The Michigan Association of Counties (MAC)

One word to describe Michigan’s municipal finance system: Broken

Blog, Legislative, MAC news

By: Dan Papineau, Director of Tax Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Michigan Chamber of Commerce

(Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the August edition of Michigan Counties, MAC’s bimonthly e-newsletter.)

Perhaps it was the recent remark I made about Michigan’s broken municipal finance system while testifying in front of a state legislative committee that prompted the invitation to contribute to this publication.

I agree with the nonpartisan Tax Foundation that all tax policy should be based on four cornerstone principles: simplicity, transparency, neutrality and stability. The revenue side of our municipal finance system fails in all four of these categories. This is not hard to believe since local government revenues are overwhelmingly made up of property taxes. County governments depend on property taxes for 60 percent of their revenues. The crux of the problem behind our state’s municipal finance system is the over-reliance on property taxes. When we think about property taxes through the lens of the four principles of sound tax policy, we see why.

Simplicity

Since 1893, Michigan has had an ad valorem property tax system that relies on the current value of a subject property. Assessing a value to every piece of real property and all nonresidential personal property is no easy (or simple) task.

While the practice of assessment and appraisal has evolved into a complex science over the last 127 years, it is still a relatively subjective process. This subjectivity erodes simplicity. Both taxpayers and local units of government see this problem play out far too frequently in the form of property tax disputes that end up in court wasting the time and resources of everyone involved.

Property taxes can be looked at as a fair way to spread the cost of local government services across varying portions of the population but, our system has become so complicated and hamstrung by a plethora of minor tweaks and/or major deviations that our property tax system is caving in on itself. The mechanism that brings in the most significant portion of revenues county governments need is about as simple as the internal workings of the human brain.

Transparency

With increased accessibility to BS&A and other technologies, the principle of transparency has been greatly bolstered but, the process of assessment to state equalization is anything but transparent.

While summary appraisal record cards are available online either through free access or paid access, the level of detail made available lacks full transparency. For example, the building valuation work up, land value tables, economic condition factor tables and supporting studies are not available unless a Freedom of Information Act request is filed. Even the body that audits the entire property tax system, the State Tax Commission, does not share the results of their audits with the public.

Neutrality

The principle of tax neutrality is summarized as follows: “Taxes should neither encourage nor discourage personal or business decisions”. The fact is the property tax system Michigan imposes today does the exact opposite. The property tax system is actually designed to influence the decisions businesses make and to a lesser degree, the ones individuals make.

Property taxes have been used to compete for investment across local units of government and between states. Much of the policy that promotes this behavior is not within the control of the governing body of the local unit.

Policy-makers at all levels use the property tax system to encourage or discourage different behaviors. Michigan has a few parameters to promote neutrality, but they are so ineffective they are practically nonexistent.

Stability

By nature of its design, the property tax is unstable.

First, the personal property tax is based on depreciating value. It is literally designed to go down and therefore be anything but stable. Real property tax revenues or the values of which they are based on, while not as heavily affected by depreciation, are constitutionally prohibited from increasing beyond a certain level after being allowed to decline without restriction. Stable on the way back up but not down.

Second, value itself is not stable. A property worth a certain amount one day could be worth half the next. Our economic cycle contains peaks and valleys not a flat line of prosperity.

Third, policy-makers are constantly rearranging the property tax system to address its numerous faults; however, the never-ending alterations result in instability and effect budgets of police departments, public works departments and general fund spending of county governments everywhere.

Fixing the revenue side of our municipal finance system is extremely difficult while decrying its faults is easy. I respect those who dedicate their careers to finding ways to improve the system we have. We really must look at local government revenue from a completely new perspective. I believe this starts with revamping the complete service delivery method our state is currently straddled with. My friends at MAC hear me say often that county government is the best form of government. Counties should be the ones administering practically all of the services a citizenry relies on. To transfer to this type of service delivery model we must also permanently address the compounding debt burden facing counties across Michigan. Lastly, we can discuss opportunities to reinvent the property tax system (or scrap it) and create a more diverse revenue stream for local units of government to depend on.

Legislative Update 8-28-20

Blog, Events, Legislative, MAC news, MACSC, NACo

Revenue sharing replacement funds to hit accounts on Monday

Replacement dollars for the cancelled August revenue sharing payments will reach county accounts on Monday, Aug. 31 as scheduled, MAC was told this week by state officials. Although the amount listed on the SIGMA website is correct, the name of the municipality is wrong, and is a glitch that if fixed will cause more problems than it fixes.

