As policymakers in Lansing debate lowering property taxes, a campaign to do away with them entirely is checking to see if it might qualify for the November ballot.
The group, AxMITax, needs to submit 446,198 petition signatures to get on the November ballot. It shot for gathering far more than that, in case some are deemed invalid.
Executive Director Karla Wagner said the campaign finished collecting signatures in the fall and is now waiting to get all of its petition sheets back from volunteers. She estimated around 2,500 people helped out, far more than past election cycles when Wagner sought to get on the ballot.
Wagner pledged to keep trying if her volunteers are unsuccessful this time around. She said plans for property tax cuts, like a ten percent proposed property tax discount for some older adults, won’t stop people from being unable to afford their tax bills.
“If the mechanism to collect property taxes IS still out there, because we're only going to give a discount to seniors, that means people will still lose their homes, farms and businesses to fraud, waste and abuse at all levels of government, township, county, and state,” Wagner said.
Opponents of the measure say getting rid of property taxes entirely would put funding for local services, like police, libraries, and schools at risk.
There’s a July 6 deadline for Michigan’s proposed constitutional amendments, like AxMItax, to submit signatures. Ballot initiatives, to change state law, have until May 27.
Other campaigns still in the field say they’re making good progress toward beating the deadlines.
That includes proposed constitutional amendments to tighten the state’s voter ID law, and to raise taxes on Michiganders making over $500,000 annually, as well as a ballot initiative to limit political giving from public utilities and state contractors.
The Invest in MI Kids campaign would add an extra 5% tax on annual income over $500,000 for single filers, and over a million dollars for joint filers. That revenue would pay for classroom support, including career and technical education, teacher retention, and lowering classroom sizes.
Campaign steering committee member Jess Newman said canvassers are turning in thousands of signatures every few days.
“This is really the moment. People understand that the wealthy need to pay their fair share. They understand that we are in a moment of crisis for our public schools and funding,” Newman said.
Opponents argue more than just the rich could end up paying higher taxes as a result. That’s because many small business owners pay through the income tax system.
The Americans for Citizen Voting ballot question would stop people who don’t have photo IDs from voting. It would also require Michiganders to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote, rather than checking a box under the threat of perjury.
Kristin Combs is a consultant with the Americans for Citizen Only Voting campaign. She said the group is “very confident” it will make the November ballot.
That’s with the help of paid canvassers and volunteers. Combs said the ballot measure has plenty of momentum.
“As you head into the election and the campaign season, having that grassroots support is really important because neighbors can talk to neighbors and spread the word. And it's just such a huge network, it'll be extremely valuable,” she said.
Combs said it’s a necessary measure to keep Michigan elections safe amid fewer than twenty suspected cases of non-citizens voting in Michigan in 2024. Federally, Congressional Republicans are pushing similar policies that would apply to federal elections.
Critics say the change would reduce voting access.
Currently, Michiganders who don’t have IDs at the polls can still vote by signing a legal document asserting their identity. The measure would create a provisional ballot for people without photo IDs to use that would only be counted if they can show one within six days of an election.
According to Ballotpedia, nine other states do not offer exceptions to their voter ID laws.
The Michiganders for Money out of Politics initiative would ban electric and gas providers, and larger government contract-holders from donating to the candidates who regulate them.
Unlike the proposed constitutional amendments, it only needs to gather 356,958 signatures to qualify for the ballot. Steering Committee co-chair Sean McBrearty said the campaign is on track with the help of a couple thousand volunteers, and some paid circulator programs.
“The powerful corporations who have been controlling politics in Michigan for far too long aren’t going to give up without a fight. So, we’re anticipating getting outspent, but I’m really looking forward to continuing to get our message in front of the Michigan public,” McBrearty said.
The state’s top utilities have contributed over a million dollars to candidates and causes across the political spectrum during the 2024 election cycle. They argue that their political giving helps them deliver better services and money used doesn’t come from ratepayers.
A fifth campaign, a referendum by the group One Fair Wage, would undo changes made to the state’s minimum wage law last year.
Last month, the group started a final push to collect signatures ahead of a late March deadline for referendums. One Fair Wage did not respond to a request for an update on Friday.
