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.
The Grand Rapids Press has an article asking the question of whether Michigan can afford to continue to exempt all public pensions and most private ones from taxation at a time when the state is losing revenue and being forced to make deep cuts in education and crucial social programs as unemployment continues to soar.
The state exempts more retirement income than any of the other 42 states with income taxes. Public pensions have always been 100 percent exempt. Private pensions are exempt up to $45,120 for a single person and $90,240 for a couple, indexed to inflation.
“The pension system does not reflect our economic reality whatsoever and is long overdue for reform,” said Paul Menchik, a professor of economics at Michigan State University and authority on public finance.
“We cannot afford this; it’s not like we are floating in money.”
The estimated annual cost of private pension income exemptions is $725 million, according to 2007 data from the House Fiscal Agency.
In a 2009 report, the Pew Center on the States questioned the logic of Michigan’s senior tax preferences, given its declining revenue. The state was among 10 cash-strapped states identified with growing, aging populations contributing little to the services demanded.
With the number of retired residents expected to grow from 12.8 percent to more than 16 percent over the next 20 years, and with the exemptions indexed to inflation, this problem is going to continue to grow.
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