A suspension of revenue sharing in ?05 would shift burden to taxpayers

County treasurer Pat Cornett wants taxpayers to be ready to dip into their nest eggs this July, because the state wants counties to establish a nest egg of their own, as Lansing lawmakers are looking at eliminating all revenue sharing. Cornett, appearing before the Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners last Friday, as she typically does for her twice-a-month treasurer?s report, said state legislators have proposed shifting all or a portion of the December 1 tax levy to a July levy.

If approved, and Cornett doesn?t believe anything is going to stop it, it means the second tax bill in seven months will be going out in Presque Isle County.

?THAT MEANS our county taxpayers are going to not only get this last December?s bill but they are going to get a similar one in July,? explained Cornett. The next tax levy after July 2004 would be July 2005. Revenue from the one-time levy would be required to be put in a special revenue sharing reserve fund established and maintained by the county and would be subject to expenditure limitations.

?What they are telling us is that with this extra levy we could put this money in the bank and we could use the interest to supplement the fund,? said Cornett. ?Then on a yearly basis the county treasurer will distribute to the county general fund the amount of revenue sharing that we would have received from the state.?

The proposal would shift the tax levy to July and the due date to September. After doing some prelimin

ary calculations, with figures from the 2004 assessment roll, the county would receive roughly $2,905,000, Cornett said. ?WHAT THE state is saying is that you can take that $2,905,000 and you can put it into a special account and then in January ?05, that?s your operating money in ?05,? said Cornett. Chairman Allan Bruder said if all the taxes were paid by September 15, ?you?re talking about a little over three months to collect interest on it.? Commissioners expressed their thoughts for the hardship created for farmers, who depend on the income from the harvest to pay taxes, and retirees living on a fixed income.

In 2005, Cornett predicts all taxes will be collected in the summer. ?The only thing left is going to be the township tax and the school tax,? she said. ?It just stands to reason that that?s what?s going to happen.? On average a one-time tax levy would replace inflation-indexed revenue sharing payments for slightly less than nine years. However, the first resumption of payments in the proposal would occur in the state?s FY 2009.