fiscal health

MPPS in the news

Short-changing Michigan local governments tied to deteriorating water systems

May 9, 2022 Bridge Michigan

Michigan has had its share of disasters. Dams collapsed after heavy rains, flooding Midland. A sinkhole the size of a football field was caused by a sewer collapse in Macomb County. And in Flint, children were exposed to lead-contaminated...

News

Michigan local government officials report improved fiscal health after a year of COVID-19, but not to pre-pandemic levels

Dec 16, 2021

Michigan’s local governments report improvement on many fiscal health measures after a year of struggles with the COVID-19 pandemic, but for much of the state the situation has stayed the same or continues to decline, according to a new Michigan...

More than half of Michigan local governments report personnel harassed, abused for doing their jobs

CLOSUP Updates

MPPS Report: Michigan local government officials report improved fiscal health after a year of COVID-19, but not yet back to pre-pandemic levels

Dec 16, 2021

A new 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 13...

In the Media

Flint, Mich., tap university researchers to boost financial transparency

Dec 2, 2021 StateScoop

Researchers at the University of Michigan on Wednesday announced plans to help Flint, Michigan, develop new open-data standards to improve the city’s financial...

Publication

Michigan local government leaders report lingering impacts from COVID-19 pandemic, improvements overall from the start of the crisis

Oct 27, 2021

Local leaders from across the state have reported lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report, and worsening outlooks for how much longer some of those impacts will last. While the numbers of local communities reporting on...

MPPS in the news

Michigan governments sit on $11B from stimulus, as needs grow every day

Oct 25, 2021 Bridge Michigan

Battle Creek — Helping residents pay off nearly $2 million in delinquent utility bills. Expanding high-speed internet access. Making major repairs at a wastewater treatment plant. There’s no shortage of ideas on how to spend a $30.5 million...

CLOSUP Updates

MPPS Report: COVID-19 pandemic sparks Michigan local leaders’ concerns for fiscal health

Dec 14, 2020

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 12...

CLOSUP Updates

Local Government COVID-19 Fiscal Strategy and Resource Guide

Jun 1, 2020

CLOSUP is partnering with experts from universities, consulting firms, and research institutions across Michigan to help local governments respond to fiscal challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. View the Resource Guide View the news...

Local Government COVID-19 Fiscal Strategy and Resource Guide

MPPS in the news

WOLVERINE CAUCUS: LOCAL GOVERNMENT FISCAL HEALTH

Mar 20, 2020 U-M Public Engagement

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CLOSUP Updates

Michigan Public Policy Survey - Spring 2019 County-wide Fiscal Health Fact Sheets

Feb 3, 2020

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...

MPPS in the news

Fiscal Health: Mixed Signals for Local Michigan Governments

Dec 11, 2019 Wisconsin Ag Connection

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News

Fiscal health: Mixed signals for Michigan’s local governments

Dec 11, 2019

ANN ARBOR—More than two-thirds of Michigan’s local government leaders rate their jurisdictions’ current fiscal stress as relatively low, according to a new survey by the University of Michigan’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy. On the...

State & Hill

CLOSUP’s Michigan Public Policy Survey turns 10

Nov 14, 2019

It’s been a tumultuous decade in Michigan: three governors, a cratered economy and its recovery, the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, a public health disaster in Flint, and more. Through it all, the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS)...

CLOSUP’s Michigan Public Policy Survey turns 10

MPPS in the news

Most government units in Michigan unprepared for next recession

Oct 30, 2019 105.5 FM WTHD LaGrange, IN

More than half of Michigan's local government leaders are concerned about the potential impact of the next recession on their jurisdictions' ability to deliver public services and maintain government operations. Although local leaders have...

State & Hill

Stephanie Leiser and Sarah Mills on perception versus reality in local government budgets

Apr 10, 2019

Local government officials’ assessments of their own fiscal health is often at odds with—and worse than—what their financial statements indicate, according to work done by Stephanie Leiser and Sarah Mills. The researchers note that this could be...

