Recent Publications

Citizens Research Council of Michigan 100 YEARS: MAKING DEMOCRACY WORK Spring 1916 in Detroit got off to a bad start. During the night of March 21 and into the next day, nearly 10 inches of snow fell on the city in a record springtime storm, giving the pr...

Report 313: Michigan Constitutional Issues Michigan Constitutional Issues Report 313 ( July – October 94 ) 44 pages The complete collection of 10 papers. The Nature and Purpose of a State Constitution Report 313-1 ( June 94 ) 4 pages Examines the ba...

2009 Tax Revenue Comparison: Michigan and the U.S. Average Memo 1111 ( February 2012 ) 18 pages The Citizens Research Council of Michigan has released its analysis of recently released U.S. Census Bureau state and local government finance data. The Census...

2013 Revenue Comparison: Michigan and the U.S. Average Memorandum 1140, May 2016 United States Census Bureau data show that Michigan has evolved from a high tax state to a below average state over the past three decades. This change can partly be attribut...

Outline of the Michigan Tax System 2016 Update Once again, tax policy discussions during 2015 were dominated by the Legislature’s efforts to come to an agreement on a long-term plan to increase revenues for Michigan’s increasingly deteriorating road s...

A Guide to the State of Michigan Budget Process Report #320, February 1997 Introduction: What is a Budget? In its most fundamental form, a budget is a financial plan that lays out proposed expenditures for a specific time period and the estimated revenues...

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 ...

A Quick Look at Michigan Hospital Finances Memorandum 1139, March 2016 In Brief Michigan hospitals, in total, showed revenues from all sources exceeding expenses resulting in surpluses of $821.5 million in 2011, $1.3 billion in 2012, $1.6 billion in 2013,...

A Reminder to Clean Up the Michigan Constitution Memo 1136, July 2015 Background On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell, et al. v. Hodges, et al. [576 U.S. ___ (2015)] that states cannot ban same-sex marriage. The Court said...

A Summary of the November 2012 Statewide Ballot Issues Memorandum 1122, October 2012 This paper summarizes the six proposals that will appear on Michigan’s statewide ballot at the November 6, 2012 general election. An in depth analysis of each propo...