Michigan’s Threatened State Individual Income Tax Michigan’s Threatened State Individual Income Tax Eric Lupher, President
SAAABA Seminar April 27, 2017
2 Citizens Research Council
• Founded in 1916 • Statewide • Non-partisan • Private not-for-profit • Promotes sound policy for state and local governments through factual research – accurate, independent and objective • Relies on charitable contributions from Michigan foundations, businesses, and individuals • www.crcmich.org
3 Lessons of History
4 Past Income Tax Rate Rollback Efforts
• State – 0.1 percentage point from 4.4% in 1999 to 3.9% in 2004 • Contributed to structural budget deficit and worsened Michigan’s Single State Recession
• State – 2015 PA 180 after 2023 reduces rate by growth in excess of inflation if the increase from one year to the next in total General Fund/General Purpose revenue exceeded 1.425 times inflation for the same period • Reductions come out of GF/GP budget, Keeps SAF harmless
• Detroit – 1998 PA 500 reduced City Income Tax resident tax rate 0.1 percentage point/ 0.05 percentage points for nonresidents until new rates became 2% for residents/1% for nonresidents • Process halted if certain unfavorable financial conditions occur. The conditions for suspending the rate reductions are any three of the following: 1. two consecutive years of withdrawals from the city’s budget stabilization fund or exhaustion of the fund balance; 2. a year-to-year decline in income tax revenue, after adjusting for inflation, of more than 5%; 3. a city unemployment rate of 10% or higher; or 4. a provision which compares the growth ratio of the city’s taxable value with the comparable statewide figure and computes a ratio which must fall below .80 (in order for the ratio to fall below 0.80 with the state taxable value holding constant, the city’s taxable value would have to decline 20%).
5 Three methods of measuring adequacy of overall tax structure and income tax specifically
1. Against itself over time 2. Against constitutional revenue limit 3. Against other states
6 Michigan Individual Income Tax Revenues, 1968-2015 (Nominal and Real)
$12,000
$10,000
$8,000
$6,000 (dollars inmillions) (dollars
$4,000
$2,000
$- 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012
2015 Dollars Fiscal YearNominal Dollars
7 Michigan’s Individual Income Tax Rate History
7
6
5
4
Percent 3
2
1
0 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Calendar Year
Nominal Tax Rate Effective Tax Rate
Source: Effective Tax Rate from Michigan’s Individual Income Tax 2013, Office of Revenue and Tax Analysis in Michigan Department of Treasury, May 2016
8 Constitutional Revenue Limit (Statutory implementation of Art. IX, Section 26 of Michigan Constitution (Headlee) limits state revenue to 9.49% of personal income)
$2.0
$0.0 $0.1 $0.0$0.2 $0.0 -$0.2 -$0.2 -$0.5 -$0.4 -$0.8 -$0.6 -$1.2 -$1.0 -$2.0 -$1.4-$1.3 -$1.4-$1.4 -$2.2 -$2.2 -$2.4 -$3.0 -$3.2 -$4.0 -$3.7 -$3.9 -$4.2-$4.4-$4.2 -$4.7 -$5.0 -$5.3 -$6.0 -$5.6-$5.7 -$6.6
-$8.0 -$7.6 -$8.0 -$8.7-$8.5 -$10.0 -$9.4
Source: House Fiscal Agency, State Budget Overview, January 2015, www.house.mi.gov/hfa/archives/pdf/state_budget_overview_jan2015.pdf
9 Is Michigan a “High Tax” State? Total State and Local Tax Revenue
Per Capita Per $1,000 Personal Income
Michigan as Michigan as U.S. Michigan Percent of Michigan’s U.S. Michigan Percent of Michigan’s Year Amount Amount U.S. Average Rank Amount Amount U.S. Average Rank 1983 $ 2,847 $ 3,213 113% 12th $ 225 $ 263 117.0% 9th 1993 $ 3,686 $ 3,785 103% 14th $ 170 $ 179 105.6% 13th 2008 $ 4,731 $ 4,096 87% 30th $ 115 $ 114 99.3% 19th 2012 $ 4,483 $ 3,719 83% 34th $ 101 $ 96 95.0% 32th 2013 $ 4,599 $ 3,750 82% 35th $ 103 $ 96 92.5% 34th
Sources: Population data are from intercensal estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal income data are from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Per capita amounts have been adjusted to 2013 dollars using the calendar year U.S. CPI-U.
10 State and Local Government Tax Revenue per $1,000 of Personal Income as Percentage of U.S. Average, 2013
11 Is Michigan a “High Income Tax” State? Individual Income Tax Revenues U.S. Average Michigan
Per Capita Per $1,000 Personal Income Per $1,000 As % of As % of Year Per Capita Pers. Inc. Amount U.S. Avg. Rank Amount U.S. Avg. Rank
1993 $ 764 $ 22 $886 115.9 18th $ 26 119.1 16th
2004 $ 906 $ 21 $780 86.1 32nd $ 20 92.0 34th
2008 $ 1,085 $ 24 $831 76.6 34th $ 21 87.9 34th
2012 $ 992 $ 22 $754 76.0 34th $ 19 87.0 34th
2013 $ 1,069 $ 24 $866 81.0 34th $ 22 91.8 34th
N/A - The U.S. Census Bureau did not segregate individual income and corporate income tax revenues in 1983. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, www.census.gov//govs/local/.
