No. of Recommendations: 3
I have nothing against farmers, either.
Living in Michigan, you should be as expert as I am, in watching the (L&Ses) in Lansing play a shell game. Like Snyder taxing my IRA distributions, to help cover two rounds of "JC" tax cuts.
Did you see the headlines about "no more sales tax on gas" in the new state budget?
from the Google net sifter:
Under a new budget deal passed by Michigan lawmakers in early October 2025, the 6% sales tax on gasoline will be eliminated and replaced with an increase in the state's per-gallon fuel tax
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This change is designed to redirect revenue toward road and infrastructure projects, addressing a persistent issue in Michigan's budgeting. The current system directs the sales tax revenue from gasoline to the School Aid Fund and local governments. The new plan is being described by legislators as a "gas tax swap".
Key aspects of the compromise
Gas tax increase: The state's current gas tax of 31 cents per gallon will be increased by 20 cents.
Revenue redirection: By converting the sales tax into a motor fuel tax, revenue from the gas pump will be legally designated for road and bridge repairs.
Minimal immediate change at the pump: The tax swap is structured to be "revenue-neutral," so drivers should not see a significant change in the total price they pay at the pump.
Impact on schools and local governments: To offset the loss of sales tax revenue, which previously went to the School Aid Fund and local governments, other budget changes were included. This includes new revenue from a wholesale marijuana tax and adjustments to other funds.
So, the (L&Ses) impose a big tax increase on weed, to make up for the lost sales tax revenue. So what will happen? If the taxed price of weed is high enough, people go back to the black market, state weed tax revenue falls, and the schools are defunded.
It is always a shell game in Lansing. The last time they increased fuel tax and registration fees "for road maintenance", in 2015, they withdrew road maintenance funding that had been coming from general revenue. So, there was no net increase in road maintenance funding. I had a very illuminated talk with the Canton Township engineer, at a public forum, a few years ago, when Canton put a proposal on the ballot to levy a local property tax, for road maintenance, because the state and county were not getting the job done.
Steve
