, large and small, still face, and without immediate policy changes will continue to face, fiscal distress.

We are all too familiar with the financial troubles besetting Detroit. However, a recent article in the on-line publication, the Bridge, brings to light the financial issues facing other cities across Michigan. And these are communities that are generally considered to be well run.

The article features a study by a private sector firm, Munetrix, which found dozens of communities around the state, from SE Michigan to SW Michigan and Northern Michigan facing financial stress.

Examples include Kalamazoo, which I had the opportunity to visit not too long ago. I was told by local officials and city staff that deep cuts to the budget will continue without some changes and as the article points out they are seeking to trim their work force through early retirement. Our state capitol city, Lansing is also facing some tough times as they try to close a $5 million deficit.

As the article notes, and my organization, the Michigan Municipal League has been pointing out for some time; it has been a series of events over the past decade that is taking their toll on local revenues.  This includes lower property values, foreclosures, $6 billion in lost state revenue sharing, limitations of Proposal A and of course the rising costs of pension and health care benefits.

 There is also a second part to this reality check and that is the worsening relationship between the state and local units. As noted above over the past decade, the state (legislatures and governors) has reduced revenue sharing payments by a total of $6 billion in order to shore up other areas of the budget. The new revenue sharing program, known as the “Economic Vitality Incentive Program” has, since its inception two years ago, only become more burdensome and less helpful as local leaders continue to do all they can to collaborate with other communities.

And this leads to some thoughts about another article I came across last week, noting that worsening relationships between state and local governments is not just confined to Michigan.

The article, titled “States Power Grab Quashes Local Governments’ Authority” is written by David Morris, director of the Public Goods Initiative at the “Institute for Local Self-Reliance. In it, he notes that Republican governors and legislatures are pre-empting and abolishing the authority of communities to protect their residents’ health and welfare.

• Earlier this year Wisconsin passed a law eliminating the authority of cities, villages and counties to require public employees to live inside city limits. Michigan banned local residency requirements for police and fire employees many years ago.
• A few weeks ago Kansas enacted a law prohibiting cities, counties and local government units from requiring private firms that contract with them to pay more than the state minimum wage or to require other benefits and leave policies.
• The Florida House recently voted to pre-empt local governments from enacting “living wage” and “sick time” ordinances. It would overrule counties, like Miami-Dade and Broward, which require companies they contract with to pay wages higher than the federal minimum wage.
• In November 2010, Pittsburgh became the first U.S. city to ban fracking within city limits.  In February 2012, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a law allowing fracking in all parts of the city, in essence abrogating cities’ traditional zoning powers to protect against noise, odors and industrial dangers.
• 19 states (including Michigan) severely restrict or abolish the right of local governments to build their telecommunications networks.

Now I don’t know about you, but I am fascinated to learn that these actions are occurring in Republican states.  And while it is true that over the course of our country’s history court cases have made it clear that municipalities are creatures of the state, it is also true that there has been much said, a lot of it critical, about the federalist nature of our system of government. And with over 300 million people now part of our great nation, it is hard to argue that some form of consistency is needed.

But, consistency in thought and action is also needed from those who argue against federalism in terms of the relationship between states and local governments.  In Michigan, time is of the essence. Local communities need a partner, not a parent, to work with them to ensure that quality services are not just maintained but enhanced. At the end of the day, this means resources must be made available through a system of governance and finance that makes sense for the 21^st century.  Without such a platform, the economic momentum we are beginning to gather will surely stall as discerning workers and business will go elsewhere to find the quality of life they say is so important to their well being.

By Diane Goddeeris and Lou Anna K. Simon

Mayor Goddeeris & President Simon

Few communities can match college towns for sheer vibrancy. Students contribute great energy to a place and, with a diverse group of exceptional faculty members and a rising international student population, there is an added cosmopolitan—even global dimension—to university communities such as East Lansing.

