Action Alert: League Members Asked to Contact Representatives on Personal Property Tax Issue

Update: December 7, 2012:

Last night the House passed part of the personal property tax package, House Bills 6022, 6024-6026. These bills reflect the PPT reimbursement mechanism identified by the Lt. Governor.

The bills were stripped down to their introduced versions and passed in order to satisfy the constitutional five day rule for legislation. For example all House bills that had not yet passed the House had to pass yesterday in order for the Senate to take them up next week, a least five days after their passage. Next week is intended to be the last week of session.

The House did not pass Senate Bills 1065-1072, the bills that passed the Senate earlier this year. Those bills are the actual PPT repealer bills.

The League is still in active negotiations on PPT; however, until there is any progress we are continuing to push for FULL AND GUARANTEED REPLACEMENT. That does not exist in any of the bills currently before us.

PLEASE KEEP UP THE PRESSURE ON YOUR LEGISLATORS! Without full, guaranteed replacement the House should NOT pass SBs 1065-1072 next week. Click here for contact information for Republican legislators.

December 5, 2012

PPT moves forward, call your Republican Reps today

Ignoring pleas from the Michigan Municipal League and other organizations to slow down, the House Tax Policy Committee today pressed forward during this lame duck session to repeal the personal property tax. And now the League needs your help as the bills move to the full House.

Despite hearing numerous unanswered questions and concerns, the Tax Policy Committee voted along party lines (with Republicans supporting) to move the bills to the full House floor. The House could vote on the package as soon as today, but tomorrow is most likely.

These bills do not provide the revenue replacement guarantees the League has requested and could be yet another financial blow to Michigan communities already strapped with declining property tax revenue and loss of revenue sharing dollars.

The League needs our members to contact their Republican representatives today and tell them they need to vote against this package of bills because they will hurt the local communities they were elected to represent. Below are some talking points you can follow and a list of the Republican members of the House and their contact information. PLEASE contact them TODAY. It’s essential they hear us!

Thank you,

Samantha Harkins, director of state affairs, Michigan Municipal League

Click here for Republican members of the House and contact information.

Talking points:
- We are not opposed to the repeal of The PPT. We are opposed to rushing through this process when there are numerous questions that have not been addressed.

- Guaranteed replacement revenue is an absolute requirement. The cut or elimination of the PPT must not take effect if the ballot proposal to dedicate the use tax to replacement revenues is not approved by Michigan voters. The two must be tie-barred. If the use tax question is not approved by Michigan voters, the cut to PPT must not take effect.

- What is the impact of the extremely complicated formulas for calculating the Essential Services Assessment (ESA) and the reallocation of the use tax? Without an opportunity to fully vet the formulas against community data, we can't be sure of their impact on our communities.

- Is there an opportunity for a local referendum to block the ESA?

- Why create a new level of government with its added cost and bureaucracy that appears to have broad power with little to no state oversight? This authority could create new conditions on funding that is vital for local operations.

- This 80% reimbursement is not acceptable; we need to get closer to 100% replacement funding.

- There were last minute amendments to the package of bills approved and it is not clear what those amendments do. One has to do with the ESA first being applied to retiree debt. We don’t know the impact of the amendments added in committee today.

- The ESA should be allowed for all public safety, not just police, fire, and ambulance. It must include all public safety functions, including 9-1-1 authorities, special public safety millages, public health, etc. These are not viewed or typically funded separately at the local level.

- Cutting our revenue by varying amounts across the state without providing relief from our obligations will force locals to make up the revenue elsewhere.

- This combined with ESA shifts the taxing burden from the state to the locally elected body. Assessing a new tax or increasing an existing tax is as unpopular locally as it is on the state level.

- How will Treasury determine “total restricted qualified loss”?

- Will the ESA pass scrutiny under legal review?

Republican Representatives:

