In case you're not aware, we have to go vote May 5 to prevent the 0bamacare of Michigan tax hikes from amending the state Constitution. We elected a bunch of "conservatives" who refuse to make hard spending decisions, so they've punted to the voters and we need to go vote.

Here is a summary of the ballot proposal from Citizens Research Council

Here is a quote from the above:



In other words, we send the Lansing elders a pile of $$$ already, but the elders don't want to get blamed for giving anyone less $$$, so they want new sources of $$$ so no one gets mad at them.

I also suggest you review the coalition of "groups" pushing for the proposal to pass:

Police and Sheriff associations (.gov employees)
Firefighters and first responders (.gov employees)
Chambers of Commerce, business leaders, convenience stores (RINOs and a few stooges)
Farmers, environmental stewards (a few stooges and treehuggers)
Labor (.gov suckups)
Teachers, bus drivers and school administrators (.gov employees)
Local government (.gov employees)
Transportation (WTF? like whom exactly? More BS!)

It's a bunch of groups that are recipients of tax $$$, and a few stooges and made-up groups. The .gov employees will probably take it hard if this doesn't pass, and I don't wish them ill will. But in the private sector wage growth is lagging way behind inflation. It's a shit sandwich and I'm tired of eating most of it.

VOTE NO MAY 5!!!

What bugs me, is they are pushing this to fund fixing the roads.  However there is nothing that requires the funds to go to roads.  There is a constitutional requirement in it for more funding to the school aid fund, which is listed as a lesser goal of Prop1 on the ballot, but nothing dictates how the majority of the additional funds raised should be spent.  All we would get is a 1% increase in sales tax, and a 'promise' that some of that will go to roads.  Three months later they can point the funds elsewhere.

In fact the first two years allocate about 75% of the collections towards retiring existing road debt before they refinance new construction

Prop15-1

I don't see anything in there that states the spending, other than the School Aid Fund.  If you have a source that shows more, I'd love to see it.

I'm going to vote against it like a Democrat

That coalition list is Horse shit!!

No names of organizations, and just vague statements from individuals that are claimed to be members of whatever.

All the Farmers here, would like to Stuff Ricky in a pothole, and cold patch over his stupid ass, for being a Progressive RINO and trying to jack taxes, instead of cutting the Fat.


The MEA is supporting the bill, because it keeps the parasite Teachers, from getting their bloated payroll and pension chopped.

The current "Road tax" is used for just about everything BUT maintaining the roads, and one of those things is the Bloated state Pensions at every point in Education.

Cut Detroit, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Flint, Jackson, and essentially the Southeast corner off the tit, and make the Citiots return all the road funding that has been diverted for the last 12 years, and our roads will be fine. It's a Citiot probelm really. The South eastern Marxist Burbtards have run out of other peoples money to spend. Fuck 'em.

S-28, damn you for making sense.



I can't wait to leave this fucked up place behind later this year. All states have their issues, but Michigan politics gets old quick.

The only way for state Reps to get elected in the South east, is to play "Moderate" and suck off the UAW, MEA, and Burbtards.

Get out of that corner, and it's a completely different state.

Roads are better, schools are under more local control, and shit just works better.  
It's been that way since the 70's.

No need to move out of state really.
You will find similar bullsshit in any state that has a large city with huge Burbs, and it just gets worse when there are more big citys spread out, like Ohio.

At least here we have them mostly contained in the "Detroit sector".

Oh, I know full well of what you speak. I've lived on either side of the state. To say things made more sense on the west side would be an understatement. Still, I like deserts and mountains and Michigan lacks either of those.

Desserts and mountains?

Yeah...I guess. I got a belly full of both in the Corps., but if a guy is into such things he's gonna need to head west, and deal with a lack of water.

I shudder to think, what Michigan spring time would be like with mountains....it's crazy enough on rolling hills.

It was in the Detroit Free Press or Detroit News Fact or Fiction on Prop 1 about 2 weeks ago. On the surface it makes sense to pay off more expensive bonds now rather than continue to pay the higher expense before new projects. However that means a delay in actual major construction

No way is a sales tax increase ever the correct answer.  It sounds like the 13 colonies all over again.

