Group's Ballot Petition Hikes Business Taxes for Road Fund

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Michigan voters could have a say in whether corporate income taxes are raised $900 million a year to fix the state’s crumbling road system.

The brand new Citizens for Fair Taxes group announced Thursday at news conferences in Southfield, Flint and Lansing that its supporters will begin circulating petitions to collect the 252,523 needed to get a proposal raising the corporate tax rate from 6 percent to 11 percent before the Legislature.

The group says the plan is simple and straightforward, “but the CEOs and their lobbyists in Lansing won’t like it.”

If the Legislature does nothing – a likely scenario with a 63-47 Republican majority – the proposal will go before voters in a statewide ballot in the November 2016 general election.

“This is a fair way to recoup tax breaks that we saw as unfair. And the reality is we need to fix our roads,” said Tom Lutz, of Citizens for Fair Taxes, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press. “The roads need to be fixed and the Legislature hasn’t found a solution and this is one way that’s fair.”

When the Legislature eliminated the Michigan Business Tax in 2011 and replaced it with a 6 percent flat tax, corporations’ taxes were lowered 80 percent. At the same time, middle class and working families are shouldering a heavier burden.

“That’s wrong,” the group said. “Michigan needs a fair roads fix and our plan provides it.”

Tell Us:

• Do you support raising the corporate income tax rate to build a road repair fund? What’s a fair rate? Tell us below in the comments.

In a statement responding to the proposal, Americans for Prosperity-Michigan director Peter Lund said the ballot proposal hurts Michigan’s economic recovery.

“Supporters of this ballot proposal want to put the ‘closed for business’ sign back on Michigan,” Lund said. “Even if the roads get fixed, there won’t be anyone left in our state to drive on them if this proposal succeeds.”

Plans currently before the Legislature include:

• House Democrats want to raise the corporate tax rate to 9 percent, raising $500 million for roads, and require the state’s largest utilities to kick in another $225 million in exchange for regulatory changes.
• The House is also considering a Senate plan that would raise the gas tax by 15 cents per gallon over three years and shift $700 million in state funding to raise about $1.5 billion a year for the road fund.

In May, voters overwhelmingly rejected, 80 percent to 20 percent, a complicated 1 percent sales tax proposal to raise money for roads repairs.