MPPS | Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy

News

Small Michigan communities feel early voting strain

Oct 11, 2026

Most Michigan city and township officials report positive or neutral impacts from recent state election administration reforms, but many cite the costs and staffing demands associated with nine days of early in-person voting as a concern, according t...

Small Michigan communities feel early voting strain

In the Media

Horner: Local governance a widespread problem among jurisdictions across the state

Oct 2, 2026 Bridge Michigan

Over 3/4 of jurisdictions said that they have difficulty finding enough residents willing to run for local office. that candidacies when they do find people are often uncontested. And beyond that, they can't find residents that are willing to serve o...

Horner: Local governance a widespread problem among jurisdictions across the state

Publication

Majority of Michigan’s local government leaders support regulation of data centers, per U-M survey

Sep 24, 2026

Solid majorities of Michigan's local officials say their residents would strongly oppose data center development in or near their communities, and believe governmental regulation of such centers should be a very high priority. Those are among the key...

Majority of Michigan’s local government leaders support regulation of data centers, per U-M survey

CLOSUP Updates

New MPPS Report: Michigan local government leaders’ views on large-scale data center development

Sep 22, 2026

A new MPPS report presents the opinions of Michigan's local government leaders on issues related to large-scale data center development in Michigan, including perceived impacts, local support for the development of data centers in or near the communi...

News

Leiser promotes new MPPS report: Michigan local governments highly confident in election integrity

Aug 17, 2026

In a commentary for The Conversation, Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy director Stephanie Leiser promotes the latest findings of the Michigan Public Policy Survey,(MPPS) which show that "local officials across Michigan are highly confident i...

News

Michigan's local leaders remain confident in election security, accuracy despite claims of vulnerabilities

Jul 21, 2026

Local officials across Michigan have maintained high confidence in election security and accuracy over the past several years. A soon-to-be released survey from the University of Michigan shows city and township officials—including those who conduct ...

Michigan's local leaders remain confident in election security, accuracy despite claims of vulnerabilities

CLOSUP Updates

New MPPS Policy Brief: Local officials report declining outlook for state, plummeting approval of the Legislature

Jul 7, 2026

A new policy brief 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.

News

Majority of Michigan's local leaders see state moving in wrong direction, U-M survey finds

Jul 7, 2026

A majority of local government officials in Michigan say the state is on the wrong track, according to a new University of Michigan survey that reverses a three-year trend in improving attitudes about the state's overall direction. To be sure, the fi...

Majority of Michigan's local leaders see state moving in wrong direction, U-M survey finds

Publication

Michigan's local governments make progress on budgeting, but many lag on long-term planning

May 6, 2026

In a time of economic volatility, relatively few local governments in Michigan report they are doing long-term financial planning—though many say they'd like to be doing more. The findings come in the latest installment of the Michigan Public Policy ...

Michigan's local governments make progress on budgeting, but many lag on long-term planning

State & Hill

25 years of CLOSUP

Apr 11, 2026

When the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission faced a tidal wave of public input—more than 30,000 comments—the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) and Ford School students stepped in. Their analysis helped the commiss...

CLOSUP Updates

New MPPS Policy Brief: Many Michigan local governments struggle to find residents willing to run for office or serve on boards

Apr 8, 2026

A new MPPS policy brief presents the opinions of Michigan's local government leaders on resident engagement in their communities. One significant area of concern is resident representation on local elected and appointed boards.

In the Media

Leiser discusses CLOSUP at 25 and the Michigan Public Policy Survey to Washtenaw County

Apr 7, 2026 WEMU

Director of the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) Stephanie Leiser discusses the Michigan Public Policy Survey that has implications for Michigan's local government leaders from well over a thousand counties, cities, villages and town...

Stephanie Leiser: Helping local goverments in Michigan become healthier and more resilient

In the Media

Local democracy is holding strong, but rural communities are falling behind - Leiser

Dec 20, 2025 The Conversation

According to our recent survey of officials in Michigan communities, local democracy is humming along and city hall is taking care of business. The federal government was shut down in October and November 2025, but cities and towns around the United ...

Local democracy is holding strong, but rural communities are falling behind - Leiser

Publication

Fiscal stress rising among Michigan communities, particularly in small, rural towns, U-M survey finds

Dec 17, 2025

Fewer than half of Michigan's smaller and more rural communities report good fiscal health, reflecting a trend of rising financial stress among local governments across the state and growing concerns about having enough money to keep up with increase...

Fiscal stress rising among Michigan communities, particularly in small, rural towns, U-M survey finds

Publication

Local officials in Michigan report plummeting engagement with residents despite myriad methods

Oct 28, 2025

From voicemail to email, social media to snail mail—even bulletin boards in public places—there’s no lack of newfangled and old-school ways for local leaders to reach residents in their communities. Still, officials across Michigan report alarming de...