And Shermies, I get off there every day.

Everything I have been able to find, points that the tax hike, and money to the school aid fund is binding.  All the money for road repair is just a standard budget item.  Nothing prevents these budget items from being redirected and changes they day after the election.  Its just extra money for the state, to divert to whatever pet project they want.

And there were people on this site that called me a ''lib'' because I wouldn't vote for the POS ''Republican'' RINO Snider................

Ya'll better get your ass out and vote and plan on doing it again if it doesn't go Snider's way.

That SOB is a tax and spend quasicon republican and no one should have been fooled by him after his first term if they had listened to him the last two years before the last election.

I didn't vote for Snyder. I voted against the loony Democrat.

I didn't vote for either but a solid republican state house would have stymied anything the turd would have tried to do. The worst situation is a gov and house that is one party and the house members don't have enough courage to tell the gov to piss off when he crosses the line.

I want to know where all the money is going now.   We already more taxes than the vast majority of other states, how are they doing it with less income than us?

Because we have a shitload of welfarians and section 8r's. If I showed someone all the section 8 housing apts  just in my area they'd stroke out. [and with my job, I know the vast majority of them] We're not even talking about the section 8 houses, just the apartments and complexes.

We are already spending a lot of money just being able to own and operate vehicles in this state. The solutions to this are quite simple and you wouldn't even need to hold a sales tax or even fuel tax increase on the general population.

Did you know in Michigan almost anyone can get a Farm Plate for their personal vehicle? Did you know you can plate your pickup as a "Farm Vehicle" and a SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED license plate fee yearly? My pickup costs almost $200 for the license plate. But if I tell them that I use it for Ag use I can get a plate for less than $50. I'd still be using the same roads as everyone else but because I stated that it's for Ag I don't have to pay as much as everyone else.

I'll do you one better.. Did you know that commercial license plates on a Semi can run upwards of $3,000 per year? Did you also know that a Farmer can haul the exact same loads (weight wise) on a Farm Plate that cost in the neighborhood of $200 and use the same roads and infrastructure as someone who pays the higher premium?

I don't blame the Farmers for taking advantage of the system. Hell, most of us would given the opportunity. An easy fix would be to tax everyone equally that uses the roads. Plates and registration would go a long way.

In addition to this why do away with the MCCA insurance? We have some of the highest insurance premiums of any state in the country. Why not sell it to the public that they will get rid of MCCA in exchange for a .5% fuel tax increase.

You do those two things and your money issues will be solved....

There is PLENTY of money for the roads right now. Between the 19 cent a gallon gas tax and the 6% sales tax [right now that would be another 15 cents a gallon] you have a ton of money coming in that COULD be spent on the roads. Dedicate that sales tax money along with the gas tax money and there would be more then enough for road repairs. I've floated that time and time again on a local radio show and challenged ANY politician to call in and tell me why it wouldn't work and none ever have.

The politicians want MORE taxes, not better use of the existing taxes and that goes for Snider the RINO. That's the  same bastard that wanted to DOUBLE registration/plate fees over a year ago...............Yeah, I'd sell every spare vehicle I owned and buy the cheapest POS I could register just to say FU to the scumbag.

The 'dangerous' roads, we need more money' is just an excuse to screw us over and hand over more cash to schools and the welfare bunch.

I need  that money for ball joints, tie rods & wheel bearings from the roads they won't fix anyway. Always replace in pairs, you'll save a lot on labor costs.

There are restrictions on (Log)farm plate use.
Get busted, and it's Tax evasion charges. It's not like the State doesn't cross reference to verify Tax exemption...not a smart game.

Ag plates on a Semi are restricted by distance. Get nailed (and you will) and MDOT opens up a #10 Can of whoop ass on you, before the Tax evasion issues get your operation seized and sold.

Smart people avoid such liabilitys to their freedom and security.
Don't do it, no matter how much you are tempted.

I see a lot of trucks on the road (Talking about Lansing to the Metro area, not up north), with the Log Farm tags.  Looking at most of them, they don't look like hey have ever been off a paved road, much less used to harvest timber.

I've been told the racket is a broke down saw in the bed, and if pulled over, they 'were taking the saw for service'  I don't know how well that holds up, but I see a lot of 2wd 1500 series trucks, with rather high trim levels, and those plates.

