This week the House Oversight committee heard testimony on HB 4001 and HB 4314.  Committee started late because session ran late so there was a shortened time frame for testimony.  Mike Fisher, attorney for the city of Livonia, testified in opposition to the bills.

The substitute for HB 4001 (HB 4001) still does not allow for the true cost of FOIA requests to be recognized and creates onerous invoicing requirements.  It also creates penalties if the municipality does not respond to a request in time while leaving out any sort of penalty for those who are abusing the system.

HB 4314 creates a commission at the state level to hear FOIA appeals.  As the bill is right now, there is not one member of a municipality, etc who actually has to deal with the FOIA request.  It is made up of representatives from media groups.

The League is opposed to both pieces of legislation.

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League.  She can be reached at nbrown@mml.org or 517-908-0305.

The Senate Regulatory Reform Committee took up and passed unanimously HB 4743 a bill providing more local control on the use of fireworks passed the House following significant complaints from local units of government after last July 4.

The bill would require retail locations to post signs informing the public where to find the Fireworks Safety Act and copies of the local municipality’s ordinances regarding time limits for the use of the fireworks.

The bill also would require retailers to comply with the National Fire Protection Association Code, and clarify that a retailer or a person issued a consumer fireworks certificate is responsible for remitting all fireworks safety fees to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. It would also require retailers to remit the fees within 20 days after the end of each month.

The bill would allow municipalities to regulate the use of fireworks within counties of 750,000 or more persons to 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. on New Year’s Day only, for all other days surrounding national holidays the hours are 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. For municipalities within counties with a population fewer than 750,000 ordinances can be enacted regulating the times of 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. on the day before, the day after and the day of national holidays.

The legislation now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League and can be reached at nbrown@mml.org or 517-908-0305.

This morning the House Tax Policy Committee reported three bills that would create tax exemptions for disabled veterans.

The committee voted out House Bill 4698, House Bill 4110 and Senate Bill 352, and these bills will not be considered by the full House.

The bills are all very similar and would specifically exempt from property taxes real property used and owned as a homestead by a disabled veteran who was discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States under honorable conditions.

The League continues to be opposed to mandatory property tax exemptions. In 2011 the legislature and administration eliminated state tax exemptions so as to not “pick winners and losers” and balance the state budget. Yet we continue to combat legislation that mandates our members give property tax exemptions for various individuals. The policy is inconsistent, and we are opposed to this piecemeal approach to tax policy.

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 Senate approved the FY 2014 budget to send to the Governor for his signature.

Thanks to the urging of Michigan Municipal League members in recent weeks, the budget includes a 4.8 percent increase in statutory revenue sharing for local governments, representing a  $10.8 million increase. In the past 12 years the state has cut local revenue sharing by more than $6 billion. The Governor’s and House’s 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.

The budget also includes a 2.8 percent increase in constitutional revenue sharing, representing $20.6 million.

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 Regulatory Reform Committee began hearing testimony on a package of legislation that would crack down on scrap metal dealers to limit scrap metal theft.

House Bills 4593-95 were introduced to the committee. The bills seek to close “loopholes” in the current scrap metal laws by requiring dealers to keep more detailed records including information of individuals who remit scrap metal as well as a photograph of purchased scrap metal.

In addition the legislation strengthens the “do not purchase” list in the current law to add additional requirements. It also requires dealers to only make payment to an individual via check, money order or an electronic payment card that can be used to get cash from an ATM on the seller’s premises.

The committee did not vote on the legislation and intends to hear further testimony 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

Linked by both history and geography, Hope College and the community of Holland aren’t just neighbors, but family.

The key to understanding the relationship is in the college’s very name. As the young town began to grow from the woodlands of West Michigan, founder Albertus C. Van Raalte knew that education would be crucial in assuring a bright future for the community and its people. Accordingly, he set aside land at Holland’s heart, making Hope College a central part of the city.

Even as both have grown, the dynamic has remained, with Hope and Holland shaping and strengthening one another in ways innumerable as they have traveled together for nearly 150 years.

“Having Hope not just physically in the center of the city but metaphysically in many ways at the center of the city helps create the unique community that we have,” said Kurt Dykstra, mayor of Holland. “There might be other communities that have as good a relationship as Hope and Holland, but I can’t imagine that there are any places where the relationship is stronger.”

The positive relationship is fostered by the 6,000 Holland-area residents who are alumni, but it goes deeper than that. Faculty, staff and students are active volunteers, committed to serving their community in many ways. Area residents frequent arts events, scholarly presentations and the college’s athletic contests, many of them offered free of charge. The college provides a range of community programs like CASA (Children’s After School Achievement) and TRIO Upward Bound for area students, and the Hope Academy of Senior Professionals (HASP) for retirees. Student-athletes are involved with Special Olympics programs and the entire student body has raised over $1.1 million for the Children’s Miracle Network.

Hope and the city have worked amicably together in addressing long-term property development that benefits all parties. The college’s campus acreage has increased three-fold in the last decade.

“This could not have happened without cooperative city officials,” said Hope College President Dr. James E. Bultman.

The college recently purchased from the city the municipal football stadium, upgraded it considerably and is allowing local public schools and the city to use it rent-free. The college has a significant presence in the nearby central business district.

“Not infrequently, other colleges and communities ask Hope and Holland how to develop this positive town-gown relationship,” said President Bultman.

“One of the first things that I say is that this didn’t happen overnight,” he said. “It’s gone on for years, decades, with the involvement of many people in both the community and the college that worked hard to establish such a strong relationship.

While Hope frequently earns national attention for the quality of its academic programs, Holland, too, has been recognized multiple times through the years. Accolades in the past decade alone have included recognition as a one of the country’s “happiest” and “tidiest” communities, one of the country’s job-growth and manufacturing leaders, as well as inclusion among the “smartest” cities based on education and acclaim as a “distinctive destination.”