For exact amount and accurate county name, please see this list from the Department of Treasury. 

Hazard pay premium payments are still being processed and will not be ready for another week. Additional staff has been assigned to this division of the Treasury Department to speed up the processing of applications. Those local units that have requested advanced payment of these funds before expending them should receive the funds within the next two weeks, long before the Sept. 20 deadline to make the payments to eligible employees.

As far as the payroll reimbursement program goes, those figures are still being calculated at Treasury. As reported last week, the number of applications received will greatly exceed the amount allocated for the program. The appropriation was for $200 million, but Treasury anticipates the requests will total about $350 million.

Therefore, each payment to locals for this program will be prorated based on the amount your locality requested as a percentage of the total amount requested. Those figures are not available yet. Once the hazard pay applications have been fully processed, department resources will be redirected to the payroll reimbursement program.

For more information on this issue, contact Deena Bosworth at bosworth@micounties.org.

 

Conference concludes with workshops and platform and board elections

MAC concluded its 2020 Virtual Annual Conference this week with members easily approving policy platforms for the coming year and the election of unopposed candidates for five Board positions.

Ingham County’s Bryan Crenshaw is the only new addition to the Board, elected to fill a vacant seat in Region 4. Incumbents Stan Ponstein (at-large), Joe Bonovetz (Region 1), Richard Schmidt (Region 2), Jim Storey (Region 3) and Veronica Klinefelt (Region 5) were re-elected without opposition at virtual caucuses held Wednesday. Ninety MAC members were eligible to vote in elections via their registration for the Annual Conference.

On Thursday, the Board members were sworn in for their new terms at a MAC Board meeting.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Board voted in June to extend officer terms for one year, so for the coming year President Klinefelt, First Vice President Phil Kuyers of Ottawa and Second Vice President Ponstein will hold their positions.

Workshops during week 2 of the virtual event focused on such issues as:

“We appreciate our members’ participation, and patience, as we explored new ways to provide information and transact association business,” said Stephan Currie, MAC executive director. “It all worked pretty well and we can build on this success as needed for future events.”

All of the conference sessions were recorded. MAC will be placing video files on the micounties.org website at some point in September. Watch for alerts in future Legislative Update emails for details on this.

MAC’s next scheduled conference is the Michigan Counties Legislative Conference, set for April 27-29, 2021, in Lansing.

 

Urban Institute seeks upward mobility partners

The Urban Institute, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is looking to partner with up to eight counties to compose an Upward Mobility Cohort.

Awardees will receive $125,000 and 18 months of tailored technical assistance from Urban Institute experts to help county leaders use a set of 25 evidence-based mobility metrics to inform decision-making and develop a “mobility action plan.” This plan will reflect a comprehensive approach to upward mobility from poverty and will identify key challenges across policy areas that inhibit local mobility. The plan will also highlight strategies to improve local conditions for mobility and outcomes for residents, as informed by data and community voices.

Interested counties should complete the Request for Information (RFI) by Sept. 16, 2020. The researchers will select up to 25 finalists who will be invited to submit a full proposal due in November 2020, ultimately inviting eight counties to participate in the Upward Mobility Cohort. The cohort and technical assistance process will launch in January 2021.

An updated list of frequently asked questions will be posted at this link on Sept. 1.

 

Registration is now open for the Great Lakes PFAS Summit

The Great Lakes PFAS Summit has been moved to a virtual, week-long event to be held Oct. 26-30, 2020. The goals of this conference are to provide the most current and reliable science and policy, facilitate networking and information sharing, and explore current and future research topics related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

One of the biggest stories in chemical contamination emerging over the past several years has been PFAS. States throughout the nation, including the Great Lakes region, are finding PFAS contamination in a growing number of locations where these persistent chemicals pose a threat to people and the environment. The Great Lakes Virtual PFAS Summit will bring together environmental program managers, policy experts, researchers, and contractors from around the Great Lakes region to share the challenges of addressing this contamination and present innovative technical solutions developed to address these “forever” chemicals.  

Participants may include local, state, and federal government officials; environmental consultants and vendors; academic researchers and students; industry managing PFAS contamination; and community organizations. The cost is $50 and professional development hours will be available.

 

Legislative Update 8-21-20

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Izzo charms, inspires during conference keynote

“All of us are role models,” Michigan State University basketball coach Tom Izzo told county leaders gathered for a special session Thursday of MAC’s 2020 Virtual Annual Conference. “You gotta give back some things. I look back and I see I have a responsibility, which is a privilege, not a burden.”

