(courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) David Hollister knows a bit about how public budgets work. He served as mayor of Lansing for a decade. Before that, he served two decades in the Michigan House, representing Lansing. And he says, “We need to recalculate how urban centers are funded.” A Munetrix review of data from […]
Munetrix
Posted inMichigan Government
Kalamazoo, Muskegon make tough calls, rise in fiscal ratings
Muskegon has made major cuts in public spending in recent years. And the city’s fiscal stress score looks much better in a recent analysis by Munetrix. (Bridge archive photo) A gritty, blue-collar city on Lake Michigan, Muskegon faces headwinds similar to many Michigan communities: factory closings, job losses, an eroding tax base. But in the […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Stressed cities hear little sympathy from State Capitol
DISCUSSION CLOSED: Republican leaders who run the State Capitol have rebuffed appeals from local governments to boost the flow of tax dollars from the state. Will last week’s announcement of nearly $500 million in “new” revenue change the debate? (Bridge archive photo) Michigan cities expecting a helping hand from Lansing as they dig out of […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Three reasons why you should want to know your hometown’s fiscal score
Eric Lupher is director of local affairs for the Citizens Research Council of Michgan, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research group. Those of us who have been around for a while remember the opening of each “M*A*S*H” episode, with the doctors and nurses rushing to the incoming helicopters to retrieve and assess the newly injured soldiers. In […]
Posted inMichigan Government
New rankings find fiscal troubles for city halls across Michigan
TROUBLE AHEAD: An analysis by Munetrix found that dozens of Michigan communities were in troubling financial shape in 2011, with 2012 data still to be filed. (courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) While the financial problems of Detroit have captured the headlines this spring, a new analysis released today on government finance finds that […]
Posted inMichigan Government
See how your hometown’s checkbook is holding up
Nearly a decade ago, as Michigan struggled through a massive recession, the state Department of Treasury began to look at how the tough times were affecting the bottom lines in city and village halls across the state. These fiscal scores and Treasury’s “fiscal watch list” quickly became a source of controversy as local leaders contested […]
Posted inMichigan Government
In some cities, it's cash that's burning
In Michigan, your home address says everything about how much you spend for fire protection. In Midland, a city of 41,000, residents paid $155 per person in 2010 for their Fire Department. But in Wyoming, a West Michigan city of about 72,000, they paid less than half that, $59 per capita. Fire departments spend about $400 million […]