When Attorney General Bill Schuette first proposed his “4 strikes and you’re out” plan for repeat felons, the Michigan Department of Corrections said the additional costs to the prison system could exceed $1 billion per year by the middle of the 21st century. New calculations by the department, incorporated into a Senate Fiscal Agency analysis, […]
Michigan Government
Citizens cannot do their job of running their government if they don’t know what their public servants are doing.
Posted inMichigan Government
Teacher retirement fund has $45 billion hole
When something once vital and secure dies, it must be mourned. And so David Campbell, superintendent of the Livingston Educational Service Agency in Howell, likes using the language of a funeral director when discussing Michigan’s retirement program for school employees. “We’re in the middle of a grieving process,” he said recently, going through stacks of […]
Posted inMichigan Government
GOP fix for MPSERS calls for bigger checks from teachers, retirees
The way state Rep. Rick Olson sees it, there are only three places to find a solution to financial problems in the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System. “Increased contribution by employees, reductions in benefits — or find a magical money tree somewhere,” the Saline Republican said. With no magic to call on, a group […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Educators see violation of trust in pension proposal
When Kathy Kapera started working as a Michigan teacher in 1976, she made about $7,000 a year. Over the course of her career — most of it spent teaching hearing-impaired children in Royal Oak — she earned a master’s degree, and steadily accumulated seniority and experience that all led to the moment in 2010 when […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Teacher pension gaps pop up around Great Lakes
As dire as conditions are for the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System, be advised it could be worse. Just look at Illinois. Across the country, pension funds are suffering from the same confluence of factors, including rising health-care costs, falling returns on investment, lax oversight and more. It is very difficult to directly compare […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Snyder pushes end to personal tax on business
Steve Carlson considered buying a couple of new machines for his plastic molding business near Lansing, but he and the company’s other owners decided to hold off for now. One reason, he said, is Michigan’s personal property tax on the new equipment would drive up the cost of doing business, adding another 30 percent to […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Business, Republican leaders express confidence in personal property tax repeal
In the looming battle over Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed personal property tax repeal, both sides agree on one thing: It’s a tax neither particularly likes. “This is an investment penalty,” said Lt. Governor Brian Calley before a Senate committee Wednesday. “The more you invest, the more you pay.” The Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Schools fear property tax cut will be permanent
Like many other Michigan public schools, the River Rouge School District is struggling to stay afloat. In recent years, it has laid off teachers and eliminated music, art, gym, libraries and athletics — but it’s still running a deficit. In February, voters turned down a request for a millage increase. So, if the Legislature and […]
Posted inMichigan Government
See where personal property tax hits
Bills that would lead to the elimination of the personal property tax for almost all Michigan businesses are now before the Michigan Legislature. Business groups have expressed strong support for PPT repeal, arguing the levy on business equipment makes Michigan less competitive. A coalition of local government and school groups says the plan by the Snyder administration could strip hundreds of millions of dollars from local governments. The administration says most of those dollars will be replaced by state funds appropriated by the Legislature each year.
Posted inMichigan Government
Ethics expert: Michigan gets lapped by New Jersey
Michigan’s public sector is not congenial to ethics, according to a recent grading by the Center for Public Integrity. Michigan earned an “F” and a numerical ranking of 43rd (with No. 1 being least corrupt) in the nationwide CPI study. “The analysis of 330 indicators of state accountability measures shows that this state of almost […]