Boost for revenue sharing highlights governor’s FY24 budget

A 17 percent boost in county revenue sharing is a “great indicator” that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recognizes the need to reinvest in local public services, MAC Executive Director Stephan Currie said Wednesday in response to Whitmer’s fiscal 2024 budget presentation in Lansing.

“The fact that this and so many of MAC’s 2023 priorities, such as investments in juvenile justice, public health and foster care, are reflected in the governor’s spending plan is a good start as the budget work begins in Lansing,” Currie added in an official statement.

Deena Bosworth, MAC director of governmental affairs, told the Gongwer News Service, “We’re hoping (the county revenue sharing increase) stays with 10 percent and the 7 percent. That represents a significant increase.”

Among MAC’s 2023 priorities in Lansing is the creation of a Revenue Sharing Trust Fund to include dollars earmarked by law from the state sales tax.

In other budget areas affecting county government:

Public health and public safety

• A $30 million increase in base funding to local public health departments
• An almost 60 percent increase in funding to support essential public health services to enhance recruitment efforts for behavioral health workers
• Dedication of a 7 percent increase in revenue sharing to public safety, totaling $17 million, to aid with public safety employee recruitment, retention and training, and equipment and infrastructure improvements
• $2 million to establish a Juvenile Justice Services Division within the State Court Administrator’s Office, implementing one of the Michigan Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform’s recommendations
• $556,900 to create a juvenile justice unit within the State Appellate Defender’s Office, which would provide appellate counsel for indigent youth
• $32 million for Michigan Department of Health and Human Services juvenile justice programming reimbursements; these reimbursements, through the Michigan Child Care Fund, are used for community programming for juvenile justice at the local level
• $2 million to establish the Office of Child Advocate juvenile justice services
• $220.9 million for Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC) grants, a $72 million increase from FY23 to cover the minimum MIDC standards for indigent attorney compensation (120 local trial court funding units will receive this funding to implement the requirements for “effective and fair assistance of counsel for indigent criminal defendants”)
• $19.3 million to increase the daily rate paid to foster families, adoptive families, and juvenile guardians.

Infrastructure

While Whitmer spoke at length about changing the vehicles on our roads (see bullets below), she had little to say about investments in roads. Nearly all the money in the proposed transportation budget is dedicated to ongoing programs, including debt service and a bridge bundling initiative.

Electric vehicle spending

• $45 million for local governments to convert their fleets to electric vehicles (EVs)
• $65 million for charging infrastructure both commercially and at-home
• $48.8 million to temporarily suspend the sales tax on electric vehicles
• $150 million for electric school buses

The governor called for $225.8 million to replace thousands of water service lines made of lead and $280.5 million for water treatment facility upgrades and stormwater management systems. Not all these dollars would come from the state General Fund, however, as a large portion would be drawn from funds via the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Also, she proposed $25 million to remove dams, so long as they do not contain invasive species or generate power for communities.

A more detailed line-item breakdown of the governor’s budget is planned for the Feb. 17 Legislative Update.