In the wee hours of Thursday morning, the Legislature adopted a fiscal 2025 budget that includes a $30 million increase in county revenue sharing.
This would bring overall county revenue sharing to $291 million, up from the $261 million enacted for fiscal 2024.
“We appreciate the $30 million, which will be on top of what counties received in 2024, though distributed differently,” said Stephan Currie, MAC executive director. “Also beneficial is the elimination of the County Incentive Program, which required counties to comply with reporting requirements for part of their revenue sharing. The process now is streamlined.
“Nevertheless,” Currie added, “counties still need the certainty of a Revenue Sharing Trust Fund, which we will be working to secure the passage of later this year.”
For many months, MAC has been working in concert with cities, villages and townships on a plan to establish a dedicated state account filled by a percentage of the state sales tax. Different versions of that plan had advanced in both legislative chambers, with the Senate version representing the best possible result for counties.
“We need to ensure the state properly shares revenue with locals, providing a growth factor and stability to local governments that count on these funds,” explained Deena Bosworth, director of governmental affairs. “The good news is we expect consideration of this policy reform to resume in the fall.”
For additional details on the fiscal 2025 budget, MAC will release a special episode of Podcast 83 on Friday, along with the regular Legislative Update report.
For questions about MAC’s advocacy on the state budget, contact Deena Bosworth at bosworth@micounties.org.