HB 6022, 6024, 6025, 6026, and SB 1065-1071 Personal Property Tax (PPT) On the last day of the lame duck session, Lt. Governor Calley and MAC reached an agreement on the PPT package of bills that would tie bar the entire PPT repeal to the passage of the use tax vote in 2014. This move, along with the inclusion of jails in the essential services assessment and the movement of the minimum threshold for 80% reimbursement from the state, brought MAC to a neutral position on the bills. Although the package is not perfect, the Lt. Governor and the House and Senate have agreed to keep working throughout the next legislative session to address any unanswered questions and unfinished issues. This package represents a significant improvement over all other options on the table. It has been our goal to achieve the most comprehensive and reliable replacement revenue source for our counties. The other option on the table was complete elimination of new personal property tax for new purchases starting Jan. 1, 2013 without any reimbursement plan. This would have left counties at a negotiating disadvantage with little incentive for the other interest groups to negotiate reimbursement proposals. All counties in Michigan will be eligible to assess an essential services assessment and 63 of Michigan’s counties will be eligible for reimbursement from the diversion of the state’s use tax. SB 1021 and 1022, HB 5367 Payment In Lieu of Tax (PILT) SB 1021 and SB 1022, sponsored by Sens. Casperson (R-Delta County) and Booher (R-Osceola County) respectively, are on their way to the Governor for a signature. The bills increase state payment in lieu of taxes (PILT) obligations to counties according to inflation. In addition, they would allow counties to apply fees and penalties against the state if PILT payments are late or are not fully paid. In all, the bills would increase PILT payments to local units of government by about $9.7 million. MAC thanks Sens. Casperson and Booher, along with Rep. Frank Foster (R-Emmet County), the Governor, and all of the Northern Senators and Representatives for their hard work on this issue. Additionally, HB 5367, sponsored by Representative Chuck Moss (R-Oakland County), is on its way to the Governor for a signature. The bill provides supplemental appropriations in the amount of $2.6 million to fully fund the state’s PILT obligation for the current year. Special thanks to Representative Moss, Senators Casperson and Booher, and the Governor for getting this done for counties.

The MAC Education and Training Program has been designed to provide tools and information that facilitate creative, new, and innovative approaches from counties to prosper in the new and changing structure of county government. With easy to follow online courses, MAC offers technical, legal, and legislative expertise on a wide range of topics that are fundamental to county operations. MAC is currently offering “Open Meetings Act”, “County Finance 101 Series:  Introduction to Government Finance”, and the brand new “Michigan’s County Incentive Program (CIP) FY2013”. These learning courses are located on the MAC website and are free to MAC memberswho have registered for access to the site.  Registration for the site can be found on the home page.

Hello MAC Members and followers, and welcome to the new blog of the Michigan Association of Counties. Today felt like an appropriate day to launch our new blog seeing as it is such a crucial day to our nation.  Government, from local up to federal, has such an impact on our daily lives, and it is an amazing opportunity to take part in the decisions that are made through the ability to vote. Here at MAC, we are continuing to fight for the interests of county government and their residents.  As we head into lame duck, MAC will be working on your behalf for favorable outcomes to issues as important as personal property tax, indigent defense, labor issues, court reform and PILT. You can follow the progress on these issues and more on our Facebook page, twitter feed, and website. It is our hope that this blog will be an additional source to keep our members and followers informed and up-to-date on what we are up to.  So stay tuned!  There is way more to come! Thank you for following, and happy voting!