Izzo’s keynote remarks were the highlight of week 1 of the virtual conference, which resumes next Tuesday and concludes next Thursday.

The Hall of Fame coach and national championship winner (2000) expanded on the leadership theme by saying, “Greatest feeling – being a difference-maker in someone’s life.”

During a wide-ranging Q&A after his remarks, led by MAC Executive Director Stephan Currie, Izzo fielded queries on everything from the “side” of Iron Mountain he grew up on to how to bring cohesion to a group of wildly different people to the recent trend in changing team mascots. At one point, the coach seemed to be wistful as he related how, in his young adult days in the Upper Peninsula, his first big investments were trailers, culminating in a “double-wide” unit.

Izzo also engaged in some good-natured ribbing with Currie over the high expectations Spartan fans have for him and his team each year.

“Coach never fails to deliver,” Currie said after the session. “We at MAC are so appreciative of coach Izzo’s time and the kind words he had for the work of county leaders in Michigan.”

The keynote event was the final one of a week that began with a workshop on managing public facilities in a COVID-19 world and the first plenary session, which included the semi-annual “State of MAC” report from Currie and a “Legislative Update” from Governmental Affairs Director Deena Bosworth.

To keep track of conference events, visit the conferences page on the MAC website, where you can find a link to the conference program. Access to conference events is limited to registered attendees, but MAC will be posting slide decks from workshops and, in September, video files of the major sessions.

 

Treasury: Payroll reimbursement program requests exceed funding

The application deadline for counties to apply for public safety and public health payroll reimbursement for April and May of 2020 has passed. In conversations with the Michigan Treasury, MAC has learned the amount requested for reimbursement will exceed the supplemental budget appropriation of $200 million. This means Treasury will be prorating the reimbursements based on the amount each request bears to the total amount requested. And there will not be another a second round to apply for in August.

On the bright side, the expenses that were not covered in the first round will be eligible for allocation to the CARES Act revenue sharing replacement fund. Again, these are the funds that should total approximately 1.5 times the amount of your August revenue sharing payment amount. Although the replacement is restricted to eligible expenses, public safety and public health payrolls are considered eligible.

As far as the hazard pay program goes, the appropriation of $100 million has not, as of yet, been exhausted. Applications for the program continue to come in, but the threshold is unlikely to be exceeded.

For more information on this issue, contact Deena Bosworth at bosworth@micounties.org

 

Report: Michigan spends more on roads, but trends aren’t promising

Michigan has devoted increasing sums to its road network in recent years, but road conditions are still projected to worsen, said a transportation funding analyst with the House Fiscal Agency (HFA) during a 2020 Annual Conference workshop on Thursday.

William Hamilton of the HFA led workshop participants through the funding mechanics for roads across the state – and the current and expected results of that work. On one slide, he noted that while about 85 percent of state “trunkline” roads were in good or fair shape five years ago, that share is projected to fall to below 50 percent by 2025.

After Thursday’s session, Hamilton followed up on a couple of questions posed by members during his talk:

Local road millages and funding levels

“There appear to be 32 county-wide road millages in 2018, with total county road millage revenue in 2018 = $69.4 million. And it looks like 554 townships have township road millages, most of which are used to support county road commission maintenance and improvement projects within the respective townships. Total township road millage revenue in 2018 = $86.6 million.

“So those two sources add up to $156 million of local funding for county road programs and projects.

“Also, some counties and townships simply provide direct General Fund (GF) support for county road commission projects, like Oakland County, which uses county GF as part of a match money program.

“And many townships use township GF as part of a match money program. And there are special assessment districts in many townships to recover the costs of certain road improvements.”

Federal COVID aid for transportation

“This document summarizes federal COVID assistance through June 8, 2020; transportation elements are on page 14.

“So far, the only transportation money is for transit and airport projects.  And as we discussed, the COVID money is made available through existing federal aid programs.”

 

Property tax exemptions are growing problem for counties, lawyer says

The misapplication of a 2006 court decision has led to a growing number of businesses avoiding local property taxes, putting more stress on already-strained county revenues, a tax law expert told a Wednesday workshop during the 2020 Annual Conference.

Via a virtual session, Jessica Wood of the firm of Dickinson Wright showed county leaders how the 2006 Wexford has led Michigan awry. Pre-Wexford, Wood said, the state had a “common sense, relatively intuitive, straightforward test” for determining whether a business qualified as a charity and therefore received a tax break. But the Wexford decision, she said, “the truck that drove the hole through” state law.

