Welcome To Michigan's Oldest & Most Respected
Public Policy Research Organization

For 100 years, the objective of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan has been to provide factual, unbiased independent information on significant issues concerning state and local government organization and finance. CRC believes that the use of this information by policymakers will lead to sound, rational public policy in Michigan.

Upcoming Events

2019 Annual Policy Dinner: October 2

The Citizens Research Council 2019 Annual Policy Dinner is set for October 2 at the Crowne Plaza Lansing West Lansing. This year we’ll be honoring Doug Roberts with our Eugene A. Gargaro Jr. Public Service Award. Roberts is the former state Treasurer, who retired at the end of 2018 with more than 40 years of service to the people of Michigan....

Latest Publications

Stagnant Teacher Salaries in Michigan: Recent Impact of Unfunded Retirement Obligations

September 2019 | Memorandum 1159 Even as the average amount of per-pupil spending has increased 12 percent over the past five years, the new dollars are not finding their way into teachers’ paychecks. The statewide average teacher salary has remain...

Seeking Property Tax Relief: Exploring Alternative Local Road Funding Options

September 2019 | Memorandum 1158 Michigan’s road funding system, with the state primarily responsible for levying taxes and sharing the revenues with local governments to maintain the roads, violates a core ethos of good government: that the misery...

Piecing Together the Road Funding Puzzle

July 2019 | State Budget Note 2019-01 Governor Whitmer and the Republican majority in the House of Representatives have both proposed increases in road funding through their respective budget recommendations. Governor Whitmer’s plan would increase ...

A Distinction without a Difference: Ad Valorem Special Assessments and Property Taxes

June 2019 | Report 407 and Memorandum 1157 Property taxes are used to fund general services, while special assessments exist to finance infrastructure improvements that benefit a limited number of properties. In recent years, local governments have i...

Blog: Research Column

  • Your knowledge and ability to distill the key issues in an easily understood manner is indeed impressive. As a long-time member of the Michigan School Business Officials, and current president, I look forward to your presentations and updates. They are thoughtful, balanced, and accurate. To say that you are a credible source on state finances is an understatement.

    Timothy Raymer
    Assistant Superintendent, Grandville Public Schools

  • The Citizens Research Council of Michigan -- the folks that bring you all those great non-partisan reports and data on Michigan government, laws, etc. are finally up and running on the web and it was worth the wait. This is a great site. Low-key graphics, great indexing, plenty of content including all their reports, research and memos...This is an invaluable tool...

    Debbie Gallagher, Government Information Specialist
    Michigan Electronic Library, University of Michigan

  • The Citizens Research Council of Michigan has been providing unbiased analysis of public issues since 1916. It is one of this state's indispensable institutions... The CRC's supporters recognize the need for impartial and nonpartisan analysis of local and state policy and fiscal issues... The value of the CRC over the years has been that it is private and independent of political party or ideology.


    The Detroit News

  • Dear CRC,
    Thank you for all the fine work you do. I'm a long time reader of you analyses and am a better citizen because of it.

    George Matthews
    Retired School Teacher

  • I have had a long relationship using the publications of the Citizens Research Council...you do a lot of good work here and we appreciate the support that keeps this operation so vital and relevant to the debates in Lansing, to Michigan's economic future, and to Michigan's future, period.

    Honorable John Engler
    Former Michigan Governor

  • The Citizens Research Council strives, without regard to political party or agenda, to frame educational issues in a balanced and thought-provoking context. Its consistent record of objectivity and thoroughness has made the CRC a high quality and immensely credible resource for policymakers at the state and local leadership levels. You can always count on CRC's findings to be solid and trustworthy.

    Mike Flanagan
    Michigan Superintendent of Public Instruction

  • Fortunately, we have here in Michigan an admirable entity known as the Citizens Research Council. CRC often comes to the rescue in public policy disputes and has demonstrated an acute ability to separate fact from fiction.

    Glenn Gilbert
    Oakland Press

  • The non-aligned Citizens Research Council of Michigan is a group with no particular axes to grind that we can see. Their bare-bones, passionless and objective studies of Michigan's ballot proposals might prove very helpful to interested voters wanting to make the most informed possible choices.


    Muskegon Chronicle

  • Since 1916, the CRC has been an advocate of state and local "good government." The Research Council's studies of policy and administrative practice in Michigan win national prizes for excellence, and universal respect from the best of our state and local leaders.

    Michael Meagher
    Fowlerville News/Review

  • Nonpartisan, accurate, unbiased and credible research on key issues, from school vouchers to Internet sales tax to better ways to finance highway construction to ideas for eliminating the blight of abandoned, tax-reverted properties in Michigan's older cities.

    Mary Kramer
    Crain's Detroit Business

  • [Escanaba Schools Superintendent Tom] Smith respects the findings of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan. "It's a pretty good group, well-respected, nonpartisan," he said. "Its opinions have been valued by both Democrats and Republicans as they formulate state policy"and by teachers and administrators alike."


    Daily Press, Escanaba

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