LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A group of Michigan residents are attempting to get a proposal on the 2024 ballot to eliminate property taxes in Michigan at all levels of government.
The group, called AxeMITax, failed to get pre-approval from the Board of State Canvassers to get its initiative on the ballot and plans to circulate petitions instead, starting in January. The group must secure more than 446,000 signatures to make the ballot.
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AxeMITax proposed a four-step plan to implement its tax reforms:
- Amend Michigan’s constitution to remove the government’s right to implement a property tax or to seize property from owners who failed to pay property taxes;
- Reallocate existing property tax revenue to local governments;
- Mandate third-party audits for state and local governments; and
- Allow residents to vote on specific projects that rely on tax dollars for funding.
“Pickleball courts can be good. Public projects can be good. And communities can certainly fund public pickleball courts, if that’s what is important to them,” the organization wrote on its website. “But no one should live in fear of losing their home because of a pickleball court!”
The proposed constitutional amendment would also prohibit any future tax raises over 0.1% across 5 years without a 2/3 vote of the governing body.
Michigan lawmakers have expressed concerns that the proposal would leave schools, law enforcement, and other government-funded programs without sufficient revenue, but AxeMITax members argued that funding would be maintained or even increased with greater budget transparency.
Karla Wagner, founder of AxeMITax, realtor, and business owner in Kent County, said the tax reforms don’t require “the majority in the house [sic] or the governor’s blessing.”
“The main objective is to eliminate the state and local governments’ ability to tax and SEIZE our properties because we can no longer afford the ever-increasing tax bills,” Wagner said. “Property tax payers … bear the brunt of a greedy government and society that not only does not prioritize spending but cannot adhere to a budget.”
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A copy of the group’s summary, presented to the Board of State Canvassers, can be found here.
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