Tag Archives: personal property tax

League, MAC and MTA Issue Joint Statement on Data Center Abatement Proposals

Posted on by

The Michigan House Tax Policy Committee today is reviewing legislative proposals regarding what’s known as the data center issue and the Michigan Municipal League along with other organizations have distributed a joint statement regarding the legislation.

The biggest concern from the League’s perspective is ensuring that local communities continue to have the ability to establish local control on both existing and future abatement requests, like we have for other economic development abatement tools. One proposal being shopped by the existing data center industry would eliminate the current language providing local involvement in future data center investments. The League and other local government groups are opposed to this effort. We feel it is appropriate to maintain local involvement in any decision on whether to abate taxes as an economic development tool.

Here is the full statement on this issue by the League, the Michigan Association of Counties (MAC) and the Michigan Townships Association (MTA):

As the representatives of local government in Michigan, our organizations ― which are responsible for delivering the daily services Michigan residents count on ― wish to clarify our position on the various legislative proposals being discussed for the data center industry, especially those surrounding exemptions for personal property.

Local governments welcome economic development/job creation in this state and our goal is to continue to partner with the state.

If the Legislature and administration believe exemptions for existing firms and their existing equipment in a broad-based personal property exemption framework are necessary, we recommend the exemption for current equipment follow the recently adopted system for small taxpayers and manufacturers, allowing the local units to be fully reimbursed for the reductions to their tax base.

In our view, though, a blanket, state-ordered exemption would be counterproductive, given the existing economic development tools available to reduce/abate personal property for business, including data centers.

Absent a reimbursement mechanism, language similar to what the House and Senate are considering, which allows for a local unit to approve/deny a request for an abatement of data center personal property, is vital. Allowing local governments to be involved in this way ensures they are able to evaluate the local budget costs against the benefits of proposed exemptions, just as they do with all other economic development decisions.

Adoption of one of these approaches will protect existing local government budgets and preserve the role of the local unit in these critical local economic development decisions.
Thank you for your consideration. We welcome the opportunity to discuss further should you have any questions.

– Chris Hackbarth, Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League
– Judy Allen, Director of Government Relations for the Michigan Townships Association
– Steve Currie, Deputy Director for the Michigan Association of Counties

Posted by Matt Bach on behalf of Chris Hackbarth. For more information contact Hackbarth at chackbarth@mml.org and 517-908-0304.

Voters Overwhelmingly Approve Proposal 1; HUGE Victory for Michigan Communities!

Posted on by
The League was part of the coalition for Michigan Strong & Safe Communities, which actively supported Proposal 1.

The League was part of the coalition for Michigan Citizens for Strong & Safe Communities, which actively supported Proposal 1.

A huge thank you goes out to all the Michigan Municipal League member communities and supporters backing Proposal 1 on Tuesday’s primary ballot. The measure, which completes the plan to phase out personal property taxes that businesses pay, passed with 69 percent of the voters in support, according to preliminary results reported by mlive.com and the Detroit News with 99 percent of the precincts reporting.

Proposal 1 represented a considerable amount of negotiations and work by League staff and our members. We thank our many members who have publicly supported this proposal by passing resolutions encouraging a YES vote, doing media interviews, participating in news events and writing letters to their local newspapers. Read this article by the League’s Samantha Harkins about this history of this issue and why the League supported this measure.

“What this really means for us is stability,” Harkins, the League’s director of state affairs, told reporter Paul Egan of the Detroit Free Press for an article about Proposal 1’s passage.

Here’s an excerpt from a Michigan Public Radio piece by Jake Neher about voters approving Proposal 1. This report also includes comments by Harkins:

Communities depend on revenue from the tax to pay for things like police, fire, and roads. (Governor) Snyder says the proposal ensures they will be fully compensated for any lost revenue.

Local government groups say they agree. “I think, from the local government level, it really provides certainty for us in a way that the failure of Proposal 1 certainly would not have created that certainty,” said (Harkins). “And we’ve had a lot of uncertainty in the last decade.”

