I’m a resident of Michigan. Why should I care about this?

As a resident of Michigan, it is important to understand how your local government receives funding and the impact that funding has on service levels. In Michigan, we have built a tax system that is broken and have set spending priorities that simply do not direct dollars where they can be the most impactful for residents of the State of Michigan.

Ask yourself what governmental services  you value or use the most. Is it a responsive police force or great local parks and recreation opportunities? Maybe it’s a great downtown, or a strong fire department, or some other local service that you enjoy.

Unfortunately in Michigan, the state has diverted dollars away from local services to shore up the state’s bureaucracy. Since 2002, that diversion has totaled over $8.6 billion. If you would like to see how much has been taken from your community, pop over to the Facts & Figures page and check out our Revenue Sharing Data Lookup feature. This database shows dollars that could have been used to fund the local services that matter most, but instead have been co-opted to sustain the state’s $54.9 billion dollar budget. This is one of many issues that directly affect the ability of local governments to create great places for all of us to live and work.

We encourage you to ask your legislator to rethink budget priorities and stay engaged on the broader issue of reforming our system. We need to fund what matters most. Our system is horribly broken and, left unchanged, will prevent us from having the Michigan we all want and deserve.

How can you help? 
Join the SaveMICity team, and help create the conversation!