I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
In a column for Dome magazine this week, Eating the Seed Corn, Jack Lessenberry interviews Michigan State University economic professor Charles Ballard about how Michigan has uncommonly generous tax breaks for seniors.
According to Ballard the pensions of state government and local government employees and federal employees and military retirees are completely exempt from state income tax no matter how well-off these retirees are. Michigan is also more generous than any other state when it comes to exempting private pension income from taxes.
“For the 2009 tax year, private pensions are exempted up to $45,120 for a single person, and twice as much for a married couple. Thus, for a married couple, it is possible to have retirement income of well in excess of $100,000, and pay not a penny of Michigan income tax,” he noted. Nor does it stop there …
“Michigan seniors get an additional personal exemption that the rest of us don’t get. AND the Homestead Property Tax Credit is more generous to seniors than to the rest of us.” As a result: “Something like 90 percent of Michigan seniors pay no income tax.”
“And since the Homestead Credit is refundable, many of them actually pay negative taxes.”
Ballard said that a former Ph.D student of his, now working for the Department of Treasury in Lansing, has estimated that the annual revenue cost of these tax breaks is $700 million each year.
As the state’s population gets older this cost is likely to go up.
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter