Michigan Public Policy Survey Questions and Data Tables

Thinking about the next fiscal year, which action has your jurisdiction taken or is likely to take regarding employee pay rates?

Thinking about the next fiscal year, which action has your jurisdiction taken or is likely to take regarding employees' share of premiums, deductibles and/or co-pays on health insurance?

Thinking about the next fiscal year, which action has your jurisdiction taken or is likely to take regarding employees' share of contributions to retirement funds?

Thinking about the next fiscal year, which action has your jurisdiction taken or is likely to take regarding retirees' share of premiums, deductibles and/or co-pays on health insurance?

Different local jurisdictions manage their unreserved/unassigned general fund balances in different ways depending on their specific circumstances. Despite these differences, we’re interested in tracking overall changes in these balances over time. Approximately what was your jurisdiction’s unreserved/unassigned general fund balance as a percentage of general fund expenditures at the end of its last fiscal year?

Thinking about your jurisdiction’s fiscal needs, overall, do you consider your jurisdiction’s unreserved/unassigned general fund balance to be too high, about right, or too low?

In your opinion, is your jurisdiction’s cash flow and its ability to pay bills in a timely manner a significant fiscal problem, somewhat of a problem, not much of a problem, or not a problem at all?

Now, thinking about the overall fiscal stress in your jurisdiction today and what you expect it to be down the road — including any future financial obligations it may have — on a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is the best: perfect fiscal health and 10 is the worst: fiscal crisis, how would you rate your jurisdiction’s overall fiscal stress as you expect it to be five years from now?

Thinking about any important aspects of service provision (such as the range of different types of services offered, the amount and quality of those services, etc.), overall, how satisfied would you say the majority of your jurisdiction's citizens are with your jurisdiction’s current services?

Thinking about any important aspects of service provision (such as the range of different types of services offered, the amount and quality of those services, etc.), overall, how satisfied would you say the majority of your jurisdiction's Board/Council are with your jurisdiction’s current services?

Thinking about any important aspects of service provision (such as the range of different types of services offered, the amount and quality of those services, etc.), overall, how satisfied would you say you personally in your role as a local official are with your jurisdiction’s current services?

Would the majority of your jurisdiction's citizens be more likely to choose higher taxes to avoid service cuts to police services or would they choose cuts to police services to avoid higher taxes?

Would the majority of your jurisdiction's citizens be more likely to choose higher taxes to avoid service cuts to fire services or would they choose cuts to fire services to avoid higher taxes?

Would the majority of your jurisdiction's citizens be more likely to choose higher taxes to avoid service cuts to parks/recreation/libraries or would they choose cuts to parks/recreation/libraries to avoid higher taxes?

Would the majority of your jurisdiction's citizens be more likely to choose higher taxes to avoid service cuts to roads or would they choose cuts to roads to avoid higher taxes?

Would the majority of your jurisdiction's citizens be more likely to choose higher taxes to avoid service cuts to public transportation/transit or would they choose cuts to public transportation/transit to avoid higher taxes?

Would the majority of your jurisdiction's citizens be more likely to choose higher taxes to avoid service cuts to economic development or would they choose cuts to economic development to avoid higher taxes?

Would the majority of your jurisdiction's citizens be more likely to choose higher taxes to avoid service cuts to utilities (water/sewer/lighting, etc.) or would they choose cuts to utilities to avoid higher taxes?

Would the majority of your jurisdiction's citizens be more likely to choose higher taxes to avoid service cuts to general operations or would they choose cuts to general operations to avoid higher taxes?

Thinking about the revenue caps facing your jurisdiction (for example, the Headlee Amendment, Proposal A, etc.), if the economy improves gradually over the coming years, do you agree or disagree that the current system of funding the local government will provide adequate funding to maintain the current quantity and quality of services your jurisdiction provides?

Thinking about the revenue caps facing your jurisdiction (for example, the Headlee Amendment, Proposal A, etc.), if the economy improves gradually over the coming years, do you agree or disagree that the current system of funding the local government will provide adequate funding to improve or add more services if they are necessary or desired?

Some people think the current system of funding local government in Michigan is broken and needs significant reform, while others disagree. What about you? Would you say you agree or disagree that the system of funding local government in Michigan is broken and needs significant reform?

Whether or not you think the current system is broken, to what extent would you support or oppose changing the system of funding local government in Michigan by enabling regional tax-base sharing among local units?

Whether or not you think the current system is broken, to what extent would you support or oppose changing the system of funding local government in Michigan by reforming tax increment financing/tax captures (e.g., DDAs, TIFs, LDFAs) to limit the impact on general government revenues?

Whether or not you think the current system is broken, to what extent would you support or oppose changing the system of funding local government in Michigan by allowing local governments to raise revenues through local-option taxes (e.g., sales, gas, hotel taxes, etc.)?