Inside 208

Speaker Boehner and the President had another meeting late last week, after a few days off and some intense rhetoric regarding their solutions on the fiscal cliff, the combination of the expiration of Bush-era tax credits and significant automatic budget cuts set to go into effect January 1. There have [...]

The Legislature passed the final two pieces of the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) legislation for Metro Detroit in the marathon lame duck session.  SB 912 would exempt the RTA from local zoning. SB 967 would require communities to provide access to rights-of-way for the system. Governor Snyder is expected to [...]

The House will hold hearings on the proposal to repeal personal property taxes on Tuesday, December 4 and Wednesday, December 5 at 10:30 am in Room 521 of the House Office Building, 124 N. Capitol Ave., Lansing.  This proposal is very complicated, with a number of issues in need of [...]

The Michigan legislature is attempting to move legislation during the lame duck session that would have a major impact on local government. The proposed bills include the latest plan to repeal the business personal property tax, and a bill that would exempt police officers and firefighters from PA 54, the [...]

The House Commerce Committee today considered SB 1210. This bill makes a number of changes to the Brownfield Redevelopment Financing Act. The League indicated support for this legislation. One of the major changes that it makes to the Act is to eliminate the sunset on the TIF portion of the [...]

Today a letter was sent by the Replace Don’t Erase Coalition to Lt. Gov. Brian Calley outlining the concerns of a new Personal Property Tax (PPT) Reform proposal. The letter states the Coalition is supportive of a solution as long as it provides replacement revenue by a consistent, reliable source. [...]

Last week the House Tax Policy Committee passed a substitute for SB 972, a bill that would require local municipalities to inclue past due amounts on all tax bills. It would require thata taxpayer be notified of delinquent property taxes on the property as of March 1. This will be [...]

Transportation For America is urging U.S. DOT to hold states accountable for real progress under MAP-21. Next Thursday October 25 from 1:00 PM EDT to 3:00 PM EDT, the U.S. DOT has announced that they will hold a listening session about performance measures for the NHS system. We strongly urge [...]

Yesterday, the Michigan Senate passed the package of blight bills (SB 1096-1100) that would give communities additional tools to address blight. The bills now go to the House for consideration.An amendment was added on the Senate floor to SB 1096 that we are still assessing. It says that a bank/credit [...]

This morning the Senate Appropriations Committee passed House Bills 5566-5570, a package that amends the Emergency Municipal Loan Act to include school districts and amend the criteria for qualifying. The current statute does not allow school districts to qualify for emergency loans. The legislation allows school districts to qualify. In [...]