In an unprecedented move, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday issued 147 line-item vetoes in the FY20 budget, affecting more than $947 million in state spending. Although the 2.3 percent increase (about $5 million) for county revenue sharing evaded the vetoes, other line items for specific programs and services provided by counties were hit, stripping away about $60 million in funding for county programs.
“While we see that counties were collateral damage in a fight between the governor and the Legislature, there’s no way to sugarcoat what $60 million in cuts mean to our members,” said Stephan Currie, MAC executive director. “These are significant, troubling reductions. We plan to make a vigorous case to both sides that these results need to be reversed as quickly as possible with a supplemental appropriations bill.”
Among the reductions to county services affected by Whitmer’s moves are:
- $27 million taken from the PILT (payments in lieu of taxes) program that counties rely on to be compensated for public lands that do not pay taxes (49.5 percent of all land in Crawford County, for example, is owned by the state)
- $14.9 million taken from the state’s program to reimburse county jails for housing state inmates
- $13 million taken from funds to aid sheriffs in providing road patrols around their counties
- $4 million taken from funding to counties under the Child Care Fund, which covers Michigan’s foster care system
- $4 million taken from grants meant for county services to veterans
- $2.7 million taken from reimbursements for court-appointed guardians
- $1 million taken from grants meant for county fairs and other exhibitions
Learn more about the situation by listening to a new episode of MAC’s Podcast 83.