Snyder's Budget Plan Cuts Revenue Sharing
AUBURN HILLS (WWJ) - Among the cuts Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is proposing in his state budget plan is a reduction of about $100 million from revenue sharing with local municipalities.
Speaking with WWJ Newsradio 950's Pat Sweeting as Snyder presented his budget, Thursday, Auburn Hills City Manager Pete Auger said that cut could impact some cities more than others.
"A hundred-thousand dollars is going to make a big difference in your total budget... thirty-five thousand, at our level, it's not as big of a hiccup. But if you're taking a total state-shared revenue of a million dollars, it makes a much larger impact," Auger said.
Auger seemed open-minded about Snyder's proposed changed to the state tax code.
"Well, he's saying some of the right things, and some of the things that we almost anticipated -- him being more business friendly," Auger said.
"We haven't had a governor really go aggressively at it with any support from the legislative side. So, we'll see what comes after this nice little speech and his budget presentation. If the legislators work with him, we could see some real change," he said.
Auger also said he did like what he heard regarding property tax changes.
In addition, Auger offered their help and that of their staff to go to Lansing to help rework things, such as legislative changes. Auger mentions Public Act 312 that has been on the books and not changed for over forty years. (Public Act 312, enacted in 1969, calls for compulsory arbitration of labor disputes in local police and fire departments.)
Also responding to the Snyder's budget plans, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said some cities in Oakland County could be hurt by a cut in revenue sharing. But he agrees with the governor's call for "shared sacrifice."
Patterson said he may not like all of the proposals, but he's glad to see the new governor isn't shying away from tough decisions.
"I think that it's the toughest budget that I've ever seen and I've been around for quite awhile... really serious cuts across the board," Patterson said.
"Finally we've got a governor who's now willing to recognize the problems. It may well make him a one-term governor. I think he's prepared for that," he said.
Governor Snyder said his $45 billion cost-cutting budget calls for a "shared sacrifice," and includes tough decisions that will help fix the state's massive budget shortfall -- including major cuts to school funding. (More on this).
- View a copy of the budget - (.pdf format)
