The Berrien County Board of Commissioners is keeping its eye on developments in Lansing as lawmakers work on a new state budget.
Commissioners on Thursday received a briefing from Michigan Association of Counties Director Steve Currie, who said the MAC is closely following the latest in the state Capitol. He said as of right now, there’s still a lot of uncertainty about the budget.
“The Senate has passed the complete budget, all done,” Currie said. “The House has not done anything on a budget yet, except for school aid, which they just did yesterday. Just a general comment on the budget. I would not expect a budget done until the absolute last day, which would be October 1.”
Currie said it’s hard for counties and schools to plan when they’re still not sure of what’s coming their way from the state, although he expects the school aid budget will be approved much earlier than the rest of it. He said counties right now are trying to hit a moving target.
Currie did say there is a plan for road funding right now, and it’s the House Republican plan. He told commissioners that would include an almost 100% increase in funding for county roads for most counties.
“The way they get there, they get rid of sales tax on gasoline and take basically do a revenue neutral shift to a gas tax. So all the taxes you pay at the pump go towards the roads now, not sales tax on the road. So obviously, you’re stripping away money from the general fund when you do that. Again, the math problem starts becoming harder and harder when we start talking about this at the state level.”
Currie said the MAC supports the plan, but those kinks will have to be worked out.
Democrats currently control the state Senate, while Republicans control the state House. That division is causing a hold-up with the budget. Governor Gretchen Whitmer has expressed concern the state’s bond rating will be harmed if lawmakers don’t approve a spending plan
