I’ve written in the past (HERE and HERE) about how Rick Snyder uses a tactic of making draconian cuts to specific programs then dials it back a bit (but not all the way, of course) and calls it a “concession”.
Well, he’s doing it again:
As part of his agenda to reinvent Michigan, Gov. Rick Snyder reshaped revenue sharing, a pot of money for cities, counties and townships to pay for everything from police and fire service to road repairs. He kept one-third of the pot of money intact and cut $100 million — about one third — to help balance the budget.He put the remaining third into an incentive pool that communities could compete for by meeting three criteria:
- Consolidate or share services with other communities.
- Institute an 80-20 split for employee health care costs, with communities picking up 80% and employees paying 20%. And switch from a defined contribution to a defined-benefit pension plan.
- Make financial data readily available (preferably online) for residents.
Qualifying for the money will just be a matter of signing a form and providing additional documentation to the state, said Summer Minnick, spokeswoman of the Michigan Municipal League.
“The Treasury Department doesn’t have to certify it,” she said. “As long as the community administrators sign the form, they’ll get the money.”
See what he did there? He reduced the amount of tax money sent back local municipalities by 2/3. Then, by simply signing a form saying they’re trying to be more efficient, they get a third back. In the end, their revenue sharing revenues, tax monies collected locally and sent to the state and the returned to them by the state, is reduced by one-third. But, in the New World State Order of Rick Snyder’s Michigan, that’s a concession!
At a time when so many Michigan municipalities are struggling to keep solvent so they don’t get assigned an Emergency Manager, are cutting vital services, revenue sharing reductions which were used to fund an 86% tax break for businesses are just one more kick in the teeth by Michigan Republicans.
Pissed off yet? If not, you’re not paying attention.
