Inside 208

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Office of Rail is now soliciting competitive applications from local road agencies who wish to partner with railroads to improve the condition of railroad crossing surfaces within their communities. There is no cost or obligation for local road agencies to participate in this program. [...]

When meeting with your state lawmakers and candidates running for state office this summer, be sure to bring up the topic of Michigan’s housing crisis in relation to the ongoing short-term rental issue. This recent article by DBusiness takes a deep-drive look at a newly updated version of the Michigan [...]

On July 11, 2022, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed House Bill 4534, enacting Public Act 141 of 2022, which amended Section 211.7cc of the General Property Tax Act, regarding the Principal Residence Exemption. The amendment made the following changes: Eliminated the July and December Board of Review appeal process in MCL [...]

The Michigan Municipal League is sharing this at the request of our friends at the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) at University of Michigan. They are looking for input from local government leaders on a new fiscal reporting mechanism. This new system could have a major impact [...]

Early this morning the legislature voted to approve the school aid budget (SB 845) and omnibus budget (HB 5783) for the upcoming fiscal year. Both bills passed overwhelmingly. Senate Bill 845 was adopted in the Senate 35-2 and 99-7 in the House. House Bill 5783 passed the Senate unanimously and [...]

Municipalities may soon have no zoning authority or ability to require a special use permit for qualified residential treatment programs in all residential zoning districts. We are anticipating a vote today on House Bill 5981 and ask you to call your state senator in opposition. While HB 5981 was not [...]

Several cities and villages in Michigan and across the country have experienced issues revalidating their SAM.gov account. Many of these issues stem from local governments being asked upload documents such as articles/certificate of incorporation to SAM.gov. For older municipalities, getting the original articles of incorporation might be a challenge. We [...]

It has come to the attention of MDOT that the e-mail address on the buyout form was incorrect, it is missing the hyphen. It was correct in the guideline documents. The correct address is the [email protected] . If you sent an application to the “[email protected]” without the hyphen, please forward [...]

The Michigan Municipal League is sharing this with our members at the request of some of our partner organizations: In partnership with the Michigan Association of Regions (MAR) and the Economic Development Administration (EDA), Ball State University is bringing a Community Development Course to Lansing June 21-23. This 2 1/2-day [...]

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is issuing a Call for Exchanges as part of the Federal Aid Buyout Program based on Public Act (PA) 49 of 2022. The Federal Aid Buyout Program is a voluntary program which allows local agencies eligible to receive federal aid transportation funds under the [...]