Duo: Invest in tech to deal with COVID in facilities

In the conference’s first workshop on Tuesday, Gary Nauts of the city of Rochester Hills and Terry Van Doren of MMRMA discussed experiences and best practices on handling public facilities in the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Among the points highlighted by the pair:

  • Communication is key.
  • Invest in technology.
  • Facilities and maintenance leaders will lead the return to normal.

“We are off to a fast start with the amount of information in our workshops,” said MAC Executive Director Stephan Currie. “While we can’t meet in-person, the digital format still allows us to support continuing education for our members.”

 

MIDC continues plan reviews amid murky budget situation

The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC) met this week to continue to review and approve county compliance plans and costs analysis, among other items.

The MIDC reviewed 98 staff recommendations for approvals and rejections of county and municipal plans.  The entire list can be found on the agenda here.

Additionally, the commission approved a framework should the FY21 appropriation for compliance grants be less than the total of the approved compliance plans. In February, the governor recommended $117.5 million for plans, but as with all budgetary items, the compliance funding could be in jeopardy due to revenue effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest estimates range from an FY21 shortfall of $1 billion to $1.5 billion in the General Fund. However, the final number will be approved on Aug. 24 at the Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference.

MAC supports full funding of MIDC grants and the $117.5 million proposed by the governor. Anything short of full funding would be a violation of the Headlee Amendment, and per statute, “A system’s duty of compliance with 1 or more standards within the plan under subsection (1) is contingent upon receipt of a grant in the amount sufficient to cover that particular standard or standards contained in the plan and cost analysis approved by the MIDC.”

The commission also received a letter from Orlene Hawks, director of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), indicating Standard 5 (independence of the indigent defense system from the judiciary) is slated to be formally approved by LARA in October. Per statute, “No later than 180 days after a standard is approved by the department, each indigent criminal defense system shall submit a plan to the MIDC for the provision of indigent criminal defense services in a manner as determined by the MIDC and shall submit an annual plan for the following state fiscal year on or before Oct. 1 of each year.”

Lastly, a reminder that standards related to indigency and partial indigency determinations, required by the MIDC Act, are open for public comment until Sept. 14, 2020, and can be submitted to LARA-MIDC-Info@michigan.gov. Alternatively, comments can be sent by that date to the MIDC Office, 200 N. Washington Square, 3rd Floor, Lansing, MI 48913. All comments will be posted and available on the MIDC website.

For more information on this issue, contact Meghann Keit at keit@micounties.org.

 

State to distribute $3.5M through Child Care Fund

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is slated to distribute the $3.5 million appropriated under the FY20 budget to cover Child Care Fund administrative costs relevant to the move of neglect/abuse payments to the “State Pays First” system in the next 30 days. As the state transitioned to the State Pays First model, the statute was not clear whether the 10 percent counties received for indirect costs must be applied to the abuse/neglect population.

The Legislature approved $3.5 million in FY20 to ensure counties did not see a shortfall, but due to so many unknowns during the FY20 budget process under COVID-19, payments were delayed. Since the recent completion of updates to the FY20 budget that included the $3.5 million, the state will be issuing payments as soon as possible. Per correspondence with the department, MAC expects payments within 30 days, and will stay in touch with members if that time frame changes.

A county-by-county breakdown of the $3.5 million can be found here.

For more information on this issue, contact Meghann Keit at keit@micounties.org.

 

Legislative Update 8-14-20

Blog, Events, Legislative, MAC news, MACSC, NACo

Virtual Annual Conference begins on Tuesday

The first events of MAC’s two-week Virtual Annual Conference are set for Tuesday, Aug. 18, including a Plenary Session of special reports from MAC personnel.

Week one of the conference, which runs Aug. 18-27, also will include the President’s Gathering with conference keynoter Tom Izzo of the MSU Spartans (Aug. 20).

Registered attendees will be receiving emails today (Aug. 14) with their access credentials for all of the digital events, including the regional caucuses to elect Board members and the Annual Business Meeting to approve policy platforms. Just a reminder: Only county commissioners may participate in the regional caucuses and Annual Business Meeting.

The conference program will be posted to MAC’s conferences website page for reference during the event. Recordings of the conference workshops and special sessions will be posted to the website, too, but not until September.

