Michigan’s Broken Municipal Finance Model – Issues and Proposed Actions

The League is excited to release our second report detailing the state of Michigan’s communities. This report entitled “Michigan’s Broken Municipal Finance Model – Issues and Proposed Actions” lays out compelling evidence that Michigan’s communities are struggling to survive under our broken municipal finance system.  Among other things it makes you aware of the shocking reality that Michigan is 50th in the nation when comparing the change in municipal funding to other states, and the only state providing less resources for local services like police, fire and recreation. It is an unsustainable model that left unchecked will leave our home towns unable to provide the services we value most Perhaps more importantly, strong cities will strengthen our economy by improving our ability to attract and retain talent. Fortunately we can change our course by acting now. The report also identifies areas we think are in need of improvement that could change our future for the better. I would encourage you to give this a read and draw your own conclusions.