CLOSUP publications

The Spring 2019 County-wide Fiscal Health Fact Sheets are from the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), an ongoing survey of the top elected and appointed officials in every unit of general purpose local government across the state. The MPPS is...

This report presents information from Michigan local government officials regarding local energy issues and policies. In addition, the report looks at local officials’ opinions on environmental leadership in local government. These findings are...

This report presents Michigan local government leaders’ assessments of their jurisdictions’ fiscal conditions and the actions they plan to take in the coming year given their financial situations. The findings are based on responses from 10...

This report presents the assessments of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding the next recession, including its expected timing and impacts, and whether their jurisdictions have taken action to prepare for it. These findings are based on...

This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding the upcoming 2020 U.S. Census, including their confidence in the potential accuracy of the count both locally and at the state level, assessments of groups within...

This report presents the opinions of Michigan's local government leaders regarding the direction in which the state is headed, as well as their evaluations of the job performance of Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Legislature. These...

This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding relationships among members of their board or council as well as between the board/council and local government employees. Assessments include a look at various...

The Spring 2018 County-wide Poverty Fact Sheets are from the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), an ongoing survey of the top elected and appointed officials in every unit of general purpose local government across the state. The MPPS is designed...

This report presents the views of Michigan’s local government officials regarding poverty and economic hardship among residents in their jurisdiction, as well as assessments of unmet needs for particular services and resources. In addition, the...

The Spring 2018 County-wide Fiscal Health Fact Sheets are from the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), an ongoing survey of the top elected and appointed officials in every unit of general purpose local government across the state. The MPPS is...

This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding the state of public discourse in their communities, including how constructive or divisive it is among citizens, between citizens and elected officials, and among the...

This report presents Michigan local government leaders’ assessments of their jurisdictions’ fiscal conditions and the actions they plan to take in the coming year given their financial situations. The findings are based on responses from ten...

This report presents information from Michigan's local government officials regarding the status of medical marijuana facilities in their jurisdictions as of spring 2018, as well as officials’ opinions on the impacts of medical marijuana on local...

This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding the direction in which the state is headed, as well as their evaluations of the job performance of Governor Rick Snyder and the Michigan Legislature. These findings...

This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders on local housing issues, including current housing capacity and condition in their community, local government policies that may hinder or help new renovation and construction,...

This report presents the opinions of Michigan's local government leaders on issues related to land use planning and zoning, including use of master plans and capital improvements plans (CIPs), staff or external contractors associated with planning...

This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders on a range of issues regarding their jurisdictions’ workforce, including employee pay and fringe benefit rates, whether the size of the workforce is adequate for providing...

This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders on issues related to election administration in their jurisdictions, including problems encountered, worker recruitment and training, updating voting equipment, and potential...

This report presents Michigan local government leaders’ assessments of their jurisdictions’ fiscal conditions and the actions they plan to take in the coming year given their financial situations. The findings are based on responses from nine...

This report presents Michigan local government leaders’ assessments of issues related to citizen engagement with their local governments, and the role that citizens play in the local policymaking process. The findings in this report are based on...

This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding concerns over state government preemption of local decision making and preferred areas of shared and separate policy authority between local and state government. The...

This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding the relationships between their local jurisdictions and the State government, including particular factors that affect State-local relations, how those relations...

This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding the state’s Emergency Manager law, officially known as Michigan’s Local Financial Stability and Choice Act (P.A. 436 of 2012). This law is targeted at local...

This report presents Michigan local government leaders’ assessments of issues related to the provision of drinking water in their communities, including threats to water safety, the condition of infrastructure, challenges regarding shared local...

The issue of property tax appeals has been increasingly important in Michigan recently as “big box” stores (e.g. Lowe’s, Costco, etc.) have been able to significantly decrease their taxes by arguing property assessments should be based on the value...