“Town–gown” tensions are always the other side of the coin, but they can be managed through close cooperation between a university and its home community. We’re proud of the working partnership we’ve formed to promote the development of citizen-scholars among the student body and integration of Michigan State University into local civic life.

Students attend Taste of East Lansing event.

At the strategic level, MSU and the City of East Lansing partner on planning and economic development activities, such as a planning exercise the university is funding focused on the corridor that forms our border. The greater objective is to examine what it will take to make this a world-class university community, which might help form the framework for the city’s upcoming comprehensive plan update.

Some of our most innovative partnerships involve creating jobs and retaining talent in the community—initiatives that helped us earn recognition as one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Best College Towns to Start a Business.”

The Technology Innovation Center (TIC).

East Lansing in 2008 developed the Technology Innovation Center (TIC), a downtown technology business start-up incubator, directly across from the MSU campus. Within six months, the TIC was occupied to capacity and has since served as a model for others around the country. Many businesses there stem from MSU research.

The university and city next cooperated to launch The Hatch, an adjacent student start-up business incubator. One enterprise it houses, TempoRun, is based on a mobile music/fitness application that in March won this year’s national Student Startup Madness business pitch competition at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas.

Students participate in East Lansing recycling program.

Michigan State reaffirmed its commitment to growing businesses locally by placing the MSU Innovation Center in the same commercial building housing the TIC and The Hatch. The Innovation Center is composed of MSU Technologies, the university’s technology transfer office; Business-CONNECT, its corporate and business liaison group; and Spartan Innovations, which supports faculty and student business start-ups with talent and financing. The TIC/Hatch/Spartan Innovations cluster helps bring MSU technology to the marketplace as rapidly as possible and puts university resources within closer reach of the business community.

In tough budget times, the university and city naturally look for ways to share resources to maintain high-quality services. Campus and city police do joint training, for example, and recently partnered to form an emergency Special Response Team. East Lansing operates our jointly owned wastewater treatment system and recently began providing water service to a portion of campus.

Students walk outside of the new Broad Art Museum.

What could become the most iconic symbol of campus and community integration opened just last November. Michigan State’s stunning Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum was intentionally sited at the campus/city boundary along busy Grand River Avenue and designed to welcome visitors from both the campus and the city. The city embraced the new museum, providing signage, promotion, and activities to supplement the museum’s programming.

Students patron at businesses in downtown East Lansing.

Now we’re both actively engaged to recruit new businesses to complement the museum and add cultural vibrancy to the community.

To mitigate the inevitable conflicts arising between students and permanent residents, the city and university formed the Community Relations Coalition (CRC) to engage students residing off campus and local residents in programs designed to promote mutual consideration.

The CRC, which sponsors activities such as neighborhood cleanups and community conversations, was honored with the East Lansing Crystal Award for outstanding voluntary service to the community in 2011.

Ice cream social event in East Lansing.

We work to get students and East Lansing residents on the same page—literally—right from the start of the school year with our One Book One Community reading program.

Students also are engaged with the community during Fall Welcome with special shopping promotions and opportunities to support local charities. Another MSU–city event worth note is the annual East Lansing Welcomes the World program, which is a great example of our community and international students coming together.

Community service is a value Michigan State strongly encourages. Registrations at the MSU Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement, the nation’s oldest center of its kind, more than tripled in the last decade.

Signage helps link MSU and East Lansing.

Some 18,900 student registrations for volunteer service were recorded there in 2011–12. Students are volunteering at hospitals, youth organizations, and many nonprofits in Lansing and East Lansing. More than a thousand students were placed in area schools in the fall 2012 semester to work as tutors, classroom assistants, reading and recreation group supervisors, and more.

Michigan State’s 158-year heritage as the nation’s pioneer land-grant university means that community and stakeholder engagement—in East Lansing and indeed across Michigan—shares primacy with education and research imperatives.

East Lansing has grown up with the university, forming its own school district in 1900 and incorporating as a city in 1907. It now includes more than 25 neighborhoods with a number of active neighborhood associations and, with the university, produces popular summer art and folk festivals.