I will not vote for any tax increase ever again. They take well over 40% of my income already. Closer to 50 actually with all combined taxes. Enough is enough.

Lansings new ass rape

Pulled this off of www.michiganvotes.org This is a website that I use to keep track of my state reps voteing record. It puts the bills in plain language instead of lawyers lingo.

This is more than a road funding bill.

House joint resolution UU: Increase sales TAX

To place before voters in May 5, 2015 election a constitutional amendment increasing the state sales Tax to 7 percent.

This is part of a package that represents a net tax increase of almost $2 Billion dollars of which $1.2 Billion would go to road

repairs and the rest to other spending.

Passed 26 to 12 in the senate.

Passed 94 to 16 in the house.


If this is approved by the voters than the following bills also take effect.


House bill 5477: Increase gas and diesel TAX.

To replace the 19 cent per gallon gas tax and the 15 cent per gallon diesel tax with a 14.9 percent wholesale fuel tax.

At current price of $2 per gallon the new tax would be 41.7 cents per gallon gas and 46.4 cents for diesel. As the price of gas increases so will the tax.

[Cannot find the numbers as to how much money this will collect]

Passed 23 to 15 in the senate.

Passed 93 to 17 in the House.


House bill 4630: Increase vehicle registration Taxes.

To increase registration Taxes on cars, trucks, electric vehicles more than three years old.

This will cost taxpayers almost $100 million more per year.

Passed 23 to 15 in the senate.

Passed 67 to 43 in the house.

Under the proposal the gas tax will be 41 cents per gallon for $2.00 a gallon gas. It increases with the wholesale price and inflation. So if gas hits $4.00 a gallon, you will be paying 82 cents for every gallon of gas.

My truck takes 20 gallons of gas in the tank. So its going to cost me $16.40 in taxes for every tank of gas.

Whole lot of republicans in michigan are maggots.  One of the leaders for increased taxes wanted to put a sign in my yard last election cycle, told him to piss off and he would never get my vote again. He got a little power and it went right to his head.

I don't live THAT far from the Ohio border, I'll run down there and put 100 gallons into cans just to say FU to michgan.

There are a shitload of "Estate Farms" around Lansing.  Three horses, a 2A Hayfield, and a couple of friggin' Llamas sort of thing.
They play the game for tax exemptions, but can back it up with registering with the Farm Service agency in the county, and tax exemption numbers.

Just applying for the tags, requires the exemption paperwork at the SOS office, and there is no "Dual use", which is why so many of us avoid the Farm tags.
Cost of operation claimed on the back side, is much easier for the Pick ups. The heavy rigs are a different critter.

Don't judge a farm truck on it's looks either.
A good number spend most of their time hauling goosenecks or bed loads to the city, and never see a muddy field.
Lansing has a number of farmers markets, as well as all the hippies and their CSA's supported by smaller growers in the area, so it wouldn't surprise me one bit.

Indianna is cheaper.

Agreed on our RINO's.
They have both the house and Senate, and CHOSE to include conciliatory funding for the MEA in the road tax bill, instead of simply chopping the MEA funding outright to fund the damn roads.

Snyder is a Progressive Authoritarian Corporatist.  He and Mussolini standing together, would cause a proctologist to go get his eyeballs checked.
The fact that so many GOP Reps. are backing him up, is a definite cause for concern.

State Rep.(R) Peter J. Lucido  of Shelby Township has a solution to our Problem Roads without a Tax Increase.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3LDEbsXFtA

They can kiss my fat white ass. Tax and spend is all they know. They have pissed away the money from gas taxes and they can't spend the sales tax fast enough. Screw them....just a bunch of bloodsucking liberals wrapped in rino clothes! I can't wait to get the hell out of this state after living here for 58 years.

Here is the clearest and best explanation yet. This should be posted at every polling place so that voters know what they are actually voting for.

http://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/14/michigan-proposal-roads/70307352/

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

http://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/14/michigan-proposal-roads/70307352/

This giant turd should be called the Michigan Taxpayer No-Lube Anal Rape and Government Paper-Pusher Full Employment Act.

