New Michigan legislation would allow local “Rain Tax”.

New Michigan legislation would allow local “Rain Tax”.

• "Local governments would be be allowed to disguise taxes as "fees."

Last session, Senate Bill 756, sponsored by Republican Marty Knollenberg, would have authorized local governments to impose a “rain tax” to fund municipal sewer projects and maintenance without a local vote. 

The bill was an attempt to get around a Michigan Supreme Court ruling that such “fees” are taxes and require a local vote. 

The taxes are based on how much rain falls on a property. 

In cities, where the tax was attempted, bills were sent to small businesses for thousands of dollars. 

...Empowering local governments to subvert the constitutional process for raising taxes, by disguising them as fees, undoes the hard work that has been done to improve Michigan’s business climate."

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