Michigan delegation has busy week at NACo Annual Conference
Michigan commissioners pause for a photo during the NACo business sessions in New Orleans on Monday, July 20.
MAC Board President Antoinette Wallace of Macomb County led a delegation of nearly 60 county leaders to New Orleans last week for the 2026 National Association of Counties (NACo) Annual Conference.
During the conference, held July 17-20 at the Morial Convention Center, the Michigan delegation:
- Participated in voting to adopt NACo policy platforms for the coming year
- Congratulated Macomb County and its Public Works Department for its “Best in Category” citation in NACo’s 2026 Achievement Awards
- Watched Wayne County’s Alisha Bell’s installation as first vice president of NACo, her next step toward the presidency of the organization
- Participated in NACo policy steering committee sessions
“Our Michigan folks soldiered through some serious Louisiana heat and humidity to make all their sessions,” said MAC Executive Director Stephan Currie, who accompanied the Michigan delegation. “The payoff was a huge amount of information on practically every trending issue before county governments today.”
Also, NACo announced policy committee membership and leadership ranks. Seven county leaders from Michigan will be serving as vice chairs of committees or subcommittees in the year ahead.
See more coverage of the 2026 conference in the Staff Picks section below.
Governor signs FY27 state budget
Michigan’s fiscal 2027 budget was signed into law this week by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
MAC protected several key county priorities in the budget process. While county revenue sharing remains flat for the second consecutive year, potential reductions were avoided. Counties also will continue receiving public safety revenue sharing funding at current levels, and prosecutor grants and veteran service grants were preserved. The budget also includes more than $125 million in “Legislatively Directed Spending” items, many of which will benefit counties across the state.
Click here to see county-related budget bullet points.
Among 60 other bills sent to her desk, the governor signed House Bills 5232–33, which require paid military leave for law enforcement officers and firefighters. Whitmer, however, has yet to sign a number of other county-related pieces:
- Senate Bill 81, which expands the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission’s responsibilities to include youth defense services. MAC will have an appointee.
- SB 423, which eliminates the legislative “sunset” on a county treasurer’s authority to enter payment plans to help property owners avoid tax foreclosure.
- HB 4415, which increases the competitive bidding threshold for county road agencies from $15,000 to $75,000.
- HB 4471, which eliminates the 1,000-hour employment limit for retirees rehired by county sheriff’s departments and prosecutors’ offices.
“Unfortunately, the Legislature did not adopt the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund bills that remain MAC’s no. 1 priority,” said Deena Bosworth, governmental affairs director, “which means we still have work to do to get it over the finish line in 2026.”
For more information on MAC’s advocacy work, contact Deena Bosworth at bosworth@micounties.org.
CRC report identifies shortfalls in new 2027 state budget
Michigan’s fiscal 2027 budget could be short by up to $900 million, the independent Citizens Research Council of Michigan (CRC) announced in an analysis released Wednesday morning.
“This analysis suggests (General Fund) appropriations in the recently enacted FY2027 budget exceed available revenue resources by around $600 million to $900 million; more budget adjustments are likely needed to ensure a balanced budget,” the report states.
“Significant budget decisions are still needed to ensure the state has a truly balanced GF/GP budget for FY2027,” added the report, which also projected an approximately $500 million deficit for the fiscal 2028 budget.
The same day, news came out of the Lansing that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and lawmakers had agreed to transfer the remaining $450 million from a “business attraction and site readiness fund to help balance the new state budget.” State leaders also moved to cancel $94 million in work projects for the State Police.
It’s not clear whether the move was in response to the CRC report or planned all along with the FY27 budget. If the latter, it’s also not clear why these shifts were not announced when the budget was completed after a marathon legislative session on July 3.
Following the state’s actions, CRC advised MAC, “Those things could be combined with the State Fiscal Recovery Fund reallocations that (CRC talks) about in the report and those could conceivably fill the whole (FY27) shortfall.”
For more information on CRC, a MAC Affiliate Member, visit their website.
Commissioners can learn about budgeting, earn CCA credit in Aug. 19 webinar
MAC is pleased to announce the next County Commissioner Academy learning opportunity in 2026: “Understanding the County Budget Process.”
This one-hour, free webinar will be held on Aug. 19, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Eastern.
To register for this Zoom session (required), click here.
