Growing consensus among Michigan local government leaders on revenue inadequacy, but declining support for local tax options
This report presents the views of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding local revenue policy, including whether the state’s current system of funding local government will allow them to maintain or improve services, their preferences for raising additional local revenues if given the opportunity, and their perceptions of residents’ support for tax increases or cuts. These findings are based on statewide surveys of local government leaders in the spring 2025 wave of the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS) with comparisons to 2012 and 2016 survey waves.
Key findings
- Just 29% of local officials statewide believe that Michigan’s current system of funding local government will allow them to at least maintain their jurisdiction’s current services. Only 16% believe they will be able to improve or expand services in the future under the current system.
- A majority (57%) of local leaders say they would support raising local tax revenues if they were given additional discretion to do so by the state. However, this is down from 66% who said the same in 2016, and there is little consensus on which local options they would support.
- A majority of local officials think their residents would be willing to pay higher taxes to avoid cuts to fire (67%) or police (51%) services in the communities where these services are offered. By contrast, most local officials think residents would prefer taking service cuts in order to avoid paying higher taxes for general government operations, economic development, parks/recreation/libraries, or public transit.
