Governor's Proposal: Equivalent of 58 Percent Surcharge

Gov. Jennifer Granholm has gone public with a laundry list of proposed tax hikes and “loophole closings.” It's a "death by a thousand cuts" strategy, which most items extracting relatively small amounts, or targeted at politically powerless populations like smokers. Unfortunately, these little injuries add up to a lot of blood drained from Michigan's already ailing economy.

To put this in perspective, to raise the same amount of revenue raising business tax rates, the current (and reviled) 22 percent surcharge on the Michigan Business Tax would have to be raised from 22 percent to 58 percent. Alternatives, the governor and legislature could jack-up the stat income tax by another 11 percent, increasing the rates from 4.35 percent to 4.84 percent. (estimates on revenue from each tax are available here.)

The governor's tax proposals are exactly the wrong prescription that is losing jobs, losing people and losing hope. They are doubly unfortunate given that there are still plenty of ways for the state to save money.

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