Townships request changes to funding cuts in state budget
Supervisors from 119 Michigan townships have banded together to request a change in funding to the state budget adopted in October and for a seat at the table as policy and appropriations that impact local governments are considered.
Townships across the state face cutting life-saving services such as police and fire, as well as a decline in road safety, as a direct result of the state budget allocations, noted Canton Township Supervisor Anne Marie Graham-Hudak.
“This year’s state budget slashed funding to local governments representing over 52 percent of Michigan’s residents – hometown governments administering safe and secure elections, collecting trash and recycling, making sure our drinking water and buildings are safe, and caring for parks, natural spaces, and families throughout Michigan,” said Graham-Hudak. “These cuts to services in our hometown – many of which we take for granted – are wrong and must be fixed by Lansing.”
“If Lansing fails to act, hometowns throughout Michigan will experience a precipitous decline in quality-of-life issues not seen since the Great Recession. These state cuts to local services may lead some towns to raise taxes just to cover the basics – but it doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s get this right Michigan: restore the funding, so our hometowns keep running,” she added.
In the letter sent to Governor Gretchen Whitmer, state leaders are encouraged to consider adopting a supplemental budget that backfills the sales tax revenue lost due to the redirect at the pump, thereby holding local units of government harmless.
"While the road funding package of bills helped cities offset the cuts to revenue sharing, townships will not receive any benefit from the new funding,” said Mark Abbo, Northville Township supervisor. “Therefore, with no offset for townships, we urge legislators to action to address the shortfalls to townships.”
“Local governments across Michigan are already pressed in our budgets for trying to do more with less, while maintaining quality services for our residents,” said Kevin McNamara, Van Buren Township Supervisor. “We need our state leaders in Lansing to come together to figure out a solution that doesn’t cut the revenues we rely on and place the burden on the local communities in the supplemental budget.”
In the letter, the township leaders remind state legislators that “local governments are the most connected to the residents we collectively serve, and we are asking you to work in partnership with us to ensure that we can provide the critical services needed in our communities throughout Michigan.”