Local officials in Michigan report plummeting engagement with residents despite myriad methods

Publication

Many local Michigan officials say services threatened by faltering local government funding system

Sep 24, 2025

Michigan’s local officials are growing more pessimistic about their ability to maintain—let alone expand—services under the current local government funding system, according to a University of Michigan study. That’s the main takeaway from the latest...

Many local Michigan officials say services threatened by faltering local government funding system

Publication

Local governments in Michigan concerned about problems spurred by state, federal funding cuts

Aug 13, 2025

Many of Michigan’s local government officials—especially at the city and county level—believe a temporary or permanent loss of public funding will cause financial problems, though fewer are preparing for such cuts. The findings come from the latest i...

Local governments in Michigan concerned about problems spurred by state, federal funding cuts

Publication

Michigan's local leaders express lingering pessimism, entrenched partisanship about state's direction

Jul 22, 2025

Despite improvement since the COVID-19 pandemic, more than half of Michigan local officials say the state is on the wrong track. These findings are from the latest installment of the Michigan Public Policy Survey conducted by the University of Michig...

Michigan's local leaders express lingering pessimism, entrenched partisanship about state's direction

CLOSUP Updates

New MPPS Policy Brief: A majority of Michigan local officials continue to say the state is on the wrong track, reflecting partisan affiliation and growing uncertainty

Jul 22, 2025

A new MPPS policy brief 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. ...

CLOSUP Updates

Michigan Leaders Back Police Misconduct Database, Not Access

Jul 9, 2025 Mirage News

Michigan's local leaders strongly support a law enforcement database for keeping track of officer misconduct, though far fewer are in favor of that database being accessible to the public. That's a key finding from the latest installment of the Michi...

CLOSUP Updates

Report: Local lawmakers, law enforcement officers want access to misconduct reports, internal investigations

Jul 8, 2025 Gongwer

There is widespread support among local government and law enforcement for the creation of a statewide misconduct database for law enforcement officers, according to a report from the University of Michigan's Center for Local, State and Urban Policy....

Publication

Michigan's local leaders support database tracking police misconduct, far fewer favor public access to it

Jul 8, 2025

CLOSUP Updates

New MPPS Report: Michigan local government and law enforcement leaders’ nuanced views on police accountability issues

Jul 8, 2025

A new MPPS report presents the views of Michigan’s local government leaders, local chiefs of police, county sheriffs, and county prosecutors regarding accountability in law enforcement, including opinions on a nationwide officer misconduct database, ...

Local Officials: Residents trust police more where there are policies to improve relations

CLOSUP Updates

Report: more localities implementing policies to improve relationships between communities and police

Jun 2, 2025 State Affairs

Michigan communities have increasingly adopted techniques to improve relations between their residents and local police, a study from the University of Michigan’s Center for Local, State and Urban Policy found, but have seen less movement on making t...

CLOSUP Updates

New MPPS Policy Brief: More Michigan communities using policies to improve police-community relations

May 20, 2025

A new MPPS policy brief presents the views of local government leaders from around the state, who were asked about policies and practices associated with police-community relations on both the Fall 2015 and Spring 2024 waves of the Michigan Public Po...

MPPS in the news

Survey: Law enforcement surveillance technology is rapidly progressing, but AI raises concerns

Apr 29, 2025 Yahoo News

Usage of surveillance technology by law enforcement agencies in Michigan has exploded in the last decade, but a recent survey conducted by the University of Michigan found that as artificial intelligence tools are developed, law enforcement and local...

Publication

Many local officials in Michigan uncertain about the use of AI or other predictive policing tools

Apr 23, 2025

Survey researchers describe a ‘Wild West’ phase, express hope for clarity, regulationWhile law enforcement surveillance technology use has boomed, some Michigan officials are wary of adopting newer AI-driven policing tools, according to a University ...

Many local officials in Michigan uncertain about the use of AI or other predictive policing tools

CLOSUP Updates

Amplifying local voices: Michigan Public Policy Survey shares insights, experiences of Michigan’s township officials

Mar 21, 2025 Township Focus

For more than 15 years, a statewide survey of local government officials has helped to garner the opinions, experiences and insights of thousands of public leaders. These efforts, in which MTA is a partner, glean important information to help inform ...

News

Most Michigan law enforcement officials back some use of mental health workers, others in 911 response

Feb 26, 2025

Most of Michigan’s county sheriffs and local police chiefs support some type of alternative or hybrid approach for responding to 911 calls beyond traditional law enforcement officers. However, a majority of them believe it would be difficult to imple...

Most Michigan law enforcement officials back some use of mental health workers, others in 911 response

CLOSUP Updates

New MPPS Report: Michigan local leaders’ views on policing co-response and alternative response teams

Feb 26, 2025

A new MPPS report presents presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders, local chiefs of police, and county sheriffs on alternative approaches to traditional policing that might involve other professionals, such as mental health profe...

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