Diane Goddeeris is the Mayor of East Lansing and Lou Anna K. Simon is the President of Michigan State University.

By Mayor Mel Nyman and President Jeff Abernathy

Mayor Nyman & President Abernathy

Since its founding in 1886, Alma College has stood as a vital community partner, dramatically affecting the lives of those living in mid-Michigan and beyond. The college’s founding was made possible by Ammi Wright, a lumberman, businessman and civic leader who gave 30 acres of land and more than $300,000 to found and sustain the institution in its early years — a sum equivalent to more than $6.2 million today.

More than 125 years later, Alma College continues to value its role in the mid-Michigan community. The campus hosts the annual Alma Highland Arts Festival, which brings thousands of visitors to mid-Michigan to celebrate their Scottish heritage.

An Alma College student volunteers in the community.

As part of its mission, the college also promotes a “culture of service” in which students meet local needs through participation with numerous community agencies and organizations.

One of the key questions in the college’s most recent planning effort was how it could leverage its presence to ensure that the college can thrive together with the community. The resulting plan, while establishing important educational goals, includes an emphasis on creating a sustainable campus and community. It states directly: “We will assist our city of Alma — where we aim to create a seamless environment between the downtown and the campus— as well as communities across Mid-Michigan in order to help our region thrive in the decades to come.”

There is much to be thankful in our small community of Alma. Business is growing in the downtown. Within view of town, the largest wind farm in Michigan has risen, with 167 monuments to the new economy. The efforts by community leaders in collaboration with Alma College professors and students to address environmental challenges caused by a chemical company that left the area decades ago continue to make meaningful progress.

Downtown Alma

All this good news is especially welcome in Alma, where we have had our share of challenges. The most recent economic downtown hit mid-Michigan hard, and in October 2010, a ruinous fire all but destroyed a prominent landmark at the center of our downtown, Alma’s former Opera House. In such a close-knit community, nearly every citizen felt the impact of these and other challenges.

And yet, the values and benefits of living in a college town still appeal to many. Recent developments are evidence that collaborative college-town partnerships are making a difference. Those developments include:

The downtown Alma College bookstore.

• In 2011, the college purchased a vacant building and moved its bookstore off campus and across the street into a location that formerly represented a geographic divide between town and gown. The college also partnered with Stucchi’s — a successful ice cream store that was destroyed in the downtown Opera House fire — and brought it in under the same roof. The new business is thriving, a welcome addition to the downtown where students and community members come together.
• Kurt Wassenaar, an investor with local roots committed to revitalizing the downtown Alma business district, bought the burned Opera House and determined to save it from demolition. Today, the building is undergoing major renovations that will restore its historic features while providing new retail opportunities on the ground floor and, in a leasing partnership with Alma College, student apartments on the second and third floors.
  

  Alma Fall Festival helps bring the city and college together.

• Alma College has set an aggressive goal to place a large number of interns across mid-Michigan in an effort to help non-profits and governmental entities that lost so many resources in the recent downturn. Such work is hugely beneficial to Alma students even as it will help to sustain the communities across our region. Alma College students can learn how to leave positive footprints in Alma and wherever they go in the future.
• Alma College’s Center for Responsible Leadership and the Gratiot Area Chamber of Commerce sponsor an annual Fall Festival in October in downtown Alma. The purpose of the event is to strengthen the connection between the college and community and to encourage community members, merchants and students to meet and interact in a positive and education atmosphere. Activities include merchant specials and giveaways, raffle drawings, face and pumpkin painting, kids activities and more.

Reaching out to the community is a part of Alma College’s mission to “prepare graduates who think critically, serve generously, lead purposefully and live responsively.” We remain committed to the exciting work of building and nurturing community partnerships that will be key to the college’s future as well as that of our town and region.

Mel Nyman is the Mayor of Alma and Jeff Abernathy is the President of Alma College.