12 State and Local Government Individual Income Tax Revenue per $1,000 of Personal Income as Percentage of U.S. Average, 2013
13 State Individual Income Tax Rates (rate applied to bottom and top brackets)
North Dakota Pennsylvania Indiana Illinois Wisconsin Michigan Arizona Kansas Colorado New Mexico Ohio Utah Oklahoma New Hampshire Mississippi Alabama Massachusetts Virginia North Carolina Lowest Rate Maryland Rhode Island Tennessee Missouri Maximum Rate Louisiana Kentucky Georgia West Virginia Deleware Nebraska Montana Arkansas Connecticut South Carolina Maine Idaho Hawaii New York Vermont New Jersey Iowa Minnesota Oregon California 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
14 Experience of other States
15 Model State/Local Tax System
Three Legged Stool
Not overly reliant on a single source of tax revenue Three legs 1. Property Tax 2. Sales Tax 3. Income Tax
16 Distribution of Michigan State and Local Tax Revenues, Various Years
Year Property Sales Income Other 1993 41.29% 21.82% 31.63% 5.26%
2008 37.55% 32.38% 25.02% 5.05%
2012 36.65% 35.69% 22.50% 5.17%
2013 35.21% 33.87% 25.51% 5.41%
2013 U.S. Average 31.29% 34.11% 26.90% 7.70%
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and U.S. Census Bureau
17 States without an Individual Income Tax
• Florida – tourism, 1/2 tax revenue from sales taxes • Nevada – tourism, 3/5 tax revenue from sales taxes • South Dakota – 1/2 tax revenue from sales taxes • Texas – almost 1/2 tax revenue from sales taxes • Washington – 3/5 tax revenue from sales taxes • Alaska – Alaska Permanent Fund from oil extraction • Wyoming – mineral extraction
18 Role of Individual Income Tax in Michigan
If the individual income tax goes away: 1. Can revenues from existing taxes grow at sufficient rates to make up for the loss? 2. Where will replacement revenue come from? 3. What will be cut because of insufficient funds?
19 Role Individual Income Tax Revenues Play in Funding Michigan Government
Percent of Total Tax Revenues Percent of GF/GP Revenues Business Taxes, State Tobacco Taxes, 3.3% Education Tax, Tobacco Taxes, 4.0% Liquor Taxes, 7.7% 2.2% 0.6% Real Estate Transfer Tax, Use Tax, 8.1% Use Tax, 8.7% 1.1% Business Taxes, 16.7% Sales Tax, 8.5%
Sales Tax, Individual Income Tax, 30.7% Individual 33.8% Income Tax, 72.4%
Source: 2014-15 Annual Report of the Michigan State Treasurer, www.michigan.gov/documents/treasury/State_Treasurers_Annual_Report_2014-15_524479_7.pdf
20 Growth Pattern of Major State Taxes Since 1994
Measuring the Growth of Select Major State Taxes 600
500
400
300
200 1994 = 100 in most cases 100 in 1994 =
100
0
State Fiscal Year
Individual Income Tax Sales Tax Use Tax Tobacco Taxes Motor Fuel Taxes State Education Tax
21 Nearly 2 of every 3 state tax dollar dedicated to a specific purpose
State Taxes: FY2014
35% 37% $24.3 Billion
28%
General Fund Statutorily Earmarked Constitutionally Earmarked
22 This has increase in recent years and is almost to 1960 levels that contributed to call for con-con
Earmarked State Tax Revenues as a Percent of All State Tax Revenues 100 90 80 70 Special Purpose 60 50 40 General Fund/General Purpose Percent of Total Percent 30 20 10 0
State Fiscal Year
23 Where could replacement revenue come from?
• Sales Tax rate increase • Constitution limits rate to 6% • Constitution dedicates revenues to School Aid Fund and State Revenue Sharing • Sales Tax base expansion • Most states tax more services than does Michigan • Expansion is possible without constitutional amendment • Still have issue of dedicated revenue • State Property Tax • Statewide base has grown only 1.3% since worst of Great Recession
24 Number of Services Subject to Sales Tax by State, 2007
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0 New… New… Ohio Utah Iowa West… North… North… South… Idaho South… Texas Floida Maine Rhode… Alaska Illinois Hawaii Kansas Oregon Arizona Virginia Nevada Indiana Georgia Missouri Massach… Vermont Alabama Montana Pennsylv… Michigan Colorado Arkansas Maryland Kentucky Nebraska Washingt… Louisiana Delaware California Wyoming NewYork Districtof… Connectic… Wisconsin Oklahoma Minnesota Mississippi Tennessee NewJersey
Source: Number of Services Taxed by Category and State - July 2007, Federation of Tax Administrators, https://www.taxadmin.org/number-of- services-taxed-by-category-and-state---july-2007.
25 What is funded through the General Fund? FY2014-15 GF/GP Appropriations (millions of dollars)
Human Services, $995.5, Higher Ed/Comm Colleges, 9.8% Corrections, $1,382.0, $1,980.8, 13.7% 19.6% Debt Service / SBA Rent, $407.0, State Police, 4.0% $414.2, 4.1% Community Health, Transportation, $3,239.7, Other, $284.6, 32.0% $1,216.0, 2.8% 12.0% School Aid/Dept. of Ed, $197.0, 1.9%
26 GF/GP Revenue Growth Since 2000 Improving, But Still Below 2000 Levels
27 Pending Budget Pressures
• Business Tax Credits • Highway Funding • Tax Credits for Low and Moderate Income Households • Personal Property Tax Reimbursement • Healthy Michigan Funding • Use Tax on Medicaid Managed Care Organizations • Sales Tax on the Difference • Other Sales Tax Changes
28 Recent Major Tax Changes Constrain Growth Foregone GF/GP Revenue Exceeds $1.2B
29 Citizens Research Council of Michigan Publications are available at:
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