Taxes

Budget contraints stemming from the tax-cap has left Saginaw's 80,000 trees on the backburner. In Midland and Bay City, urban forests are getting more attention and funding despite being smaller in size.

Next Step: City will review ballot language

For Republican House Speaker Matt Hall, the bills are part of his party's plan to shrink Michigan's budget and trim excess spending from state programs.

In 1979, Saginaw voted to impose a $3.8 million hard cap on the amount of property taxes it could collect from residents. While the city has voted seven times to keep the cap in place for nearly five decades, some residents are pushing to remove it.

A ballot proposal being circulated would raise personal income taxes for high earners to generate an estimated $1 billion a year in extra funding for public education.

Across northern Michigan, hotel taxes generated almost $30 million for area convention and visitors bureaus. Some in Traverse City say the money should go to the county.

"Invest in MI Kids," proposal would put a ballot question before voters to increase taxes on affluent residents to help state's K-12 schools.

Bills introduced in the Michigan Legislature would offer many lower-income parents a tax break for every child under 4 years old.

A reduction last year in the state income tax rate was temporary, according to a unanimous ruling Thursday by a three-judge Michigan Court of Appeals panel.

A petition campaign seeking to eliminate property taxes in Michigan was dealt a setback Monday by a state elections board.