Michigan voters would face a choice next year between competing plans to cut property taxes if the state House Republican leader has his way.
Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) said Friday that he would like the Legislature to adopt a property tax cut proposal and then put an alternative on the ballot so voters could decide between the two.
“Because I believe we need to cut property taxes,” Hall said on the Michigan Public Television show Off The Record. “Affordability is going to be probably the biggest issue in the election.”
Hall said over the summer that he hoped to tackle property taxes this year, although time is growing short to accomplish that in 2025.
This week, he said his idea is patterned after the last big voter-approved property tax overhaul in 1997. Voters chose to boost the state sales instead of an income tax increase to replace property tax funding for schools. Maintaining the status quo was not an option.
Hall said he is mulling multiple options before deciding which two ideas to put forward in his own tax overhaul effort.
“So what I’m looking at is potentially two competing proposals, working through the Legislature to put that on the ballot in giving the people of Michigan two choices,” he said.
Hall said he wants to ensure the options he chooses protect funding for local governments and schools, which rely on property taxes for some of their revenue. He has also called for dropping the state’s income tax rate.
Putting a question on the ballot next year would require bipartisan approval because the state Senate is controlled by Democrats. Governor Gretchen Whitmer would also have to agree to put the question to voters. Whitmer’s office did not have an immediate reaction to Hall’s comments.
An unpredictable election year looms as Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson are broomed out by term limits and every seat in the Legislature is on the ballot, with control of the Michigan House and Senate at stake. A high-interest ballot question could influence the results.
