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Thursday, April 12, 2012 Poll: Voters Favor Amendment For Full Replacement Of P.P.T. Revenue
LANSING - A poll released Thursday shows voters overwhelmingly oppose eliminating or significantly changing the personal property tax, and if the Legislature does so, a majority of voters would support a constitutional amendment to guarantee full replacement of the revenue it generates. EPIC-MRA conducted the poll on behalf of the Replace Don't Erase coalition, which is pushing hard to constitutionally guarantee replacement revenue. "Bottom line: Michigan voters simply don't trust or believe the proposal to cut the PPT that appears likely for introduction in the Senate," Dan Gilmartin, CEO and executive director of the Michigan Municipal League, a member of Replace Don't Erase, said in a statement. "Voters don't want the Legislature to take away, and take control of, all or part of the revenues local communities and schools receive directly today. Voters know that if the Legislature takes these revenues from local communities, it will never come back to those communities without some type of legal guarantee." The poll found 70 percent of respondents opposed eliminating or significantly cutting the tax, and 58 percent would support the constitutional amendment. Democrats oppose cutting or eliminating the tax by 86 percent, and Republicans by 52 percent, the poll found. And 69 percent of Democratic voters would favor an amendment guaranteeing full replacement, with Republicans also favoring it, but at 51 percent. An eight-bill package to curb the personal property tax will be introduced in the Senate next week and will see its first hearing April 18. The legislation would phase out the tax on industrial property over a 10-year period beginning in 2016 and set a threshold where businesses with industrial or commercial personal property valued at less than $40,000 would be exempt from the tax. The plan is to use expiring business tax credits to offset the estimated $500 million hit of curbing the personal property tax. The survey was conducted from March 31 to April 3 among 600 voters. The poll has an error margin of plus or minus 4 percentage points. This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com a>>
Author: Staff Writer Source: MITechNews.Com
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