Opinions
Opinion: Legislature planning attack on local governments
- Details
- By Woodrow Stanley
- Saturday, April 28, 2012
- Hits: 440
The Republican-led legislature is once again planning an attack on our local governments, school districts and public safety by doing away with the Personal Property Tax (PPT). And they're doing it with the best interest of big corporations in mind.
The PPT essentially taxes businesses on things that they use — computers, machinery, vehicles and office equipment. In an economy heavily reliant on manufacturing, which uses expensive equipment, this tax provides local governments a guaranteed source of revenue that the state cannot touch.
This money is not filtered through the state and cannot be raided by the administration as the School Aid Fund was — for $900 million — to support a tax break for the same big businesses they are catering to again.
When Republican majorities in the House and Senate eliminate the PPT, local governments would be out $783.7 million in steady revenue. This not only spells disaster for our local school districts but also threatens cities' ability to provide the public safety services by forcing the layoffs of firefighters, police officers and EMTs.
Gov. Rick Snyder, Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville and House Speaker Jase Bolger want to eliminate millions of dollars from local budgets, but how are they going to replace these funds? The answer to that came from Richardville, when he suggested that cities and towns should consolidate services, that some local units of government could simply be erased, and that our towns could be weaned off of this revenue.
"I think we're going to have to step back and take a look and say maybe we don't need quite as many cities, quite as many villages, quite as many townships — at least not in the same structure as they are today," said Richardville.
I will not support elimination of the PPT when the legislature has broken promises and raided the funds going to local governments in favor of corporations, nor will I remain silent as Republicans attempt to leave our cities with the bare bone essentials.
Just look at our Flint community. We will receive yet another devastating blow with the elimination of this PPT. Flint stands to lose $4 million — a 22.5 percent reduction in guaranteed revenue along with about $9 million dollars in revenue. This is on top of the nearly $4.5 million that Flint schools have lost as a result of the raid on the School Aid Fund by the Republicans. In a time when our city is still feeling the devastating effects of the Great Recession, I cannot support our city losing even more funds. Flint has adjusted to persevere in these tough times, but the Republicans are positioning our city for a catastrophe.
If the governor and the Republican House and Senate leaders want to eliminate the PPT, then I suggest a suitable replacement revenue source be identified. It is my belief that this would pave the way for a bipartisan resolution of this issue.
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Rep. Woodrow Stanley, a former Flint mayor, city councilman and Genesee County commisioner, has represented the 34th District in the state House of Representatives since 2009. Call him toll-free at (888) 966-3034 or e-mail him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
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