Kent County lobbyist warns state budget fights could leave local governments behind

Adam Wright, a lobbyist with Midwest Strategy Group representing Kent County in Lansing, told the Policy and Operations Committee on May 26 that competing budget plans in Lansing leave significant uncertainty for local governments.

Wright said Governor Whitmer proposed an $88,100,000,000 budget, the Michigan Senate passed an $88,000,000,000 version and the Michigan House passed an approximately $78,000,000,000 plan. He said May revenue estimates showed a modest upward revision — roughly $174,000,000 for the combined general fund and school aid fund for FY27 — but overall revenues remain lower year over year.

The key risk, Wright said, is a House Republican proposal to eliminate several state taxes as part of a roughly $5,000,000,000 tax-cut package that would rely on expanding the sales tax to services to replace revenue. “The jury’s out on the plan until we know what the revenue replacement looks like,” Wright said, adding that initial drafts do not appear to be dollar-for-dollar replacements for local governments.

Wright urged commissioners to support a revenue sharing trust fund passed by the Senate that would earmark a portion of state sales tax for formulaic local revenue sharing rather than leaving payouts to annual appropriations. “If we can get this signed into law and as part of the budget deal, local governments won’t have to beg the legislature year after year for revenue sharing,” he said. He cautioned, however, that the amount available from a trust fund would still track state sales-tax receipts and could fall when revenues decline.

Commissioners used the presentation to press Wright on specifics. Commissioner Hennessy asked how the trust fund would change Kent County’s current revenue-sharing receipts and whether it would increase future payments; Wright said it could make revenue sharing more predictable but that the pool would depend on sales-tax collections. On the House tax-cut package, Wright said the House has passed the tax-cut portion but not the revenue-replacement bill and that negotiations could fold the tax changes into final budget talks.

Wright also briefed the committee on other items he’s tracking in Lansing, including legislatively directed spending items (LDSI) the county has submitted, a trial-court funding commission proposal, and House Bill 5452 to remove the sunset on certain court fees. He said drain-code modernization and a statewide septic bill remain under consideration but have slowed.

Wright recommended continuing county outreach with Kent County’s delegation as budget negotiations unfold and flagged the fall elections and a potential lame‑duck session as moments when stalled bills could return. The committee did not take formal action on any state bills at the meeting; Wright agreed to follow up on cost estimates and bill movement when available.