 

Federal FAQ sheet has key details on FEMA matching rules

The U.S. Treasury has updated its Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) FAQ document. Main items they updated are:

  • Additional clarification on using CRF dollars for the non-federal FEMA matching requirement: Specifically, the guidance states that states and counties are fully permitted to use payments from the CRF to satisfy 100 percent of their cost share for lost wages assistance recently made available under the Stafford Act.
  • Clarification on incurred costs and grant programs: The guidance states that a grant made to cover interest and principal costs of a loan, including interest and principal due after the period March 1, 2020, to Dec. 30, 2020, will be considered an “incurred cost” during the covered period.

For more resources from the federal and state governments on COVID response, visit MAC’s Resources Page.

 

Michigan Treasury holds sixth webinar on COVID-related funds

The hazard pay program, the payroll reimbursement program and the August revenue sharing payment were among topics addressed by officials with the Michigan Treasury during a webinar Wednesday co-sponsored by MAC and other local government groups.

The session was the sixth in an ongoing series to brief local governments on pandemic-related expenses, programs and reimbursements.

Although Treasury does not anticipate utilizing all of the allocated $100 million for the hazard pay program, the department does anticipate expending the entire $200 million in the first round of the payroll reimbursement program that covers public safety and public health payroll expenses for April and May 2020. 

To get CARES funds from the state to compensate for the terminated August revenue sharing payment, counties will have to certify to Treasury their desire to receive these funds and to allocate them to COVID-related expenses – including additional months of public safety and public health payroll expenses. Under the authorizing legislation, counties will get roughly 150 percent of their August revenue sharing in additional CARES funds. Those funds should go out in early September.

The Department also spent time this week going over the necessary accounting procedures in order to accurately and appropriately allocate the funding.

To watch the recording of the webinar, follow this link.

For more information on this issue, contact Deena Bosworth at bosworth@micounties.org.

 

Whitmer vetoes health facility immunity provisions

An extension of legal immunity to certain health facilities, including Medical Care Facilities (MCFs) was vetoed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

The immunity would have applied to civil or criminal liability during a state of disaster or state of emergency declaration under Senate Bill 899, by Sen. Mike MacDonald (R-Macomb County). 

Per the governor’s veto letter: “If this bill only attempted to restore the protections I offered under my orders, I would consider signing it. But the bill goes much further in ways that are directly counter to the interests of those receiving care. For example, this bill would give health care providers and the facilities that employ them broad immunity every time an emergency or disaster is declared, regardless of whether the circumstances demand this extreme measure.”

House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R-Emmet) said in a statement that the state’s “health care heroes” are working on the frontlines in difficult decisions and “deserve to know we all have their back.”

“It’s strange that the governor felt our frontline health care workers deserved this protection two months ago but not today, since she did not include any legitimate explanation of her veto,” he said. “But I know my commitment to doctors, nurses and hospitals has not changed. The House of Representatives will continue to look for ways to partner with them, support them, and help them combat this pandemic.”

Also this week, the governor extended the Executive Order titled “Enhanced protections for residents and staff of long-term care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic,” through Sept. 7. 

For more information on this issue, contact Meghann Keit at keit@micounties.org.

 

Commission accepting public input on indigency standard

The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC) is accepting comments to a proposed standard for determining indigency and contribution, as required by statute. The MIDC Act requires the commission to “promulgate objective standards for indigent criminal defense systems to determine whether a defendant is indigent or partially indigent” and to “determine the amount a partially indigent defendant must contribute to his or her defense.”

Under 2018 statutory changes, the Legislature required systems to make “a preliminary inquiry regarding, and the determination of, the indigency of any defendant, including a determination regarding whether a defendant is partially indigent.” However, to ensure that systems do not vary dramatically in their determinations, the Legislature also tasked the commission with providing standards for systems to follow.

The proposed indigency standard can be found here.

“Written public comment for consideration by the Commission should be submitted before Sept. 14, 2020, to LARA-MIDC-Info@michigan.gov. Alternatively, comments can be sent by that date to the MIDC Office, 200 N. Washington Square, 3rd Floor, Lansing, MI 48913.  All comments will be posted and available on the MIDC website.”

The MIDC will hold its next meeting on Aug. 18 at 9 a.m. via Zoom to continue review of FY21 compliance plans and costs analyses. Meeting agenda information and zoom links can be found here.

For more information on this issue, contact Meghann Keit at Keit@micounties.org.

