This week the Senate Energy and Technology Committee discussed a rewrite of the MISS-DIG Act. Last session the Senate passed bills that would create an exception to governmental immunity under the MISS-DIG Act.

The legislation that passed the Senate last session would rewrite the MISS-DIG Act and create a structure to incent municipalities to comply with the Act.  If a local unit of government failed to comply with the Act, it is subject to a fine of up to $5,000 from the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC). A second violation is liable to a fine of up to $10,000. A third violation carries a fine of up to $15,000 and actual property damages.  All of these fines are preventable by calling MISS-DIG. If facilities are mis-marked, that is not the fault of the local unit of government.

This week Sen. Mike Nofs (D-Battle Creek) reintroduced the Senate-passed versions of the legislation in Senate Bills 539 and 540.  Originally the legislation last session would have entirely exempted any action under the MISS-DIG Act from government immunity. That was problematic for us, so the fee structure arose as a result of many discussions with the Senate and the Governor’s office, as well as utility stakeholders. Unfortunately with the property damages piece added in we were forced to oppose these substitutes as they reported from committee.

We look forward to continuing work on this legislation as it moves through the legislative 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

This week the Senate Reforms, Restructuring and Reinventing Committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 387, legislation that would amend the Worker’s Disability Compensation Act to include a reserve or auxiliary police officer as an employee of the State for purposes of the Act when he or she was performing duties in that capacity.

In general we find this legislation to be positive. While it does expand worker’s compensation it makes these officers employees of the state thus putting the responsibility on the state to pay for any claims.

The committee did not vote, but we expect they will vote in the next few weeks.

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 morning the House Tax Policy Committee reported Senate Bill 25, a bill that would amend the General Property Tax Act to provide property owners with a process to request an exemption from the Department of Treasury for any year that a principal residence exemption was erroneously not included on the tax roll , and would allow the Department to deny exemptions for the current and three preceding years that were erroneously included in the tax roll.

The League opposes this legislation, and it now goes to the House for its full consideration.

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 Finance Committee passed Senate Bill 372 and 396, unrelated bills that both create property tax exemptions.  We have testified in both the Senate and House committees that continuing to mandate local tax exemptions is an issue for local units even if the amount is considered “negligible” by the legislature.

In 2011 the legislature eliminated all tax exemptions at the state to “level the playing field”, and yet bills continue to be pushed that mandate local tax exemptions. Not only is this inconsistent from a policy standpoint, but it takes away local revenues.

Senate Bill 372 would amend the General Property Tax Act to require agricultural property to be excluded from sales studies if, upon a transfer of ownership, an affidavit attesting that the property would remain agricultural had not been filed.

Senate Bill 396 would amend the General Property Tax Act to provide for the taxable value of property to remain essentially unchanged if the property were reconstructed due to an accident or act of God; and specify that construction required to bring the property into code compliance would not increase its taxable value. There is already a formula in current law for replacement construction, and this legislation would only serve to take away additional local revenues.

The legislation now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

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

The quest for internet sales tax parity made another stride late last week, when House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Goodlatte (R-Virginia) released a set of guiding principals on the tax collection issue, which are listed below. Earlier this year, the Senate passed the bill, S. 744, and sent it to the House. However, Rep. Goodlatte has indicated that he wants to develop a new “simpler” bill than S. 744 or H. 684 – which is the House version of the Senate-passed bill. This is still a significant step forward on the issue, which many thought wouldn’t get any action on the House side. Please ask your Congressional Representative to ask Chairman Goodlatte for a hearing on this issue. While exact estimates are hard to come by, Michigan is expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars from this tax which goes uncollected.