District	Name	Phone	Email
019	John J. Walsh	(517) 373-3920	JohnWalsh@house.mi.gov
020	Kurt Heise	(517) 373-3816	KurtHeise@house.mi.gov
023	Pat Somerville	(517) 373-0855	PatSomerville@house.mi.gov
024	Anthony G. Forlini	(517) 373-0113	AnthonyForlini@house.mi.gov
030	Jeff Farrington	(517) 373-7768	JeffFarrington@house.mi.gov
032	Andrea LaFontaine	(517) 373-8931	AndreaLaFontaine@house.mi.gov
033	Ken Goike	(517) 373-0820	KenGoike@house.mi.gov
036	Peter J. Lund	(517) 373-0843	PeteLund@house.mi.gov
038	Hugh D. Crawford	(517) 373-0827	HughCrawford@house.mi.gov
040	Charles Moss	(517) 373-8670	ChuckMoss@house.mi.gov
041	Martin Knollenberg	(517) 373-1783	MartyKnollenberg@house.mi.gov
043	Gail Haines	(517) 373-0615	GailHaines@house.mi.gov
044	Eileen Kowall	(517) 373-2616	EileenKowall@house.mi.gov
045	Tom McMillin	(517) 373-1773	TomMcMillin@house.mi.gov
046	Bradford C. Jacobsen	(517) 373-1798	BradJacobsen@house.mi.gov
047	Cynthia S. Denby	(517) 373-8835	CindyDenby@house.mi.gov
051	Joseph Graves	(517) 373-1780	JosephGraves@house.mi.gov
052	Mark Ouimet	(517) 373-0828	MarkOuimet@house.mi.gov
055	Rick Olson	(517) 373-1792	RickOlson@house.mi.gov
056	Dale W. Zorn	(517) 373-2617	DaleWZorn@house.mi.gov
057	Nancy E. Jenkins	(517) 373-1706	NancyJenkins@house.mi.gov
058	Kenneth Kurtz	(517) 373-1794	KennethKurtz@house.mi.gov
059	Matthew J. Lori	(517) 373-0832	MattLori@house.mi.gov
061	Margaret E. O'Brien	(517) 373-1774	MargaretOBrien@house.mi.gov
063	Jase Bolger	(517) 373-1787	JaseBolger@house.mi.gov
064	Earl Poleski	(517) 373-1795	EarlPoleski@house.mi.gov
065	Michael Shirkey	(517) 373-1775	MikeShirkey@house.mi.gov
066	William Rogers	(517) 373-1784	BillRogers@house.mi.gov
070	Rick Outman	(517) 373-0834	RickOutman@house.mi.gov
071	Deb Lynn Shaughnessy	(517) 373-0853	DebShaughnessy@house.mi.gov
072	Ken Yonker	(517) 373-0840	KenYonker@house.mi.gov
073	Peter MacGregor	(517) 373-0218	PeterMacGregor@house.mi.gov
074	David Agema	(517) 373-8900	daveagema@house.mi.gov
076	Roy Schmidt	(517) 373-0822	RoySchmidt@house.mi.gov
077	Thomas B. Hooker	(517) 373-2277	ThomasHooker@house.mi.gov
078	Sharon Tyler	(517) 373-1796	SharonTyler@house.mi.gov
079	Al Pscholka	(517) 373-1403	AlPscholka@house.mi.gov
080	Aric Nesbitt	(517) 373-0839	AricNesbitt@house.mi.gov
081	Judson S. Gilbert II	(517) 373-1790	JudGilbert@house.mi.gov
082	Kevin Daley	(517) 373-1800	KevinDaley@house.mi.gov
083	Paul Muxlow	(517) 373-0835	PaulMuxlow@house.mi.gov
084	Kurt Damrow	(517) 373-0476	KurtDamrow@house.mi.gov
085	Ben Glardon	(517) 373-0841	BenGlardon@house.mi.gov
086	Lisa Posthumus Lyons	(517) 373-0846	LisaLyons@house.mi.gov
087	Mike Callton	(517) 373-0842	MikeCallton@house.mi.gov
088	Robert J. Genetski II	(517) 373-0836	BobGenetski@house.mi.gov
089	Amanda Price	(517) 373-0838	AmandaPrice@house.mi.gov
090	Joseph Haveman	(517) 373-0830	JosephHaveman@house.mi.gov
091	Holly Hughes	(517) 373-3436	HollyHughes@house.mi.gov
093	Paul E. Opsommer	(517) 373-1778	paulopsommer@house.mi.gov
094	Kenneth B. Horn	(517) 373-0837	kennethhorn@house.mi.gov
097	Joel Johnson	(517) 373-8962	JoelJohnson@house.mi.gov
098	Jim Stamas	(517) 373-1791	JimStamas@house.mi.gov
099	Kevin Cotter	(517) 373-1789	KevinCotter@house.mi.gov
100	Jon Bumstead	(517) 373-7317	JonBumstead@house.mi.gov
101	Ray A. Franz	(517) 373-0825	RayFranz@house.mi.gov
102	Phil Potvin	(517) 373-1747	PhilPotvin@house.mi.gov
103	Bruce R. Rendon	(517) 373-3817	BruceRendon@house.mi.gov
104	Wayne A. Schmidt	(517) 373-1766	WayneSchmidt@house.mi.gov
105	Greg MacMaster	(517) 373-0829	GregMacMaster@house.mi.gov
106	Peter Pettalia	(517) 373-0833	PeterPettalia@house.mi.gov
107	Frank Foster	(517) 373-2629	FrankFoster@house.mi.gov
108	Ed McBroom	(517) 373-0156	EdMcBroom@house.mi.gov
110	Matt Huuki	(517) 373-0850	MattHuuki@house.mi.gov