More than 100 of Michigan’s county commissioners will be leaving their offices at the end of the year, either by choice or through decisions made by voters in this week’s primary, a MAC analysis of county election results has found. While most of the 106 departing commissioners either chose not to run for re-election or pursued a different office, 16 of them lost party nomination bids on Aug. 5. Some county boards already assured of a bevy of new faces in 2015 include:

• Kalamazoo (6 departing out of 11 seats)
• Kent (5 departing out of 19 seats)
• Gogebic (3 departing out of 7 seats)
• Grand Traverse (3 departing out of 7 seats)
• Kalkaska (3 departing out of 7 seats)
• Alpena (3 departing out of 8 seats)

The MAC election results database (Excel download) is searchable by commissioner or county name. Names in red denote commissioners who are departing. Commissioners who lost primary elections are designated by an asterisk and note.

Ashton Tacey of Bay City has been awarded a $2,000 college scholarship courtesy of Nationwide and the National Association of Counties (NACo). The annual scholarship contest is open to graduating high school seniors, and applicants must be sponsored by a parent, grandparent or legal guardian participating in a NACo 457 Deferred Compensation Plan. Tacey was one of only four students selected from across the nation. She will be attending Saginaw Valley State University in the fall to pursue studies in occupational therapy. She was sponsored by her mother, Sharon Tacey, who works for the Friend of the Court in Bay County. Tacey has a long background in service, including participation in ThinkFirst for Teens, a global injury prevention program, the Buckle Your Brain program from the Field Neuroscience Institute and the Bay City Players Youtheater.

MAC members in the Upper Peninsula have an excellent opportunity this month to be briefed on a number of key issues affecting county resources and development, from the future of transportation funding to the growing crisis of tax capture districts to disaster relief. A MAC Regional Summit will be held Aug. 26 in Escanaba at the UPCAP Headquarters, 2501 14^th Ave. South. Among the speakers scheduled are MAC President Shelly Pinkelman of Crawford County and MAC Second Vice President Jerry Doucette of Alger County. Click here to register for the summit by Aug. 22. (Note that walk-in registration will be available the day of the summit.) AGENDA MAC Regional Summit – Delta County Tuesday, August 26, 2014 10 a.m. UPCAP Headquarters 2501 14^th Ave. South, Escanaba 10 a.m.                       Welcome 10:05 a.m.                  Tax Capture Districts and Their Impact on Counties 11 a.m.                        Disaster Relief Procedures Noon                           Lunch/MAC Legislative Update 1 p.m.                          Local Regional Prosperity Plans 2 p.m.                          The Future of Transportation Funding in Michigan

MAC Executive Director Tim McGuire discussed results from Tuesday’s primary with Michael Patrick Shiels on “Michigan’s Big Show” today.

Voters in Michigan’s Aug. 5 primary soundly endorsed a proposal to replace the Personal Property Tax now imposed on business equipment across the state. Proposal 1, a statutory change backed by the Michigan Association of Counties and others to replace the PPT with a formula-based system of state funding, was winning 69 percent of the statewide vote in unofficial results, as of Aug. 6. “Obviously, we are pleased by Tuesday’s results,” said Steve Currie, MAC deputy director. “Proposal 1 reflected a carefully designed compromise to protect vital funding for county services, while allowing the Legislature to lift the burden of the PPT off Michigan’s small businesses. The voters, aided by a consistent and strong campaign that MAC supported, saw the need to protect funding for the local services they rely on each day.” Deena Bosworth, MAC director of governmental affairs, sees Proposal 1’s success not as a stopping point, but a springboard to additional reforms this fall. “Now with the PPT issue completed, legislative attention can, and must, turn to a variety of other issues of highly pressing importance to county government,” she explained. “This fall, for example, we will be pushing for the Legislature to enact a fix to the Cunningham case ruling that stripped our local courts of vital revenues produced by fees in convictions. We have forged another impressive coalition of interests to advance this fix and have received a highly favorable initial response from key legislators. “In addition, we will be doing a major educational push for legislators on the growing problem of tax increment financing, or ‘tax capture,’ districts redirecting property taxes from basic local services to special projects that are often quite speculative,” she added. For more on MAC’s legislative strategy for the fall and 2015, be sure to review MAC’s weekly Legislative Updates and keep coming back to our website for all manner of county news, events and tips.