The House Commerce Committee took up SB 334 on Tuesday. The bill, as passed by the Senate, would allow four urban townships in Kent County to utilize Business Improvement Zones (which are currently limited to only cities and villages). Cascade Township requested this for their existing business district.
Rep. Farrington and Rep. Shirkey, though, suggested that the bill be expanded to all townships. The Michigan Townships Association also testified in opposition to the bill unless all townships could qualify.
The Michigan Municipal League testified neutral on the bill as is now, but opposed to the bill if it is expanded to all townships. Because it is much costlier for developers to build in an urban area with infrastructure than it is to build in a Greenfield, economic development tools are crafted to be limited to urban areas. This ensures equality between urban and Greenfield areas in terms of costs to build. Developers have said that it is 50% more expensive to redevelop as opposed to building new in a Greenfield. Governor Snyder has called for the revitalization of cities, and expanding this bill would be the exact opposite – which is why the Administration has opposed expansion of the bill. The bill was introduced to address a specific situation, and we hope that it will remain that way.
If your legislator is a member of the House Commerce Committee, please contact him/her and ask that the bill move as passed by the Senate to address the specific need, without blowing up economic development policy and hurting cities and incenting sprawl. The members of the committee are: Reps. Wayne Schmidt, Tyler, Farrington, Gilbert, Glardon, Knollenberg, Lund, Denby, Shaughnessey, Shirkey, Sommerville, Zorn, Switalski, Bledsoe, Haugh, Barnett, Clemente, Olumba, and Townsend.
Andy Schor is the Assistant Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League. Contact him at (517) 908-0300 or by email at aschor@mml.org.
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