Recent Publications

In a Nutshell The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires that general purpose local governments adhere to the “one person, one vote” principle, i.e., elected government officials should represent roughly equal numbers of people. The go...

Report 397, August 2017 Three key takeaways from Citizens Research Council’s new report Challenges Ahead in Balancing the State Budget – Summary Although Michigan is rebounding from two major recessions to start the millennium, policy actions ...

Memorandum 1145, May 2017 In a Nutshell The Detroit Public Schools (DPS) district had amassed over $3.5 billion in operating debts and capital liabilities by the end of FY2015. A package of bills enacted in June 2016 to address a host of chronic problems ...

Report 396, May 2017 State policymakers have long harbored a peculiar love-hate relationship with the personal income tax. Part of that relationship is based on economics. It is the largest source of state tax revenue. Besides the property tax, it is the ...

Report 395, March 2017 Memorandum 1144, March 2017 Summary The current condition of Michigan’s local government finance model has created an opportunity to examine the local government service delivery model with a focus on counties and opportunities to...

Report 394, December 2016 Summary The financial plight of the Michigan state government during the first decade of this century (hereafter referred to as “Michigan’s single state recession”) has been well documented.  Reduced economic activity coup...

Memorandum 1143, October 2016 November Proposal On November 8, voters in Oakland, Wayne, Washtenaw, and Macomb Counties will vote on a proposal that would empower the recently created Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan (RTA) to levy a new 1....

CRC Note 2016-02, October 2016 This report is a follow up to State Support of Nonpublic School Students, Memorandum 1126, January 2014 In January 2014, the Citizens Research Council reported on Michigan’s “shared time” arrangement that allows state ...

Memorandum 1142, September 2016 In Brief Patient health outcomes, patient experiences, and costs each are threatened by trends in Michigan’s healthcare services. Chronic health concerns coupled with expanded Medicaid and health insurance coverage and an...

Memo 1141, June 2016 In Brief Over the most recent 25-year period since 1990, Detroit’s population dropped 34 percent, but Detroit Public School’s (DPS’s) enrollment fell 73 percent.  Over the same period, state policymakers enacted new laws that m...