{Governmental Client Training} June 10, 2015

{Governmental Client Training} June 10, 2015

Legislative Update NICOLETTE ACHO & KARI SHEA 77

OVERVIEW 1. Legislation that has already passed A. Major and Local Street Funds Performance Audits B. Personal Property Taxes C. Revenue Sharing D. Requirements Tied to Act 51 Money E. New Freedom of Information Act Regulations F. Retro Pay Prohibition 2. Potential Legislation A. Taxable Value adjustments B. Changes to Pension/OPEB Bond Ratings C. Aftermath of Proposal 1 D. Other Items 78

Major and Local Street Funds Performance Audits Public Act 298 of 2012 Act 51 funds spent by Cities, Villages, and Counties are subject to performance audits Effective for municipalities with 9/30/2016 year ends & after This performance audit is not intended to be focused on performance (what were you thinking?). It is intended to be focused on compliance with Act 51 such as: The 10% administrative cost requirement; The 50% match for local road construction; Limitations on transfers form Major to Local Streets Clients have been receiving letters indicating their CPA will conduct the performance audit 79

Personal Property Taxes Approved by voters in August 2014 Three main parts: 1. Certain property is exempt or will be exempt 2. New sources of revenue will generate replacements funds 3. Calculation of reimbursements 80

Exempt Property Small Taxpayers Effective for 2014 Tax Billings $80,000 or less of personal property taxes can sign affidavit (if taxpayer does not send in affidavit, they don t get the exemption!) Personal Property used in Manufacturing Effective starting for 2016 Tax Billings Property purchased after December 31, 2012; property purchased before 2013 will continue to be taxed (at declining values) 81

New Sources of Revenue These two revenue sources will go to the new state wide authority (the Local Community Stabilization Authority, or LCSA) which will use the proceeds to reimburse local units Use Tax Tax on items purchased that did not have sales tax collected by the seller (think some ALL Amazon.com purchases); a pre set dollar amount, through 2028,will be diverted to the LCSA Essential Services Assessment Tax on the exempt manufacturing personal property taxes: 2.4 mills for years 1 5 1.25 mills for years 6 10 0.9 mills for years 10+ 82

Reimbursement s Reimbursements for Debt only will begin in 2014; Other millages begin in 2016; summer taxes to be paid by Oct. 20. winter taxes by Feb. 20 Relative to the small taxpayer loss in 2014 & 2015, cities will receive that reimbursement in 2014 but everyone else loses out! Reimbursement Schedule Initially, the reimbursement will replace lost personal property taxes Not lost manufacturing & small taxpayer taxes lost personal property taxes! (see next slide) Over time, it shifts to the community s level of eligible manufacturing personal property (by FY2036 2037) 83

Calculation of Community Reimbursement Analysis of taxable value activity: Commercial personal property Industrial personal property Total Taxable value, 2013 $ 10,000,000 $ 20,000,000 $ 30,000,000 Activity during 2014, 2015, 2016: New property 5,000,000 8,000,000 13,000,000 Disposed/ lost property (4,000,000) (3,000,000) (7,000,000) Small taxpayer exemption (800,000) (100,000) (900,000) Exempt Manuf. Property (1,000,000) (7,000,000) (8,000,000) Taxable value, 2016 $ 9,200,000 $ 17,900,000 $ 27,100,000 Calculation of Reimbursement Property lost to Exemptions $ 8,900,000 Millage rate 12 Lost taxes $ 106,800 State's reimbursement: 2013 TV 30,000,000 2016 TV 27,100,000 Loss 2,900,000 Millage rate 12 Reimbursement $ 34,800 84

Revenue Sharing Included as part of the 2014 2015 State of Michigan Budget The Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP) has been Replaced by City, Village, and Township Revenue Sharing (CVTRS) Only requirement now is to publish citizen s guide and performance dashboard Includes some additional items on the dashboard related to debt service and future budgets A one time payout is expected for those receiving no or minimal revenue sharing in FY 2014 2015 85

New Requirements for Act 51 Public Act 301 became effective October 2014 Three possible methods of compliance: 1. Develop and publicize a compensation plan that meets certain limitations related to retirement plans and health insurance 2. Certify that the road agency DOES NOT offer medical benefits to transportation employees 3. Comply with Public Act 152 One aspect of PA 152 is that communities can elect to opt out of it and still be in compliance (so you can have a vote not to do anything, and still be in compliance!) Since you have to comply with Act 152, the first two alternatives seem moot! 86

New Freedom of Information Act Regulations Public Act 563 of 2014 Effective January 2015 Public bodies will need to establish written procedures and guidelines for FOIA requests by July 1, 2015 These must be published or posted online We encourage you to read the entire act to ensure your municipality is in compliance with all of the specific aspects of the act. 87

Retro Pay Prohibition Public Act 301 of 2014 Act 54 of 2011 had prohibited paying retroactive pay this was a great incentive to come to a settlement by the time the union contract had expired! This new law provides exceptions for public safety employees that are subject to Act 312 arbitration (uniformed police & fire personnel). These employees would only have to pay for increases in insurance benefits during the time from the expiration of the old contract until the new agreement is put in place so we do still have some incentives to settle promptly. 88

Proposed Legislation 89

Taxable Value calculation HJR I Effect Would eliminate the inflation adjustment, in years where the Assessed Value does not increase as much as inflation or 5% If property values go up, TV is already limited to inflation or 5%. But If property values fail to rise at this inflation or 5%, TV would remain the same as the prior year (presumably if AV falls below TV then TV would have to decrease, as it did in 2008 2012) Apparently, property owners want to have their cake and eat it too! 90

Pension/OPEB borrowing rating requirements HB 4158 Effect Currently, communities with a AA bond rating can borrow to fund Pension and OPEB plans (the pension plans must be closed) This bill would allow communities with an A bond rating to do the same Could cause more communities to use this There have been several municipalities that have already done this 91

Aftermath of Proposal 1 Vote HB 4158 We were going to tell you all about Proposal 1, and the new money coming to help fix the roads until All those in favor 349,813 (19.9%) All opposed 1,405,716 (80.1%) Total who voted 1,755,529 Number of registered voters 7,454,000 Voter turnout a paltry 23.5% 92

Other Potential Legislation (can we vote on which legislator has come up with the wackiest idea?) 1. HB 4201: Require 75% of the County s Millage to be expended in the municipality where it was collected 2. HB 4259/SB 0109: Increase the population threshold for a Public Safety special assessment (alright, this one may actually be helpful!) 3. HB 4025: Require selection of architects, engineers, or surveyors based on competitive qualifications based process 4. SB 0100: Eliminate the requirement that taxes must be paid in full prior to filing an appeal 5. HB 4052: Prohibit local governments from passing their own legislation related to among other things, minimum wage 93

Other Potential Legislation (continued ) 6. PPT reform bills (HB 4553 4558) passed House 5.20.15 Key components of the bills include: Establish reporting requirements and extends the exemption to also include personal property not yet in use Allowing municipals to choose the higher of 2014 or 2015 for their small taxpayer exemption losses Amendments to the State ESA Act to change the base of the tax Amendment to the Local Community Stabilization Authority Act to change definition and calculation for local unit reimbursement also increases the amount of use tax the authority levies Date changes that may allow for City reimbursement to occur earlier than initially anticipated possibly as early as fall 2015 When calculating their debt loss to determine eligible reimbursement, allows municipalities to use mills authorized prior to 2013 but incurred after 2012 94

Questions? 95