Understanding the state-county fiscal relationship is focus of March 10 County Commissioner Academy webinar
The next learning session for MAC’s County Commissioner Academy will focus on the state’s fiscal oversight of, and assistance to, Michigan’s counties.
“Treasury’s Role with Counties” will be held via Zoom on March 10 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Commissioners who attend the webinar will earn 1 credit hour toward their Year 2 certificate in MAC’s County Commissioner Academy.
What you will learn
Have you wondered why the state of Michigan always needs so much information from your county administrator and financial team?
What the heck are “F65 reports”? And why is Public Act 202 of 2017 so important?
Attendees will hear from two leaders of the Michigan Department of Treasury’s key divisions working with counties and local governments on proper financial reporting and planning.
Their presentations will go over the responsibilities of the Office of Revenue and Tax Analysis and Local Audit and Finance Division and how county governments benefit from them.
Each presentation will end with a Q&A session moderated by MAC.
Scheduled speakers
- Eric Bussis, chief economist and director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Revenue and Tax Analysis
- Nicholas Brousseau, manager, Analytics and Outreach Section, Local Audit and Finance Division, Michigan Department of Treasury
Registration
To register in advance (required), click here.
For questions on the academy, contact MAC’s Derek Melot at melot@micounties.org.
Legislator Spotlight: Rep. Frisbie discusses prospects for property tax changes, public safety investments
Expect to see a great deal of discussion on property tax changes in 2026 but maybe not any action, said Rep. Steve Frisbie (R-Calhoun) in the latest “Legislator Spotlight” episode of Podcast 83.
Frisbie is now in his first term from the 44th House District after serving more than a decade on the Calhoun County Board of Commissioners.
Asked by host Deena Bosworth about House Speaker Matt Hall’s (R-Kalamazoo) recent comments on property tax legislation, Frisbie replied:
“What really started the whole conversation (in Lansing) was the Ax Mi Tax, movement. Not sure that’s going to actually make it to the ballot with signatures, but it really did stimulate more conversation among the members in the (Republican) caucus about what could we do to make home and land ownership a heck of a lot easier for folks.
“The consistent message is, you know, it feels like we never own our property, we never own our home, that we’re, you know, a couple of years away from no payment, of taxes for not having anything. So, I think Prop A was designed to, you know, kind of cap the growth and limit what was going on back in the day, but we’ve seen such tremendous growth in values that when homes are sold, and those property taxes come uncapped, there’s tremendous growth in taxes. And that’s led to a couple problems. No 1: people paying a lot higher taxes than they anticipated. And no. 2, it’s contributed to this housing shortage, in that the natural evolution of a family was you start off with a starter house, you started having kids, you got a forever house, allegedly, and then your kids all moved out, and you were living in a 3- or 4- or 5-bedroom home with no kids. It’s like, we don’t need this. Let’s downsize. Well, now you downsize, and you’re going to have to go purchase property that’s uncapped as well. So, it just creates this whole vacuum of, I can’t afford to keep my house (and) I can’t afford to sell my house and buy a new house. So, I think it really helps contribute to the shortage of housing stock …
“But from (the government side), how do we continue to fund government, especially at the local level, without creating harm? So, I don’t think there’s a specific plan that I’ve seen yet. Just a lot of chatter about uncapping and those kinds of things that we’ve already talked about. So, I think you’ll see some kind of plan. … Honestly, I would be shocked if it made it all the way through and is signed by the governor in this term, but it sets a pathway of which way we want to head as a caucus.”
Frisbie also spoke on:
- Establishment of a Public Safety Trust Fund in 2025
- Positive impacts of specialty courts, such as the sobriety court in Calhoun County
- The need to “balance” funding between prosecutors and public defenders
To watch the complete episode, taped on Jan. 28, click here or on the image above.
PILT funding among provisions in huge federal spending bill
Michigan counties with federal land will get a full reimbursement in fiscal 2026 under an appropriations bill approved in Washington, D.C., this week.
The bill will spend $1.2 trillion to fully fund most federal agencies through Sept. 30, 2026. Included in the measure is authorization for Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT), with payments calculated pursuant to the statutory formula.
PILT are federal payments that help local governments offset losses in property taxes due to the existence of nontaxable federal lands within their boundaries.
In fiscal 2025, 56 Michigan counties shared $6.54 million in PILT, led by a $776,000 payment to Gogebic County. Michigan has more than 2.2 million acres covered by PILT, making it the second-largest PILT state east of the Mississippi River.
In other key provisions of the package:
- Provides $8.2 billion for Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
- Provides $107 billion in mandatory funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through September 2026
- Instructs the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to submit a report to Congress within 30 days detailing progress on Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program implementation
- Eliminates scheduled Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) cuts by delaying reductions through FY 2028, preserving supplemental payments to safety-net hospitals and mitigating uncompensated care cost shifts to counties
- Extends enhanced supplemental payments for county hospitals by delaying Medicaid DSH payment reductions through Jan. 31, 2026, and adjusting the reduction schedule through FY 2028
County parks governance bill clears House committee
Michigan’s counties with a population under 100,000 are one step closer to having additional flexibility when staffing their county parks and recreation commissions.
This week, the House Natural Resources and Tourism Committee unanimously passed House Bill 5317, by Rep. Cam Cavitt (R-Alpena).
Right now, a commission must include one to three county commissioners, along with seven additional members appointed by the county board. Under HB 5317, counties under 100,000 could reduce the appointed seats from seven to four — an option MAC and others noted would help smaller, rural counties cut back on per diem and meeting-related costs while still maintaining local oversight.
MAC supports HB 5317. This legislation now heads to the House floor.
For more information on this issue, contact Jimmy Johnson at Johnson@micounties.org.
Staff picks
- How government leaders can balance the pros and cons of data center development (RouteFifty)
- Hundreds of miles of new transmission lines planned in Michigan (Bridge Michigan)
- Scientists trying to solve mystery of ‘rock snot’ in Michigan streams (Bridge Michigan)
- In a year, foreign investors bought another 71,000 acres of Michigan agricultural land (MLive)