 
In the words of Maverick, "I believe your information on the Mig is.... inaccurate."






According to the full report the OP hotlinked, the motor fuel taxes will change in the following ways:






1. Highway use gas and diesel are exempted from the state sales & use tax.






2. Initial tax rate is set at 14.9% of wholesale fuel prices (current wholesale is around $2.00 per gallon)






3. A tax floor and ceiling is set. The initial tax floor is set at 41.7 cents per gallon. The tax ceiling is 5 cents over the floor. So the current tax ceiling would be 46.7 cents per gallon.






4. The tax floor (and ceiling, since it is based of the floor) is adjusted yearly according to increases in the Detroit-area Consumer Price Index, with the following restrictions: year-to-year floor can never decrease, and increases are capped at 5% per year.









So yeah, it's a big increase in per-gallon motor fuel taxes, going from a flat 19 cents per gallon + 6% sales tax on retail prices on gasoline = roughly 32-33 cents per gallon at current prices, to the newly established floor of 41.7 cents per gallon.






BUT:






If pump prices soon rise to $4.00, lets assume that means a wholesale price of $3.33






Under the current system you'd pay .19 + (4.00 x .06) = 43 cents per gallon to the state for gasoline. (19 cent per gallon flat gas tax + state sales tax)






Under the new system you'll pay (3.33 x .149) = 49.6, which is over the cap of 46.7, so you end up paying the cap of 46.7 cents per gallon for gasoline.









So it's still an increase, but when gas prices rise again it will not be quite as big an increase as it currently is.










 

I had one years ago, just put the sales tax on gasoline and diesel fuel towards the roads. That's all that needs to be done. No actual increases in taxes, money is earmarked for roads and politicians couldn't touch it. [which is why they will never go for it]

 
Yeah, it would be nice if we could just make the tough but obvious call: all taxes collected from the sale of motor vehicle fuel (fuel taxes AND sales taxes) are spent on road/infrastructure repair.  The increase in road funding would result in a reduction in school aid and per-capita money returned to local municipalities, but if we wanted to continue funding schools and the city of Detroit at current levels we could enact straightforward additional taxes to do so.




The problem is there's constitutional earmarking of the sales tax. (I think these are part of the package enacted by Proposal A in 1994, but don't quote me.) So the legislators can't just say "We are gonna spend all tax receipts from the sale of motor vehicle fuel on fixing our broke-ass roads!" without a constitutional amendment, even if they had the balls to do so...






 

I'll be voting against it.  Last time I looked it up, Michigan was among the top tax states on gasoline.  Don't they use most of that tax for schools and the general fund?  Not roads?

The taxes Snyder was proposing last year would have supposedly put Michigan in the position of the highest gas taxes in the nation.

I thought the lottery was supposed to be funding the schools anyway?

It does, however,they reduced the amount that goes to schools by around the same amount the lotto brings in. They then can claim the lotto helps pay for the schools but can then put the other money toward something else like welfare.

I have not meet anyone that is voting for this yet. My neighborhood is close and we talk and they are all voting no. But i got lucky we have half the block flying 3% flags, gadsden flags, and 76 flags.

These ''gimme more of your money'' &^*holes can quit calling me trying to get me to vote yes any time now.

I love the 'DUHHH, we don't have no other plans if this doesn't pass'' politicians. Cream of the crop they are not.

Don't know how many times I have put forth the idea of mandating the sales tax on gasoline [not the per gallon state or fed tax] go for the roads or roll that into the per gallon state tax and adjust accordingly without actually raising the OOP costs. That would just force the state and politicians to ONLY use that money for the roads.

Too easy and wouldn't actually allow the state to steal more tax dollars from everyone to hand out to welfare and schools. [who seem to always get their fingers in ANY tax dollar pie]

They piss the money away that they take now and they still want more. What a shock. I saw this coming with Snyder the first time he ran. A progressive Republican and brought a bunch of spineless RINOs with him. This state is run by Detroit politics and funded by the rest of us.

NOT ONE MORE DAMNED DIME!

I'm voting no.  They need to stop wasting OUR fucking money.  Then they have the balls to come ask for more? Fuck you Snyder, you worthless piece of shit.