local government

News

Leiser shares expertise on government financial reporting in webinar

Jan 29, 2023

The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) has been partnering with XBRL US, to work with the City of Flint to explore whether a new fiscal reporting mechanism for governmental entities can help create transparency—and prevent future...

Leiser shares expertise on government financial reporting in webinar

News

Michigan local government officials cite good rapport with each other and public, despite divisive discourse

Oct 13, 2022

Michigan’s local government leaders report generally good relationships among officials and residents, despite well-documented examples of coarsening discourse and antagonism in public gatherings, according to a new University of Michigan...

Local government fiscal outlook in Michigan a mixed picture: near-term improvement, long-term challenges

MPPS in the news

Almost half of Michigan local officials report harassment and abuse, survey finds

Sep 8, 2022 Detroit Free Press

Delta Township Clerk Mary Clark thought it'd be a good idea to invite her community to have a conversation about how elections work. The veteran elections official wanted to walk through how voting apparatuses are operated, broadly explain security...

In the Media

Leiser on building a better local government financial reporting system

Aug 23, 2022 The Bond Buyer

Through a Michigan pilot program, Stephanie Leiser and the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy are building a taxonomy for machine-readable local government financial documents. "Transparency into local government fiscal health is needed to...

Leiser on building a better local government financial reporting system

News

CLOSUP and Ivacko applauded for partnering with city of Flint

Dec 8, 2021

News outlets are applauding Tom Ivacko and the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy's announcement about a project with the city of Flint that will examine whether a new fiscal reporting mechanism can help create transparency in local fiscal...

Ivacko discusses voter priorities in 2022 election

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...

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

News

Students support local organizations to improve equity

Aug 28, 2020

One element of the struggle for economic equity in Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) communities is the intentional denial of support networks that provide funding, customers, connections or other resources for businesses and...

Students support local organizations to improve equity

CLOSUP Updates

MPPS Report: Confidence in the accuracy of Michigan’s 2020 Census count among local leaders was not very high, slips further

Aug 25, 2020

Abstract This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding the 2020 U.S. Census, including their confidence in the potential accuracy of the count both locally and at the state level, as well as information about...

A blue map of Michigan layered over a blue neighborhood map

CLOSUP Updates

MPPS Report: Michigan local leaders expect mixed impacts from expanded voter registration and absentee voting reforms

Jun 28, 2020

Abstract This report presents the experiences and opinions of Michigan’s local government clerks and other city and township leaders regarding three statewide voting and election reforms: 1) voter registration up to 15 days before an election via...

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

News

Coronavirus response suffers when local government is starved

Mar 20, 2020

Local governments are on the front lines of the response to the coronavirus crisis. Their actions will ultimately shape how well the U.S. can survive COVID-19 and its economic aftermath, according to an opinion contribution in The Hill written by...

News

CLOSUP presents to lawmakers at Wolverine Caucus

Feb 28, 2020

Tom Ivacko and Debra Horner from CLOSUP presented findings from the Michigan Public Policy Survey at a Wolverine Caucus presentation on February 25. “Michigan is experiencing its longest–ever period of sustained economic growth, but because of a web...

CLOSUP presents to lawmakers at Wolverine Caucus

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...

In the Media

Michigan’s local governments are moving towards environmental sustainability

Jan 23, 2020 WCMU Public Radio

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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...

News

Sarah Mills work featured on This is Michigan

Apr 19, 2019

With bias and misinformation swirling around the consequences of wind turbine installation, local government officials are hard-pressed to find reliable information for themselves and their communities. Certainly there are tangible...

Sarah Mills work featured on This is Michigan

News

Mills weighs in on UP wind energy project

Apr 8, 2019

In Michigan's Upper Peninsula a proposal to construct 49 wind turbines across 28,000 acres of the Huron Mountains is the subject of criticism from the local communities. To get perspective in her April 4, 2019 story on Interlochen Public Radio, Kaye...

Mills weighs in on UP wind energy project

News

Sarah Mills' key to the success of wind energy projects gets media attention

Feb 11, 2019

As the drive to develop renewable energy projects escalates, attention shifts towards harnessing wind energy as a reliable energy source. Despite the benefits wind energy provides—mainly jobs—advocates for wind energy must continue to combat...

News

Sarah Mills' latest article signals a crucial relationship between homeowner attitudes and the fate of wind energy projects in Michigan

Jan 25, 2019

In her latest journal article, published in Land Use Policy, Sarah Mills of the Ford School elaborates on public attitudes pertaining to wind energy development projects before and after the completion of the project. In “Exploring landowners’...

News

Partisan divide felt less at local level, writes Ivacko

Jan 9, 2019

In an opinion column for Governing, Tom Ivacko (MPP ’93), associate director of CLOSUP, breaks down the latest Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS) findings on civil discourse in Michigan localities.“Will the National Partisan Breakdown Infect Our...

Ivacko makes sense of the recreational marijuana ‘haze’

News

CLOSUP report: Mixed signals in local government fiscal health across Michigan

Nov 15, 2018

By Mandira Banerjee | Originally published by Michigan News, November 14, 2018ANN ARBOR— Michigan’s local governments report improvement and decline in fiscal health over the last year, according to a University of Michigan survey.The biggest...

CLOSUP survey shows low and slipping confidence in accuracy of Michigan's 2020 Census

News

Mills provides power of information, nears end of Michigan wind energy tour

Nov 16, 2017

Sarah Mills is working to dispel rumors and inform rural Michiganders of the pros and cons of wind farm energy.Mills, a post-doctoral fellow at the Ford School’s Center for Local, State and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), received an $80,000 grant from the...

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

On WEMU, CivCity founder discusses CLOSUP report on Michigan civic engagement

Aug 9, 2017

Mary Morgan, executive director of the CivCity Initiative, joined WEMU’s David Fair this Monday for an on-air discussion of local civic engagement. Among the topics discussed: New findings from the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), a biannual...

On WEMU, CivCity founder discusses CLOSUP report on Michigan civic engagement

News

Michigan News release: Survey says local leaders want more citizen engagement

Aug 1, 2017

ANN ARBOR—Increasing numbers of Michigan’s local government leaders want citizens to play a more active role in local governance, according to a new survey from the University of Michigan.Local leaders also reported that their citizens are less...

News

Michigan News release: In CLOSUP survey, Michigan's local leaders ask Lansing to listen

May 4, 2017

Many local government leaders across Michigan aren't content with their jurisdiction's relationship with state government, according to a new survey by University of Michigan researchers. The latest Michigan Public Policy Survey explored factors...

Two-thirds of local leaders see Michigan moving in wrong direction, according to annual U-M survey

News

CLOSUP survey: Local leaders concerned about property tax appeals, "dark stores" assessing

Oct 26, 2016

Findings from the most recent Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), published by the Ford School’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), reveal broad concern by local leaders and administrators over property tax appeals. The survey...

MPPS in the news

Public Policy Survey: MI local governments report first declines in fiscal health trend since 2010

Sep 30, 2016 Business Leaders for Michigan

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MPPS in the news

Local governments show decline in feelings about economic health

Aug 23, 2016 WGVU Public Media, 88.5 FM Grand Rapids, 95.3 FM Muskegon

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News

Latest CLOSUP survey shows declining confidence in Michigan’s leadership, direction

Jul 20, 2016

The latest Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), published by the Ford School's Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), finds that local leaders are less optimistic about the state’s direction.Statewide, only 44 percent of local leaders...