CLOSUP publications

As state lawmakers consider reform and partial elimination of Michigan’s Personal Property Tax (PPT), this report presents local government leaders’ assessments of the PPT and its impact on their jurisdictions, as well as their views on potential...

This report presents Michigan local government leaders’ assessments of their jurisdictions’ public employee unions. The findings in this report are based on statewide surveys of local government leaders in the Spring 2012 and Spring 2011 waves of...

Analysis of wind resources suggests that the proposed expansion of Michigan's renewable portfolio standard to require that 25\% of the state's electricity sales derive from renewables (Proposal 3 on the 2012 ballot) can be met by its 2025 target...

Although many jurisdictions across the state continue to struggle with fiscal stress, the Spring 2012 MPPS finds local leaders' assessments of fiscal health are at their most optimistic levels overall since the MPPS began tracking these issues in...

This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding the state’s emergency manager law, officially called the Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountability Act (Public Act 4 of 2011). This law provides for...

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...

The local government fiscal crisis—driven largely by state revenue sharing cuts, falling tax revenues, and rising costs to provide services—has pushed jurisdictions in Michigan to search for operational efficiencies and cost savings. Performance...

In 2011, the state of Michigan implemented major policy changes in its statutory revenue sharing program, through which it distributes funding to a subset of Michigan's 1,856 local governments. The new policy replaced formula-based funding with an...

In 2011, the state of Michigan implemented major policy changes in its statutory revenue sharing program, through which it distributes funding to a subset of Michigan's 1,856 local governments. The new policy replaced formula-based funding with an...

This report presents the views of Pennsylvania citizens on a range of issues related to extraction of natural gas through "fracking" procedures. The report responds to a discovery of potentially massive deposits beneath the Marcellus Shale and a...

Fiscal stress continues to be a widespread and significant problem for local governments across Michigan, although the number of jurisdictions reporting further declines in fiscal health now is lower than it was in 2010. Overall, nearly half (48%)...

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 information about the presence of local government employee unions in Michigan, as well as the views of Michigan's local government leaders regarding the impact of those unions. The findings are based on statewide surveys of...

The Fall 2010 MPPS asked Michigan's local government leaders about their views on global warming and environmental sustainability, and the role of local government in these areas. While Michigan's local leaders are divided in their views about the...

This paper examines affordable housing developments supported by the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program and how they have contributed to neighborhood redevelopment in the city of Detroit. For cities like Detroit that have long suffered...

The nation's largest charter management organization is the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP). KIPP schools are emblematic of the No Excuses approach to public education, a highly standardized and widely replicated charter model that features a long...

The Michigan Public Policy Survey asked Michigan's local government leaders an extensive battery of questions regarding intergovernmental cooperation, service sharing, consolidation, and more, during the Fall 2010 survey. Responses show that...

To help inform the growing policy debate in Michigan on public sector pay and benefits, the MPPS asked Michigan's local government leaders what they think about their jurisdictions' employee compensation levels and policies. Only 6% of Michigan's...

The following report summarizes results drawn from  national level surveys in the United States and Canada that examine public perceptions regarding various aspects of climate change. Since 2008, the National Survey of American Public Opinion on...

Economic gardening is a new economic development strategy used to grow local economies by cultivating existing businesses, rather than, or in addition to, hunting for new businesses to relocate from the outside. This report presents findings about...

On Friday, July 30, 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau closed its public phone call-in lines that had allowed U.S. citizens who were missed by mailed forms and door-to-door efforts to be counted in the 2010 Census. The Census data, according to the Census...

The fiscal health of Michigan's local governments has declined in the last year and has become a much more widespread problem, increasingly affecting communities of all sizes, in all regions of the state. This MPPS report examines how local...

A “sales tax holiday” is a period of time, usually lasting a few days, during which state sales tax and sometimes local sales taxes are not levied on a set of goods. This report begins with a history of sales tax holidays and a discussion of the...

On April 20, 2006, Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm signed into law the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC) establishing some of the most ambitious core graduation requirements in the nation. The curriculum requires all students in the graduating...

We assess the potential for expanding regional planning by asking local government officials their perspectives on the potential for increasing regionalism in their communities, and the most promising approaches to achieving greater regionalism. Our...