The House voted along near party lines to pass major reforms to various taxes in Michigan. Nicknamed HELP US (House Effectively Lowering Property Taxes and Utility Payments), the sponsors state their plan will cut nearly $5 billion in property taxes and reduce utility bills by $1 billion statewide.
Key Points:
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- House Bills 5873 – 5879 were introduced by Representatives Steve Frisbie (R-Pennfield Twp.), Rylee Linting (R-Grosse Ile), Karl Bohnak (R-Deerton), Thomas Kuhn (R-Troy), Ron Robinson (R-Utica), Josh Schriver (R-Oxford), and Jamie Thompson (R-Brownstown).
- It eliminates the 6-mil state-collected property tax.
- The proposal eliminates the real estate transfer tax, which is a fee paid at closing. The bill stipulates that the state’s School Aid Fund would be compensated for any revenue loss that may arise from eliminating the tax.
- Eliminates the remaining personal property taxes on businesses and utilities.
- Requires natural gas and electric utility companies to pass down savings they will receive through personal property tax reforms in the most recent tax year to customers. Additionally, they would not be able to file for rate increases for two years after the savings are distributed.
- The bills will be sent to the Senator for consideration.
When the package was first introduced in April, it included House Bill 5880, which imposes an excise tax on certain services. This bill was meant to replace the revenue loss to local governments. This bill remains before the House Government Operations Committee. The bill is tie-barred to the remaining package, meaning that in order for the other bills to take effect, this bill must also pass, or the bills would need to be amended to remove the tie-bar.
