State legislators continue their allegedly principled battle over whether to cut spending or raise taxes in order to balance the state budget by October 1.
If you don’t depend on state services, say for health care or to feed your children, then the cuts proposed by House Republicans might not seem to mean much to you. They do mean a lot to the cities of Farmington and Farmington Hills, both of which receive state shared revenues.
Given that the source of those funds is sales tax revenues, it’s no surprise that state shared revenues have steadily declined for the past half-dozen years. Population determines how much a city receives, so the City of Farmington budgets around $700,000 or almost 10 percent of a $7.5 million budget, while the City of Farmington Hills receives more than $6 million, or 12.4 percent of $52 million in revenues.
Cities provide services closest to citizens: police, fire, zoning, trash pick-up. So rest assured, if the list of Draconian cuts proposed passes, including the elimination of state shared revenues, you will feel it.
We all will.
–Joni Hubred-Golden
