Michigan Cities Say Fiscal Stability is Precariously Balanced
Local officials say state government/laws seriously hamper ability to stabilize finances
Local government officials across Michigan say managing community finances has been slightly easier this year compared to last. The information comes from an annual survey of 1300 cities, counties, townships and villages across Michigan. It’s the ninth year of the survey conducted by the University of Michigan’s Center for Local, State and Urban Policy. Tom Ivacko is the program director at CLOSUP. Ivacko says a serious issue called “state pre-emption” is hamstringing local governments.
“Where state government is increasingly preventing local governments from employing what’s known as home rule, ya know, the ability to make decisions for themselves. And in terms of fiscal health this is and extremely important issue because the state government has a number of tax caps on the ability of local government to increase revenue” -Tom Ivacko
Ivacko tells WDET’s Amy Miller that there appears to be some fiscal stability across the state, but he says the survey also shows troubling trends for larger cities.
Click on the audio link above to hear the entire conversation