 

Get state advice on pension/OPEB issues

The Michigan Treasury will brief local governments on the management and sustainability of their pension and retiree health care (OPEB) systems during a webinar on Tuesday, Aug. 18 at 2 p.m.

Topics will include updates from the Municipal Employees Retirement System (MERS) and the Michigan Association of Public Employees Retirement Systems (MAPERS) on local pension and health care systems, problem solving and management of legacy debt from MSU Extension, University of Michigan, and the Citizens Research Council, and an update regarding reporting data, waiver applications, and the corrective action process for Public Act 202 of 2017 from the Department of Treasury.

Participants can register on the webinar’s registration page.

 

NACo analyzes executive actions taken by president

On Aug. 8, President Trump released a series of administrative actions — an executive order and three memorandums — to address the expiration of federal unemployment benefits and provide other assistance for U.S. residents hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. The actions taken by the administration do not address NACo’s main priority for COVID relief, which is additional flexible fiscal aid for state and local governments of all sizes. 

Here is a quick summary of two of the key areas for counties:

Unemployment Insurance (UI)

  1. Extra federal UI benefit on top of states’ regular UI benefit would be reduced from $600 to $400 per week
  2. Of the $400 total,
    • WH proposes that $300 would be funded through FEMA’s existing Disaster Relief Funds (DRF)
    • WH proposes to earmark up to $44 billion of $70 billion in existing DRF dollars – which would last for about 5 weeks at current UI levels
    • States would be responsible for the 25% FEMA DRF state match, or $100 per UI recipient each week
    • Governor must submit a federal request to FEMA to receive the extra federal UI payments; It is not automatic!
    • WH notes that states may use their Treasury Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) dollars for the $100 state match; U.S. Dept of Labor issued a memo indicating that administration might also waive the $100 / 25% match for states
    • However, the National Governors Association notes that states have already obligated more than 75% of CRF dollars so unlikely that states have enough money for the state match from Treasury CARES Act

Payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare

  1. WH memo only applies to employee share that is normally collected and submitted by employers (and employee side of self employed)
  2. Earlier COVID19 supplemental law already allowed postponement for employer share of payroll taxes
  3. Explain that payroll taxes consist of:
    • Social Security at 12.4% (6.2% by employee and 6.2% by employer) (NOTE – believe self employed pay the full 12.4%)
    • Medicare at 2.9% (1.45% by employee and 1.45% by employer)
  • WH action would only delay/postpone collection of employee share of payroll taxes, similar to earlier congressional action for employers. Money would still be owed to the federal government!

 For additional detail, visit NACo’s blog.

 

Jail and Pretrial Task Force briefed on Michigan arrest trends

Blog, MAC news

Despite falling arrests, particularly among young people, tens of thousands of people in Michigan are still arrested for low-level charges like failure to appear in court, marijuana possession and shoplifting, the Michigan Jail and Pretrial Detention Task Force was told by researchers during the task force’s meeting in Grand Rapids on Sept. 20.

A team from PEW Trusts gave the task force a wide-ranging presentation on the trends and challenges in dealing with jail populations. The task force, a joint effort of the state and counties, was created by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this spring.

Other points made by Pew during its report:

  • People are also going to jail in very large numbers for administrative rule-breaking like driving without a valid license and violating probation conditions. 
  • Officers issue fewer citations in lieu of arrest than they have in past years.  Overall, arrests far outnumber citations, even for low-level crimes.
  • Short jail stays disrupt hundreds of thousands of lives, but Michigan’s high jail populations are driven by relatively few people who stay in jail longer than a month. 

Panel members, including Kent County Commissioner Jim Talen and Alpena County Commissioner Bill Peterson, also received a briefing from Wayne State University on mental illness and substance abuse in Michigan jails.

The team, led by Sheryl Kubiak of the Wayne State Center for Behavioral Health and Justice, said that 23 percent of jail inmates exhibited serious mental illness (SMI), but with rates varying notably by the size of the county. In rural counties, for example, 34 percent were identified with SMI.

Also, inmates with SMI had average jail stays twice as long as those without SMI, when adjusting for criminal offense. Longer stays, of course, mean more strains on limited county budgets which must support jail operations.

“Identifying who is going to jail, for how long and why, is critical for the Task Force so they can fully understand the scope of our jail population and create recommendations that may result in savings for county budgets, while ensuring the public safety of our communities,” said Stephan Currie, MAC’s executive director.

The task force meets next on Oct. 18 in Detroit. Livestreaming will be available. Anyone is encouraged to connect with the Task Force in various ways:

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