House Judiciary Committee Principles on Internet Sales Tax

• Tax Relief – Using the Internet should not create new or discriminatory taxes not faced in the offline world. Nor should any fresh precedent be created for other areas of interstate taxation by States.
• Tech Neutrality – Brick & Mortar, Exclusively Online, and Brick & Click businesses should all be on equal footing. The sales tax compliance burden on online Internet sellers should not be less, but neither should it be greater than that on similarly situated offline businesses.
• No Regulation Without Representation – Those who would bear state taxation, regulation and compliance burdens should have direct recourse to protest unfair, unwise or discriminatory rates and enforcement.
• Simplicity – Governments should not stifle businesses by shifting onerous compliance requirements onto them; laws should be so simple and compliance so inexpensive and reliable as to render a small business exemption unnecessary.
• Tax Competition – Governments should be encouraged to compete with one another to keep tax rates low and American businesses should not be disadvantaged vis-a-vis their foreign competitors.
• States’ Rights – States should be sovereign within their physical boundaries. In addition, the federal government should not mandate that States impose any sales tax compliance burdens.
• Privacy Rights – Sensitive customer data must be protected.

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

Congress is about one week away from a federal government shutdown, as both sides continue posturing on the federal budget. Late last week, the House Republicans passed a spending measure that would continue spending at post-sequester levels, to the tune of approximately $986 Billion. However, it included language to defund the Affordable Care Act which is a non-starter for Senate Democrats and the President. The federal fiscal year starts next Tuesday, October 1st, so the countdown is on for Congress. Some experts have suggested that the Senate will accept the reduced spending levels in order to compromise on maintaining funding for the ACA. Although, no official statements on that position have been made.

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

You are invited to join President Barack Obama and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for a conference call with state and local elected officials on Wednesday, September 25, at 2:30 pm EDT to discuss the October launch of the Health Insurance Marketplace. The White House encourages you to invite other community partners working on Health Insurance Marketplace outreach to join you in your office for the call. In the meantime, you can find more information on the Health Insurance Marketplace in the toolkit for state and local officials, which is attached.

outreach-and-enrollment-toolkit-for-elected-officials

WHEN: Date: September 25, 2013
Time: 2:30 PM EDT (please dial in no later than 2:30 pm EDT)

HOW: RSVP at www.att-rsvp.com with Conference ID # 303712 to receive the call-in information.

This call is off the record and not for press purposes.

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

Last week the House Local Government Committee heard testimony on House Bill 4729, legislation that would require local units to opt out of the Michigan Emergency Management Assistance Compact (MEMAC).

MEMAC has been in existence for over a decade; however, currently local units of government must opt into MEMAC.  HB 4729 would amend that legislation so that a local unit would be automatically included in MEMAC and must opt out.

The League, along with the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, have had concerns about the impact of an opt out program and its effect on local emergency management compacts as well as local liability.

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

Last week the House Local Government Committee heard testimony on House Bills 4856 and 4857, legislation that would allow local governments to charge an individual for a rescue if that individual is grossly negligent in an emergency situation.

This legislation arose from flooding last year in West Michigan where a person decided to kayak in a flooded river and had to be rescued by public safety officers. While the League supports the intent of this legislation, we do have concerns with how it would interact with existing cost recovery ordinances given that this requires a “state of emergency” and “grossly negligent” conduct.

We are working with the sponsors on this legislation to address these concerns.

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

Last week the Senate passed Senate Bills 489 and 490, bills that are the first “fix” bills from the personal property tax (PPT) reform package that passed in December. The bills clarify the process for a businesses to claim exemptions under the legislation.

The League has been an active part of a drafting group of local government and business representatives who have been working on bills that would clarify the process for claiming PPT exemptions under the new legislation.

Beginning December 31, 2013, businesses will be eligible to claim a “small parcel” PPT exemption if the total value of their personal property in a tax collecting unit is $80,000 (true cash value) or less.  The remainder of the package does not go into effect until December 31, 2015; however, the package is contingent on the passage of a statewide vote in August 2014.

The League was neutral on the bills as they do reflect the work of the drafting group. You can view a copy of the League’s letter to the Senate Finance Committee here: Senate finance 9_13.

We are expecting additional legislation this fall to fix other outstanding issues including the essential services assessment and how we deal with tax capture districts. These two bills now head to the House for consideration.

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