Also in the “good news for communities” category, MIRS News is reporting that 80 percent of the “new money asks” in local ballot proposals were approved by voters. That 80 percent passage rate is consistent with the results from the past several elections. Here’s a chart by MIRS that shows the local ballot proposal results by community.

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

Michigan Communities Urge Residents to Vote YES on Proposal 1; Pass Resolutions in Support

Posted on by

Proposal 1 Press Conference Oakland County June 2014 Brooks Patterson Barry Brickner (16)-edited-smallMore than a dozen Michigan cities and villages have approved resolutions urging residents to vote YES on Proposal 1 Aug. 5. The Michigan Municipal League is part of the vote YES on Proposal 1 Michigan Citizens for Strong and Safe Communities coalition and is encouraging our member communities to adopt a resolution. The League is then sharing the resolutions with the local media and public and those press releases can be viewed here.

We want to thank these communities for passing resolutions in support of Proposal 1: Cedar Springs, Frankenmuth, Fremont, Grayling, Hartford, Madison Heights, Mattawan, Middleville, Mt. Pleasant, Northville, Norton Shores, Pleasant Ridge, Three Oaks, Walker and Yale. If your community is not on this list but passed a resolution please email me at mbach@mml.org. We also want to thank our many members who have participated in local press conferences and editorial board meetings in support of Proposal 1.

The passage of Proposal 1 on the Aug. 5 statewide primary ballot is the final step toward completing comprehensive reform to the state’s personal property tax (PPT) – an effort the Michigan Municipal League has been heavily involved in for the last few years.

Farmington Hills Mayor Barry Brickner urges residents to vote YES on Proposal 1 during a recent Oakland County news conference.

Farmington Hills Mayor Barry Brickner urges residents to vote YES on Proposal 1 during a recent Oakland County news conference.

The PPT is a tax on business equipment that communities have relied on for years to provide essential services, such as police and fire protection, schools, libraries, ambulances, jails and roads. The League has maintained that if this tax is eliminated there must be full replacement of the revenue for local governments. Proposal 1 provides the revenue replacement and it does so without raising taxes.

Additional information:

– Go here for a sample resolution. It’s important to note that it is legal for local government bodies to approve resolutions in support of ballot issues as long as no public tax dollars are expended. So resolutions are OK.

– Go here to sign up to support the coalition and receive regular campaign updates.

– Send a letter to your local newspaper in support of Proposal 1. View sample letters here.

– Go here to view additional photos from the recent vote YES on Proposal 1 news conference in Oakland County.

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

A list of communities that have approved resolutions urging residents to vote YES on Proposal 1.

A list of communities that have approved resolutions urging residents to vote YES on Proposal 1.

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Posted on by

Can you feel it?  It’s the time of the year when Jack Frost starts to nip at our nose and we all dream of what could be.  No not the holidays silly.  The lame duck legislative session.  Every lame duck session is packed with action.  Lets be honest, its a time in the legislature when issues that have been debated at length, but languished because they are tough votes tend to move.  It’s part of the process.  What lame duck shouldn’t be used for is ramming through major policy changes that have not had the benefit of debate and our best collective thinking.  Unfortunately, that is exactly what is happening with personal property tax(PPT) reform.

Just to be clear, I am not in favor of the PPT.  It’s a bad tax. It’s tough to administer and can be a disincentive to business investment.  That said, the reality is the PPT provides critical funding to vital local services like police, fire, parks and the like and they are already drastically underfunded. This means any reform must provide guaranteed replacement revenue.  The plan that is on the table attempts to provide replacement revenue but requires a statewide vote, potential local referendums, new levels of government,added bureaucracy, and the possibility of zero replacement revenue if votes fail.   Oh by the way, at this point we only have a plan outline.  We don’t even have bills to read.  So what we have on the table is a plan with more questions than answers.

So my question is what’s the rush?  If we all agree reform is necessary, why hurry such important tax policy changes without making it the best system we can?  We have toiled for years under a cobbled together tax system and that hasn’t exactly been working out so well.  There is too much at stake, and no reason to do this in the next two weeks.  Let’s start a new trend and focus on getting it right, not just getting it done.