Inside 208

The Department of Treasury and the National League of Cities (NLC) are partnering on a new model to help support cities and villages. Following Treasury’s webinars, NLC will host an Office Hours where folks can come and ask questions, receive one-on-one support to help troubleshoot issues, and provide resources. Below [...]

The Michigan Department of Treasury wanted to make you aware of an important educational opportunity related to the American Rescue Plan Act’s (ARPA) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) reporting and compliance. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) will host a workshop for all recipients of the SLFRF [...]

We continue to track potential federal action that could eliminate the tax exemption for municipal bonds. Recently, an informal economic adviser to President Donald Trump, suggested eliminating the tax exemption for municipal bonds in an interview and shared a tweet that read “An Easy Way to Save $250 Billion… Currently, [...]

Yesterday the House passed nine bills that would utilize $3.1 billion in existing state resources to improve Michigan’s Transportation system. The League’s Board was able to take an official position of support on these bills during CapCon based on the inclusion of our priorities and the protection of local resources. [...]

Last Wednesday Governor Whitmer gave her seventh State of the State address. It hit on the themes of working together in a bipartisan manner, touted accomplishments, and laid out a few priorities for the upcoming year that she stated in a simple fashion… One… Costs. Let’s make life more affordable. Two… Jobs. Let’s create [...]

Last month the National League of Cities was asked to testify at the House Transportation Committee’s kickoff hearing to reauthorize the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes from Austin, TX, the Chair of the NLC Transportation & Infrastructure Services Committee, testified on behalf of NLC. [...]

The Michigan Legislature passed House Bill 4002 this evening, which amends the existing Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA) set to take effect on Friday, February 21st. With minutes to spare, the House and Senate negotiated their terms that ultimately made significant changes to the existing ESTA provisions. The following is [...]

Local Bridge Program: The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is pleased to announce the solicitation of applications for candidate projects for the Local Bridge Program. Selected projects will be funded during the 2028 fiscal year (FY). Do not submit projects which cannot be committed to construction within FY 2028. The [...]

The Michigan Department of Treasury (Treasury) reminds municipalities that, although not required, they can correct errors in the 2024 Personal Property Tax (PPT) reimbursements distributed in October 2024 and February 2025. The Local Community Stabilization Authority (LCSA) Act provides municipalities an opportunity to review the PPT reimbursement calculations and data [...]

Local governments of all sizes rely on tax-exempt municipal bonds as a critical tool to finance infrastructure projects and essential public services. These bonds help fund everything from schools and hospitals to roads and utilities—projects that are vital to the well-being of communities across the country. However, with Congress expected [...]