Community funding cuts estimated at $200 million
Gov. Jennifer Granholm and members of the Michigan Legislature have been estimating cuts to community funding in the upcoming Executive Order to be $200 million in ?revenue sharing,? according to a fax alert from the Michigan Municipal League to Onaway City Commission this week. At Monday night?s city commission meeting Mayor Gary Wregglesworth voiced his concern over the cuts. ?I was expecting the cuts to be in the three percent range not 28 percent,? said Wregglesworth of the Executive Ordr, which is expected to be signed in the coming weeks.
According to MML?s fax, statutory revenue sharing is $724 million. The estimate represents a 28 percent cut to statutory payments for fiscal year 2003-04. There could be a large cut for local services and the reduction could become the largest attack by a Governor on since the override when ex-governor John Engler was in office. Revenue sharing covers services such as police, fire, sidewalk repair, trash removal and all other services, local communities provide.
The message coming out of the carefully scripted budget forums, is that no one cares if ?revenue sharing? is cut, and that communities have plenty of money available to cover any shortfalls, the MML alert states. MML is asking the local governments to contact Legislators and the Governor as well, to protect services.