Lindsay VanHulle

Some state leaders are floating a revision to the 1994 Michigan constitutional amendment capping property taxes. The outcome could impact Michigan’s national competitiveness, and the long-term health of its struggling cities.

Billionaire developer Dan Gilbert of Detroit will stay in the background this week as supporters of bills to create a tax incentive for “transformational” brownfield projects will put the spotlight on the rest of the state. They plan to focus less on Detroit projects, in part to sell outstate legislators and their constituents on the opportunity the incentive would create in their own backyards.

The intent is not to force employers to participate in a program they can’t sustain, but to reward employers who aim to offer long-term work to parolees.

Review includes additional 30,000 computer-generated claims.

In a Q-and-A with Bridge, Michigan governor said he is growing more comfortable with business incentive legislation that likely will be reintroduced this session. 

Stymied in lame-duck session, developers and economic development leaders across Michigan say they will lobby Lansing next year for nearly $300 million in new business tax incentives.

In a state where new taxes are often a non-starter, the idea of raising more money for roads, bridges and drinking water lines has been a hard sell. Yet Michigan may have no choice.

Efforts in Lansing to lower unfunded liabilities by converting pensions into 401(k)-like accounts for teachers and capping public employees’ retirement healthcare benefits will likely be renewed in January.