These recognitions have benefited the college as it recruits students from around the country and internationally.

“A significant selling-point to prospective students and their families is the quality of life evident throughout the Holland community,” said President Bultman.

The first days of every school year are intentionally focused on the town-gown relationship. Since the mid-1960s the college and city have co-sponsored a Community Day picnic that draws thousands.

The second weekend of the school year is declared Time to Serve with hundreds of students, many of them new to the college and community, undertaking community service projects.

The award-winning Holland downtown, with its mix of student-friendly stores, coffee shops and restaurants and located a block from Hope’s campus, is a popular destination for Hope’s undergraduates, their families and other visitors to campus, as are the Lake Michigan beaches just a few miles to the west.

Even as Hope students benefit from the outstanding Holland community, the college and Hope people contribute significantly.

A recent study estimated the overall economic impact of Hope on the Holland region to be $213 million annually. The college is a significant economic engine, with 80.5 percent of its revenue coming from outside the area.

The study estimated that $1 in every $40 spent in the region is spent because of Hope, and that one out of every 40 people is in the region because of Hope, which creates 1,000 jobs in the area.

“We have a deep commitment to and understanding that Holland is a better place because Hope is here – and we also think that Hope is a better place because it is located in the heart of Holland, Michigan,” Dykstra stated. “I really cannot imagine what Holland would be like without a strong Hope College… and, working together, I am confident that we will never have to find out.”

This morning the House Tax Policy Committee passed several bills that would exempt the “tax on the difference” of motor vehicle and watercraft sales.

Michigan has reciprocal agreements with a number of states whereby Michigan and the reciprocal state each collect and retain sales tax on vehicles purchased in their respective state, even in instances when the vehicle will be titled and registered in the other state. For sales in Michigan of vehicles that will be registered and titled in a reciprocal state, Michigan collects the lesser amount of sales tax due calculated under Michigan law and under the law of the reciprocal state. The calculation of the sales tax due under the laws of the reciprocal state will include a trade-in allowance if provided under the reciprocal state’s law. The sales tax collected by the state of purchase will generally be used as a credit against any applicable use tax owed to the state where the vehicle will be titled. Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio each provide for a trade-in allowance.

House Bill 4234 would exempt from sales tax the agreed-upon value of a motor vehicle or recreational vehicle used as partial payment for the purchase of a new or used motor vehicle or recreational vehicle if the agreed-upon value is separately stated on the invoice, bill of sale, or similar document provided to the purchaser. This exemption would begin October 1, 2013.

This would reduce sales tax revenue by $125-150 million annually and thus have an impact on Constitutional Revenue Sharing and the Comprehensive Transportation Fund.

Similarly Senate Bills 89 and 90 would have the same impact as HB 4234. The League opposed all three bills because of its significant impact on sales tax revenue and as a result local units of government.

The bills were reported from committee and will 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

The budget agreement reached yesterday by the House and Senate includes more flexible language for the Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP). The language is viewable in the budget bill beginning on page 121.

The new EVIP language expands eligibility for EVIP grant projects to include those projects in which a local unit of government shares services with a university, community college, authority, school district, or intermediate school district.

In Category 1, accountability and transparency (dashboards), the language is similar to last year; however, it does also require a detailed listing of debt service requirements. The dashboard information must be submitted to the Department of Treasury by October 1 to comply with EVIP.

Category 2, consolidation of services, includes “innovation” and “privatization”. So while a local unit must still submit a new plan under this provision, it can include an innovative practice of an existing service or privatization of service to be eligible for category 2.

The “timeline” piece in category 2 has been an issue with the Department of Treasury calling communities to follow up on that piece. The language now says “estimated timeline” in hopes that it allows more flexibility.

The consolidation plan must be submitted by February 1 to qualify for EVIP.

Category 3 has been dramatically changed to “unfunded accrued liability plan”.  This would require a local unit with unfunded accrued liabilities as of its most recent audited financial report related to employee pensions or other post-employment benefits shall submit a plan to lower all unfunded accrued liabilities. The plan shall include a listing of all previous actions taken to reduce its unfunded accrued liabilities with an estimated cost savings of those actions; a detailed description of how it will continue to implement and maintain previous actions taken; and a listing of additional actions it could take. If no actions have been taken to reduce its unfunded accrued liabilities, it shall provide a detailed explanation of why no actions have been taken and a listing of actions it could implement to reduce unfunded accrued liabilities. Actuarial assumption changes and issuance of debt instruments shall not qualify as a new proposal. The unfunded accrued liabilities plan must be made available in the clerk’s office or on the website.

If a local unit does not have any unfunded accrued liabilities it must certify to the Department of Treasury that it has none.

The unfunded accrued liabilities plan must be submitted to the Department by June 1.

This new EVIP language goes into effect October 1, 2013.

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 afternoon bill providing more local control on the use of fireworks passed the House following significant complaints from local units of government after last July 4.

HB 4743 passed with only one no vote. The bill would require retail locations to post signs informing the public where to find the Fireworks Safety Act and copies of the local municipality’s ordinances regarding time limits for the use of the fireworks.

The bill also would require retailers to comply with the National Fire Protection Association Code, and clarify that a retailer or a person issued a consumer fireworks certificate is responsible for remitting all fireworks safety fees to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. It would also require retailers to remit the fees within 20 days after the end of each month.

The bill would allow municipalities to regulate the use of fireworks within counties of 750,000 or more persons to 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. on New Year’s Day only, for all other days surrounding national holidays the hours are 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. For municipalities within counties with a population fewer than 750,000 ordinances can be enacted regulating the times of 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. on the day before, the day after and the day of national holidays.

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