Inside 208

The Michigan Fitness Foundation offers an opportunity for all communities to start their own Labor Day tradition by hosting a Labor Day Community Walk. Labor Day Community Walks showcase the unique parks and recreation spaces in the local community’s own backyard. The event also gives the community a chance to [...]

Yesterday the Senate Finance Committee considered two bills that would create tax exemptions for disabled veterans. Senate Bill 104 would allow a community to give a tax exemption to a qualified disabled veteran. This is an option for a community and not a mandate. The committee also considered Senate Bill [...]

Today the House Local Government committee held testimony on SBs 35-39, a package of bills dealing with blighted properties.  These bills would: Senate Bill 35 would allow cities that use administrative hearings bureau to adjudicate blight violations to establish additional civil and criminal penalties on a person who committed a [...]

HB 4458-4464 passed the Senate Economic Development Committee this week.  These would prohibit a TIF district from keeping tax increment revenues from ad valorem property taxes levied under the Zoological Authorities Act and the Art Institute Authorities Act.  This language is added into the following acts: Tax Increment Financing Authority [...]

HB 4629 passed out of the House Transportation Committee this week.  This bill was created in most part to deal with issues that were presented to MDOT from a federal audit done on the Highway Advertising Act. If these issues (definition for digital billboards, definition for non-conforming billboard, etc) are [...]

For years the League has been working on a tax reduction loophole that was created due to the 2002 Michigan Supreme Court case of WPW Acquisition Company v. City of Troy. After Proposal A created the term taxable value, the Legislature passed legislation that allowed for an increase and decrease [...]

LANSING, Michigan – A report saying the state of Michigan has nearly $400 million has the Michigan Municipal League requesting that the state use some of that surplus to restore massive cuts made to local revenue sharing. A consensus report released today (May 15, 2013) by state economists shows that revenues [...]

This afternoon the House Elections and Ethics Committee consideredHB 4477, legislation that would allow an elector to take a photo of him or herself at a polling place. The legislation is opposed by the Secretary of State, and many clerks have concern about such a policy violating voter privacy. In [...]

The Michigan Municipal League has been working with Representative Bumstead on House Bill 4299 to improve local control over ORVs being used within municipalities. As a result of this work, and the willingness of Representative Bumstead to address the League’s concerns, significant changes were made to this legislation to improve [...]

The House committee on Transportation and Infrastructure moved two aviation fuel tax bills out of committee. House Bill 4571 and 4572 both were voted out on a party-line vote with nine Republicans voting in favor and six Democrats voting in opposition. HB 4571 would remove the 3 cent per gallon [...]