Coverage in Bridge this week focuses on the “Shadow Tax Cut” — a $1.6 billion drop in taxes due to the huge decline in property values across the state. This tax drop has eased the bills for many taxpayers, but it, of course, has meant less money for local governments that rely heavily on property […]
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$1.6 billion shaved off Michigan property tax bills
Thousands of Michigan home and business owners have been the recipients of hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax cuts in recent years — a savings that few seem to recognize. Property owners in the state as a whole have seen property taxes fall nearly $900 million between 2007 and 2010. Adjusted for inflation, […]
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Despite $300 million reduction, businesses seek relief
Michigan businesses, which have already won a $1.6 billion business tax cut, are pushing hard to repeal the state’s personal property tax on machinery, computers and other equipment. But they don’t talk much about, or even recognize, the $324 million tax cut they’ve received since 2007, the result of falling property values and lower tax […]
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On the block: Taxes in Lansing, Troy, Wyoming
Three residential blocks in three different Michigan communities show how the massive decline in property values and the resulting “Shadow Tax Cut” rolled across the state. Bridge looked at residential blocks in two suburbs (Troy and Wyoming) and the capital city to judge how the cut played out for individual homeowners. The figures presented below […]
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Michigan reaches for upper rungs on tourism
Five years of Pure Michigan national advertising is just beginning to buff up the state’s rust-belt image. After the state had spent $67 million for the slick campaign featuring the voice of Michigan native Tim Allen, a survey done for the state found that Michigan still ranked in the middle of the pack in tourism […]
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Will they ever work again?
File this under depressing chart of the day: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/chart-of-the-day-long-term-unemployment-is-a-huge-problem—-especially-if-youre-old.php?ref=fpa About 1 in 3 of the officially jobless have now been without work for more than a year. For the context: The previous high for that figure in the last half-century was about 14 percent. With Michiganrunning a jobless rate above 11 percent — and with […]
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Mines begin digging into U.P. free of key state tax
In September, after years of heated debate and legal battles, Kennecott Eagle Minerals began blasting into the ground at its controversial nickel mine near Marquette. The company, a subsidiary of London-based mining giant Rio Tinto, believes the Eagle mine will yield 300 million pounds of nickel and 250 million pounds of copper. Kennecott is one […]
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Auto insurance fees examined for faults
By Pat Shellenbarger/Bridge Magazine contributor Megan Hanges-Reynolds concedes that until recently she gave little thought — none, really — to Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance law and its guarantee of unlimited, lifetime coverage for those severely injured in auto accidents. She thinks about it a lot now. That’s because the morning of Sept. 18, 2010, on […]
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Priceline expansion propels policy questions
Priceline plans to add more than 500 jobs to its call center in Wyoming in the Grand Rapids area. More jobs equal good news in Michigan, of course. But an online discussion shared with us between Milt Rohwer of the Frey Foundation and Birgit Klohs of The Right Place, Inc., may provide more illumination on […]
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How 'flushed' is your hometown?
In May 2010, in the teeth of the worst Michigan economy in a generation, Fortune Magazine came to Grand Rapids to proclaim, “A Michigan Success Story.” Grand Rapidians have much to point to with optimism and pride, from the construction on “Hospital Hill” to the revitalization of its downtown. But there’s more to the story. A Bridge […]
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