Posts Tagged ‘budget’

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Replacement for Brownfield and Historic Tax Credits

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

The Michigan Community Revitalization Program (CR), which is intended to replace the Michigan Brownfield and Historic Tax Credits as well as the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEGA) Tax Credits, provides new guidelines for Historic and Brownfield Development, including redefining who is eligible and what types of projects will be funded.

A package of bills (SB 566 – 568, 644) outlines the project eligibility requirements for the program.  The new program defines an eligible investment as any demolition, construction, alteration, rehabilitation, or improvement of buildings, site improvements, and the addition of machinery, equipment, or fixtures to the approved project, as well as architectural, engineering, surveying and similar professional fees.  The definition for an eligible property as defined by the CR includes polluted property, a historic resource, blighted property, functionally obsolete, and any parcel adjacent to these property types.

These programs, as well as the Michigan Business Development Program, will share a pool of appropriated funds from the state budget.  The pool amount budgeted for the current fiscal year is $100 million.  At least $20 million must be used for the CR program.  Awards of CR funds will likely either be made in the form of grants, soft loans or “other financial assistance”.  Grants are capped at $1M per project and loans/ other at $10M.

The bills passed the Senate in September and were recently voted out of the House Commerce Committee with amendments, the most controversial of which prohibits functionally obsolete property from receive more than 25% of the total cost of the eligible investment on a single project, and limits the total investment in any one project to $3 million.  While better than a previous amendment that would have prohibited functionally obsolete property entirely, this amendment is still cause for concern because it will potentially limit the ability to support projects for obsolete and blighted projects which will create big investments and jobs in our communities (see here).

The bills are expected to be voted on in the full House within the next few weeks, after which the amended bills will be sent back to the Senate.

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What’s Up With the Budget?

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

[This post is from Ross H. Yednock, Director of the Asset Building Policy Project.]

A lot has happened in Lansing in the last month, all of which seems to deal with how we choose to fund state and local government.

The big news in the asset building world is that the Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit was preserved, albeit at a much lower rate (it will now be 6 percent of the federal EITC, as opposed to 20 percent). Other developments include the elimination of nearly all business and personal income tax credits and deductions, including brownfield and historic tax credits and credits for individual contributions to individual development accounts and charities. In addition to these major changes, Michigan businesses will no longer pay the Michigan Business Tax (some will pay a corporate income tax, but in all, businesses will pay $1.7 billion less in taxes next year) and retirees will now have their pensions taxed.

What does this all mean? I guess it depends on who you ask. Some argue this will create more jobs and stimulate the economy while others fear community development and asset building efforts will face greater challenges. One thing for sure is that the old way of doing things will change.

I do want to point out, however, that victories like the preservation of the Michigan EITC were a result of practitioners, advocates and recipients coming together to voice a coordinated message that explained the importance of policies that provide working families a hand up. Moving forward, we (CEDAM, you, me, all of us) will need to continue to communicate and stay informed if we are going to continue to help impact public policy and improve practices to help working families achieve sustainable financial security.

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Find Out More About Proposed Federal Budget Cuts

Thursday, February 24th, 2011

President Obama released his budget proposal last Monday. As the administration, the legislature, and departments struggle to find a budget solution that works, see below for what our national affiliates and other experts are saying. CEDAM opposes the steep cuts to crucial housing and human services programs and is working with our partners and affiliates to protect these programs. We encourage you to contact your legislators and tell them what programs matter to you and how they help you serve your community.

National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC)

House to Consider Major Cuts to HUD Budget

House FY11 Budget Bill Slashes and Burns Federal Housing Safety Net

Action Alert- Object to the House Assault on Affordable Housing Now

FY11-FY12 Budget Selected HUD Programs Chart (PDF)

FY11-FY12 Budget Comparisons Chart (PDF)

Statement from the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding on President Obama’s FY12 Budget

Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH)

Spending Cuts: CSH Responds

National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC)

Fannie/Freddie Plan Must Not Lock Working Families Out Of Homes

Michigan Nonprofit Association:

Update on National Service Funding – It’s Time to Take Action!

Other Expert: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

House GOP Proposal Means Fewer Children in Head Start, Less Help for Students to Attend College, Less Job Training, and Less Funding for Clean Water

The Gory Details on House Republicans’ 2011 Spending Cut Proposal

All posts tagged “federal budget” on the Off the Charts blog

Other Expert: Coalition on Human Needs

First Things First for Michigan: The President’s Budget Makes the Wrong Choices for Michigan (PDF)

Toolkit: Strengthening America’s Values and Economy for All

Other Expert: Enterprise Community Partners (added 1:23 p.m. 2/24/11)

Budget and Appropriations resource page

Obama Administration Releases FY 2012 Budget Proposal; FY 2011 Continuing Resolution Proposes Significant Cuts

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Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit to be Eliminated Under House Plan

Monday, January 31st, 2011

[This EITC update is brought to you by Ross Yednock, Director of the Asset Building Policy Project at CEDAM.]

The House Republicans recently unveiled their legislative plan entitled Guiding Principles: Jobs, Reform, Responsible Leadership (PDF). The plan calls for, among other things, more transparency in government spending and contracts, cutting government worker benefits and pay, speeding up permit applications and reviewing current tax credits and exemptions.  Specifically, the plan calls for the elimination of the state Earned Income Tax Credit.

The Asset Building Policy Project (ABPP) at CEDAM joins the Michigan Catholic Conference, the Michigan League for Human Services and others in opposing the elimination of the state EITC.

The state EITC provides critical support for Michigan’s workings families striving to achieve self-sufficiency. It is not a “hand out” or “paying people not to work” as some lawmakers have said. Such comments are gross mischaracterizations of the state EITC and overlook its proven effectiveness in lifting families out of poverty by removing barriers to work and promoting financial independence. Moreover, comments that are at best inadvertently inaccurate, or at worst, deliberately deceitful, hinder real public debate and discourse on the important policy matters that will move Michigan forward.

The state EITC, along with the federal EITC, helps nearly 800,000 Michigan families every year offset the impact that payroll, sales, and other taxes has on their limited budgets. In addition to helping families, both the state and federal EITC provide an economic stimulus to local communities, as these refunds generate new economic activity and help local grocers, day care providers, retailers, banks, credit unions and more stay afloat and keep jobs in the community. Eliminating the state EITC two years since it took effect will hurt Michigan families and make it harder for all of Michigan to move forward.

The House Republican plan also calls for implementing a strict 48 month, lifetime limit for welfare recipients in Michigan. The exemptions to the 48 month, lifetime limit Michigan currently has in place mostly deal with “hardship” and the inability to find work despite looking. As state lawmakers look at this part of the House Republican proposal, the ABPP at CEDAM urges them to also eliminate asset limits for this program, as well. Such a policy discourages financial self-sufficiency and state workers could use the time and resources they spend determining if their client meets asset-tests to actually help their clients use their assets to achieve financial security.

To learn more about the state EITC:

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Housing and Community Development Funding in the President’s FY 2011 Budget

Monday, February 15th, 2010

[This is the second post in a new blog series on the FY2011 State and Federal budgets.]

On February 1, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary  Donovan released his Fiscal Year 2011 budget proposal, following President Obama’s administration-wide budget proposal.

Many programs in the HUD budget are slated to receive a funding increase in preparation for the President’s proposed three-year freeze on discretionary spending. Along with funding increases, the budget focuses on innovation and improvement; this presents both opportunities and challenges to CED practitioners in Michigan.

Points of interest and further resources below.

(more…)

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