By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network
LANSING, MI – A state House committee met Wednesday to discuss Michigan's tax structure. The rest of the Legislature is in recess this week.
The House Tax Policy committee has been taking testimony from interest groups over the past few weeks. The committee chair hopes to hear from a couple dozen groups before the fiscal year ends in the Fall.
On Wednesday, the committee heard from the Michigan Municipal League. Robin Beltramini is president of the league, and a councilwoman in Troy.
"We believe our local structure and state structure is broken," she says. "It's fundamentally flawed. And as you've heard from others who have presented before this committee - and you know from your own experience in the Legislature - we do not have a revenue structure that keeps with the pace of providing services."
Local government leaders say property taxes, though unpopular, are an essential revenue stream for local governments.