Bor-ing, right? Maybe so, but how state lawmakers design a tax structure can have a significant impact on the finances of residents and businesses, and on the state’s economic competitiveness.
Lansing has been consumed by dealing with hateful social media posts by state Rep. Josh Schriver, R-Oxford, and an interminable fight over who is running the state Republican Party. But several proposals that could radically change tax policy in Michigan are floating around the Capitol.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Growing Michigan Together Council, an initiative aimed at boosting the state’s stagnant population, has triggered a debate over the role of taxes in attracting more people to Michigan.
Advertisement
Republicans complained the council’s report was a surreptitious plot to raise taxes to pay for favored Democratic programs that wouldn’t increase the state’s population.
Council members, including Republican Co-Chairman John Rakolta, denied that, saying the council’s six-month work schedule left no time for a discussion on taxes. John Rakolta | Courtesy photo
Rakolta, speaking at the Detroit Regional Chamber Detroit Policy Conference last month, said there should be no talk about new taxes until the state develops a tax structure that’s “appropriate for the 21st century.”
But critics of the council’s report are “afraid to go down that path,” he said. Dismissing the council’s work is an “easy way to throw a red herring into the mix and distract everybody and the press that it’s all about taxes. It isn’t about taxes. It’s about: the state of Michigan is broken.”
Rakolta, chairman of industrial construction giant Walbridge, offered no specifics about what he thought a modern tax policy should look like. He said Michigan should implement “zero-based budgeting,” which would require the state to annually justify every program expense.
Advertisement
But some of his fellow business leaders are anxious for tax cuts. The West Michigan Policy Forum, a group of business executives that includes such heavy hitters as Amway Co-Chairman Doug DeVos and office furniture executive Matthew Haworth, is calling for the state to eliminate the personal income tax.
Backers of the idea claim states with no income taxes, including Texas and Florida, have among the fastest-growing populations. But states with no income tax make up lost revenue with other taxes.
The policy forum didn’t offer ideas for replacing Michigan’s $8 billion in annual income tax revenue, nearly two-thirds of state’s general fund tax revenue, but said there should be a “responsible transition” to its elimination.
Meanwhile, a group called AxMITax is seeking to place a proposal on the November ballot that would eliminate residential and business property taxes, the primary source of funding for local governments and a significant revenue pot for local schools.
The summary language of proposal was approved last month by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers, but the board has yet to approve the ballot form.
Advertisement
AxMITax said the measure would end the growing problem of property tax foreclosures. Any new local taxes would require 60% voter approval under the proposed ballot issue. Raising state taxes by more than .1% would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.
Karla Wagner of AxMITax said if eliminating property taxes results in libraries and museums closing, so be it.
Another group says Michigan’s tax system must change to support the investments needed for Michigan to thrive in an economy that requires higher levels of education in its workers and make the state more attractive to new residents.
Eliminating property and income taxes is an irresponsible, dangerous idea that, rather than make Michigan a more vibrant state, would likely bankrupt it.
Advertisement
The Michigan League for Public Policy has long called for a graduated income tax system in which those with higher incomes pay a larger percentage of their incomes in taxes than lower-income residents.
Thirty states and the federal government have graduated income taxes. Michigan has a flat income tax rate of 4.05% that will return to last year’s rate of 4.25% in the 2024 tax year because of a court order in a dispute over whether this year’s rate was a permanent or temporary cut.
The MLPP, citing a report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said that the top 1% of Michigan earners pay an effective income tax rate of 5.7% while those with the lowest incomes pay an effective rate of 7.1%.
Michigan’s tax system is “upside down,” said Rachel Richards, MLPP’s fiscal policy director, in a Michigan Advanceguest column.
Advertisement
While the state’s budget remains stable after billions of dollars in federal COVID-related programs have been exhausted, future state revenues will not be sufficient to “prevent us from returning to the decades of disinvestment in Michigan workers, families and children that we saw prior to the pandemic,” Richards said.
Implementing a graduated tax system would be extremely difficult. It would require voters to change the state constitution and would be vigorously opposed by business lobbying groups.
But eliminating property and income taxes is an irresponsible, dangerous idea that, rather than make Michigan a more vibrant state, would likely bankrupt it.
Michigan had a mild winter and is experiencing a warm summer, resulting in early activity of a few insect pests as the peak of blueberry harvest approaches. Michigan State University is seeing increases in blueberry maggot and spotted wing drosophila catches at various monitoring sites in southwest Michigan in the past week. Growers with ripening and ripe blueberries should be protecting those fields using effective insecticides.
Figure 1. This picture shows spotted wing drosophila (SWD) monitoring traps with yeast and commercial lure. It also shows the sampling method to detect SWD larvae submerging the fruit in salty water for 15 minutes. Photo by Carlos García-Salazar, MSU Extension.
Advertisement
There are various options registered for these pests, with high efficacy and short preharvest intervals that can be used during harvest season. See the Michigan State University Extension bulletin E154, “Michigan Fruit Management Guide,” for recommendations. This publication is available in hard copy and as a downloadable PDF.
For timing your insecticide applications against spotted wing drosophila, place monitoring traps with a bait made of brewer’s yeast or a commercial lure in fields as shown in Figure 1.
Blueberry maggot can be managed using applications every 10 to 14 days, but protection against spotted wing drosophila requires a tighter spray interval. You can also monitor berry infestation levels by taking weekly fruit samples focused on fields approaching harvest to check that they remain free of insects. Michigan State University has developed a short, 8-minute video explaining this method and providing guidance on the simple equipment needed.
DETROIT. (WILX) – On Sunday afternoon, two rivals came together to give back to the community. Michigan State Quarterback Aidan Chiles and Michigan Quarterback Alex Orji hosted the I AM Quarterback Youth Development Camp in Detroit.
Aidan is entering his sophomore season and his first chance to be a starting quarterback for MSU in the fall. Chiles has been extremely active in the community in the limited time that he’s been living in Michigan. One of the teammates that he’s gotten extremely close to is freshman wide receiver Nick Marsh. The two called each other twins and were both at the camp together, supporting the same cause.
Orji is currently in the middle of a battle for the starting QB role with Michigan and has been working hard to prove himself to the new coaching staff. Alex was running kids through drills on Sunday that he does in order to work on his craft. No matter if Orji wins the job or not it would be expected that the Wolverines would still use him as points with how dangerous he is running the football. Despite these two sides coming together for a good cause the competition will remain the same on the field.
“We want to beat them 50-0,” said Orji.
Advertisement
Michigan and MSU football will match-up on Oct. 26 with a battle between the two new looking teams.
Subscribe to our News 10 newsletter and YouTube page to receive the latest local news and weather.Looking to hire people, or grow your business through advertising? Gray Digital Media is your one-stop marketing solution. Learn more.
The former Michigan State guard is expected to sign a four-year, $32 million contract to remain with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to a report from ESPN on Sunday.
Christie was selected in the second round, No. 35 overall, by the Lakers in the 2022 draft. He has been a rotational player and averaged 3.8 points in 13.5 minutes per game with 10 starts in 108 games over the last two seasons combined.
A former five-star recruit from metro Chicago, Christie spent only one season at Michigan State. He averaged 9.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game as a freshman in 2021-22 before declaring for the NBA draft.
Advertisement
Christie boosted his rookie scoring average from 3.1 to 4.2 points per game last season but his 3-point shooting percentage dipped from 41.9 to 35.6.
Staying with the Lakers means Christie will be in the same city as his younger brother. Cam Christie was selected in the second round, No. 46 overall, by the Clippers in the 2024 NBA draft on Thursday after spending one season at Minnesota.
