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Michigan Association of Counties director briefs Berrien County on Lansing priorities
Summary
Steve Curry, executive director of the Michigan Association of Counties, briefed the Berrien County Board on state-level funding and policy items affecting counties including revenue sharing, trial court funding, roads, and several reimbursement proposals.
Steve Curry, executive director of the Michigan Association of Counties, told the Berrien County Board of Commissioners on Monday that MAC is focusing on revenue sharing, trial court funding, public-safety trust funds and several reimbursement proposals for county losses.
Curry said county revenue sharing is “one of the primary funding sources for counties,” and that MAC secured a $30 million increase last year. He described the governor's recommendation for a 3.6% revenue-sharing increase and contrasted that with a Senate-passed 10% increase tied to taxable value growth, which MAC supports.
Curry warned that a trial-court funding transition remains unsettled: “That sunset date is due to come up at the end of 2026,” and work groups are developing recommendations about which employees should be paid by counties or the state. He said MAC is monitoring those work groups but did not describe final legislation.
On public safety and roads, Curry summarized competing budget and policy proposals. He said the House Republican roads plan would roughly double county road funding for most counties by shifting from the sales tax on gasoline to a gas tax and other revenue moves. "At this point, we are supportive," he said of the plan's county funding, while warning that the shift could reduce general fund dollars used for other local services.
Curry described several county concerns and legislative priorities for 2025: protecting revenue-sharing trust fund proposals (bills cited as 4311 and 4312), seeking state reimbursement for veterans' property tax exemption impacts, and pushing a permanent state solution for court funding. He also noted MAC's work on a federal 1115 waiver to allow incarcerated people pretrial to retain public health coverage and on a prior small-business personal property tax (PPT) reimbursement that returned $7.575 billion annually to local units.
Board members asked questions about active ballot measures and county authority over wind and solar siting. Curry warned that a pending ballot proposal (referred to in the meeting as the "x my tax" initiative) could substantially reduce revenue for local governments, saying the proposed backfill would not fully compensate localities. On zoning authority for wind and solar, he said Representative Alexander has introduced bills to restore local control and that litigation also is underway.
Curry closed by describing MAC services (cooperative purchasing, education and conferences) and thanking the board for local engagement. He invited commissioners to consider running for a regional seat on MAC's board and said application information would appear in upcoming MAC updates.