Stephanie Leiser and Sarah Mills on perception versus reality in local government budgets

News

Michigan News release: Local leaders say recovery is mixed, but slightly positive overall

Oct 12, 2017

Overall, the fiscal health of Michigan's local governments appears to have improved slightly since last year, according to a new survey by University of Michigan researchers. Across the state, 35 percent of the local government leaders surveyed say...

Coverage of CLOSUP medical marijuana policy poll grows like weed

News

Michigan News release: MPPS finds localities support emergency manager reforms

Feb 22, 2017

An overwhelming majority of local government leaders in Michigan support reform of the state's controversial emergency manager law, according to a new survey by University of Michigan researchers.Officials from more than 1,300 cities, counties,...

Michigan’s smaller local governments need help accessing state and federal grants

News

Register for our free webinar, “Is Michigan’s system of funding local government broken?”

Aug 23, 2016

The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy’s (CLOSUP) most recent Michigan Public Policy Survey finds a reversal in the trend of improving fiscal health among Michigan local governments.Despite an improving economy, fewer local governments say...

News

In latest CLOSUP survey, local leaders say fiscal stress is low, but see red flags

Sep 22, 2015

ANN ARBOR—About two-thirds of local governments in Michigan rate the levels of fiscal stress as relatively low in their jurisdictions today, while just 7 percent rate the stress as high. While the latter percentage is low, the figure represents...

In the Media

Survey: Mostly pessimistic view among officials

Oct 3, 2014 Argus-Press

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In the Media

Interview on local government fiscal health

Oct 2, 2014 Capital City Recap with Michael Cohen, WILS Radio 1320am, Lansing

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Government financial reporting - Data standards and the financial data transparency act

Jan 24, 2023, 3:00-4:00 pm EST

Join XBRL US for a session to explore government data standards, find out how governments can create their own machine-readable financial statements, and discover what impact this legislation could have on government entities. Most importantly, discover how machine-readable data standards can benefit state and local government entities by reducing costs and increasing access to time-sensitive information for policy making.

Trends in Michigan local government fiscal health

Oct 6, 2014, 12:00 pm EDT

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Detroit Branch Building

A presentation by the Michigan Public Policy Survey Program Managers, Tom Ivacko and Debra Horner.

The Fiscal Health of Michigan Local Governments 2021 - 2022

April 4, 2024

Stephanie Leiser, Margaret Walthall, Natalie Fitzpatrick

Following local government’s unprecedented responsibilities as first responders to the COVID-19 pandemic and their subsequent infusions of aid from the federal government, it is essential to check in on the fiscal health of Michigan’s local...

MPPS

Survey of Michigan local leaders finds major short-term boost in financial aid doesn't change fundamentals of fiscal stress

January 23, 2024

MPPS

Michigan local leaders report near-term improvements in fiscal health, especially in large jurisdictions, yet long-term concerns increase

December 14, 2022

Fiscal Health in Rural Communities: A Case Study of Pine River Township, Michigan

September 9, 2022

Stephanie Leiser, Maximilian Hill, Margaret Walthall

This case study examines the fiscal health of Pine River Township, Michigan, a mostly rural community in central Michigan, using data from the Township’s audited financial reports. We find that Pine River Township has a sizable and growing General...

Fiscal Health in Rural Counties: A Case Study of Ogemaw County, MI

September 9, 2022

Stephanie Leiser, Maximilian Hill

This case study examines the fiscal health of Ogemaw County, Michigan, a mostly rural county in the northeast lower peninsula of Michigan, using data from the County’s annual audited financial reports. We find that while Ogemaw County has struggled...

A Twenty-year Review of Flint’s Financial Condition

June 8, 2022

Stephanie Leiser, Shu Wang, James L. Tatum III

Over the past twenty years, few cities have experienced as much fiscal stress as Flint, Michigan. After decades of economic decline, two periods of state receivership, the water crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Flint is trying to shore...

MPPS

Michigan local government officials report improved fiscal health after a year of COVID-19, but not yet back to pre-pandemic levels

December 15, 2021