Michigan is 50th in the nation in municipal general revenue growth!

That’s the message the League has been hammering home since we launched the SaveMICity initiative two years ago at the 2016 Capital Conference. We are the only state in the country providing less resources to local governments. It’s impossible to think we can be competitive with that arrangement, says Anthony Minghine, League Deputy Executive Director and COO.

Amazon’s recent search for a second headquarters site made Michigan’s deficits crystal clear. They provided a “secret list” of their requirements, and we failed on many aspects:

• Sites/buildings – We have those.
• Capital and operating costs – That’s a yes, too.
• Incentives – We give away our revenue better than anyone.
• Labor force – We used to have the best workforce, but not now. We’ve disinvested in communities, so we don’t have the kinds of communities that workers want.
• Logistics – We don’t do transit here.
• Time to operations – We’re ready to go
• Cultural community fit – We lost there. We need a willing government, and we can’t deliver.
• Community/quality of life – We’ve known it for a long time, but we aren’t doing things to make it happen. We’re not providing the infrastructure to make it happen in a big way.

We’ve been saying these things for the last two years, but now people are starting to talk back, says Minghine. We’re starting to change the conversation and have an impact.

Going forward, we’re developing strategic partnerships that will help us push the SaveMICity message, and hoping the 2018 elections bring new blood that believes in our message.

We’ve figured out that 50th place won’t get us Amazon. No business is saying ‘find me the cheapest place.’ They want the BEST place! Michigan is the only state in the country disinvesting in communities. We have to change the path we’re on.