Understanding the County Budget Process
County commissioners play an essential role in the county budget process, providing important oversight, guidance, and approval. Having a solid understanding of the process itself helps commissioners more effectively develop priorities, understand obligations, answer resident questions, and ensure fiscal responsibility.
This presentation will cover key elements of the county budget process, including:
- the role of commissioners, staff, and residents in the process;
- how fund accounting and other fiscal rules shape decisions;
- how state laws and regulations affect the budget process; and
- tradeoffs to consider for county operations, capital spending, and debt
Participants in the webinar will earn 1 credit toward “Year 2” certification in MAC’s County Commissioner Academy.
Governor signs variety of housing bills aimed at affordability
Legislation which supporters hope will ease Michigan’s housing shortage and improve housing affordability was signed into law this week by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
These measures leverage tax incentives, redevelopment programs and building code changes. While many of the bills are primarily targeted toward developers, they also have implications for counties as communities continue working to address local housing needs and support economic development.
The governor signed:
- Senate Bill 966 and House Bills 5806–07, which create the Michigan Housing Opportunity Tax Credit Program – $100 million for affordable housing developers and income tax credits for low-income housing.
- SB 723, which expands the Transformational Brownfield Program to support additional housing development by:
- Increasing the TBP cap from $1.6 billion to $3.5 billion; and
- Distributing 40 percent of the increased capture into the MI Housing and Community Development Fund.
- HBs 5570–71, which allow for single stairways in multi-unit housing building construction.
- SBs 721–722, which extend the legislative “sunset” on commercial rehabilitation and redevelopment to 2035.
MAC was pleased that the Legislature did not advance several controversial housing proposals that would have significantly altered local zoning authority, HBs 5529-32 and HBs 5582-85, which the association has opposed through the current legislative session.
For more information on this issue, contact Davis Grimm at grimm@micounties.org.
Podcast 83 talks with Nationwide about its services to Michigan counties
A changing retirement landscape, both in business circles and government regulations, makes the role of in-state team of advisers even more important for county governments and their employees, said two representatives of Nationwide Retirement Solutions in a new episode of Podcast 83.
“There have been a lot of changes in the retirement plan landscape recently due to legislation, specifically the SECURE Act,” said Ken Kelbel, a longtime Nationwide staffer in Michigan who was recently promoted to oversee Michigan operations. “You have Secure Act 1, and then Secure Act 2.0. So, there’s a lot more opportunity for us to actually help county government structure plans that are kind of more modern today that incorporate new investment options and lifetime income benefits, which is a new innovation that we’ve had at Nationwide …
“It’s really having that sort of local presence,” Kelbel continued. “Everyone on my team lives in Michigan. We’re committed to that local service model.”
Nationwide also is aiding counties by making money management simpler, said Greg Watson.
“(A) focus for me is what I’ll call consolidation efforts, and for those of you that are familiar with this marketplace, you know, over the years, the public sector 457 market has been thought of as kind of a payroll slot type … Oftentimes, a county might approve multiple providers to have payroll slots within that organization over time. So, you know, slowly and gradually, you turn around one day, and all of a sudden, you’ve got three, four or five providers that your employees have to choose from, Obviously, that’s challenging from the employee standpoint.
“And from the county standpoint,” he continued, “working with three or four or five different administrators. That can be a burden on the payroll team and other administrative staff that have to interact and essentially do everything five times, instead of just having one retirement plan partner.
“A great example of how that can be very successful in the state of Michigan: Last year, we finalized the transition consolidation of Emmett County, who had 457, 401A, multiple providers. … Now participants have a single point of contact for their retirement business, both the 457 and the 401,” Watson continued. “We can help them better understand their defined benefit pension benefits as well, with some of the calculators that we have. So, it kind of turns into a one-stop shop for both the county and the employees.”
To learn more about Nationwide’s offerings, watch the full episode by clicking here or by visiting their page on the MAC website.
Macomb Commissioners Antoinette Wallace and Sarah Lucido (7th and 6th from left) were asked on stage with other leaders from counties awarded NACo “Best in Category” citations.
Staff picks: 2026 NACo Annual Conference
- Counties find their roles in data center development (NACo County News)
- FTA official to counties ‘Take my money’ (NACo County News)
- Counties get creative to recruit and retain public safety workers (NACo County News)
- Louisiana broadband chief shares ‘Gumbo Path’ lessons with county officials (NACo County News)