Little oversight expected in cost-cutting incentives

LANSING (AP) -- Local governments that want to qualify for incentives under Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's plan to reward cost-cutting measures will only need to fill out a form saying they're doing all they can to reach the goal and provide some additional documentation, officials said. There will be little, if any, checking on whether communities are doing what they claim to cut spending and consolidate public services to get a portion of Michigan tax revenue sharing being used for incentives, Detroit Free Press reported recently. "I can't really comment on oversight yet, but our staffing is tight," said Terry Stanton, spokesman for the Department of Treasury. "But we would expect that if a local unit tells us that they're taking appropriate steps, that they're taking that responsibility to heart." Communities submitting false information would forfeit incentive payments and have to pay back what they've already received, Stanton said. Qualifying for the money will be a matter of signing a form and providing additional documentation to the state, said Summer Minnick, spokeswoman of the Michigan Municipal League. She said the approach is preferable to having numerous Treasury Department auditors reviewing information. "The Treasury Department doesn't have to certify it," she said. "As long as the community administrators sign the form, they'll get the money." The Republican governor announced the plan earlier this year to use hundreds of millions of tax dollars for incentives, potentially at the expense of local governments that don't make cost-cutting efforts. That caused worries in communities about whether they would qualify. Snyder has been keen to make the thousands of county, city, town, village and township officials look for ways to combine services, erase boundaries and employ fewer people at less cost -- including themselves. Some of those changes already have been taking place. Birmingham and several neighboring Oakland County communities, for example, have been partners in sewage treatment and recycling for years. Now Birmingham and Bloomfield Township are negotiating a deal to consolidate police and fire dispatch services. Birmingham's city employees also pay 20 percent of their health care costs, and the city has a less expensive defined-benefit pension plan for new hires. "We've been pursuing these things because they're the right things to do," said Robert Bruner, the city manager. Published: Thu, Aug 18, 2011