Reform Michigan's Tax System

Education groups call for Legislature to fix tax structure, resolve deficit

LANSING, Mich., Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009 – Today, a broad group of education organizations (listed below) released the following call to action to the Michigan Legislature regarding much needed reform to Michigan’s tax structure:

Michigan’s current tax system is failing its citizens. The state faces a $3 billion deficit.
The economic problems the state has faced during the current decade are the result of a tax system that has simply not served the state well.

Revenues are declining much faster than income and not simply because Michigan’s economy has deteriorated.

According to Gary Olson, director of the nonpartisan Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency and a nationally recognized authority, “There is a fundamental disconnect with how (state) revenues grow compared to the growth of income.”

“The (state’s) tax base, especially the sales tax, is not growing with the economy at all. That’s going to have to be addressed, sooner or later, by the Legislature.”

Further, Olson has pointed out that personal and business income has dramatically declined as a percentage of state revenue during the last decade.

As a result, “revenues are declining much, much faster than income – it’s a concern.” In other words, it’s not the economy. “This is not a problem tied directly to the collapse of the economy.”

Action is needed to preserve Michigan’s quality of life and retain its talent, business and industry into the future. This problem only grows deeper if immediate changes are not made to address the state’s growing structural deficit.

Educators from preschool through higher education have focused on efficiency during this economic downturn and will continue to work on fundamental reforms.

For the sake of Michigan’s students and all of its citizens, the Legislature must reform Michigan’s tax system now.

The following associations representing K-12 through higher education statewide strongly urge the state Legislature to reform Michigan’s tax system.

American Federation of Teachers Michigan

Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators

Michigan Association of School Administrators

Michigan Association of School Boards

Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals

Michigan Community College Association

Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association

Michigan Education Association

Michigan Parent Teacher Student Association

Michigan School Business Officials

Middle Cities Education Association

Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan

Contact: Kacie Kefgen, Middle Cities Education Association, 517-881-1368

 “The mission of the MEA is to ensure that the education of our students and the working environments of our members are of the highest quality.”

Updated: September 16, 2009