At a press conference today at the Small Business Association of Michigan’s headquarters in Lansing, SBAM and numerous other business and government groups announced support for legislation that would guarantee 100 percent reimbursement to local governments for local services as part of efforts to reform Michigan’s uncompetitive tax on business equipment.
“For the first time in more than a century, the vast majority of Michigan’s small businesses did not have to pay a tax on their equipment this year,” said Chad Paalman, president of NuWave Technology Partners, and a member of the Small Business Association of Michigan’s board of directors. “At the same time we are getting this long overdue tax reform, it is important to us that our communities are made whole. The bills being introduced today do just that, and we are grateful to our legislators for expediting these important reforms.”
The bipartisan Personal Property Tax (PPT) Relief and Local Revenue Stabilization Package provides local governments with stable, reliable funding for all local services, not just essential services such as police and fire. The 10-bill package addresses local government concerns that only 80 percent of some important local services would be fully reimbursed under the 2012 PPT reform. It clarifies the landmark legislation passed in December 2012 to modernize Michigan’s outdated business tax code by specifying that all local services will be reimbursed at 100 percent. Current law calls for 100 percent reimbursement for essential services and 80 percent of other local services.
SBAM and the other supporters of the package hope to win legislative approval before the spring recess, to make sure ballot language can be changed in time for the issue to appear on the Aug. 5 ballot. Michigan voters must approve a change in tax policy that would allow the state to apply some of the proceeds from the state Use Tax to pay for local services.
Hear excerpts from today’s Personal Property Tax reform press conference by listening Wed. Feb. 26 to SBAM’s Business Next radio show on the Michigan Business Network. Listen at 10-11 a.m. (replay at 3 p.m., 8 p.m. and 1 a.m.)