Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the House on January 9, 2008

Click here to view bill details.

HB 5592 would create the "Michigan Port Authority," but it's not about ports. It's about taking your land. This bill would give seven governor's appointees the power to take any land by condemnation and make any deal with private developers to build anything they want, anywhere in the state. These schemes would be financed by tax-exempt debt, and not subject to local property taxes. If this bill passes, and you are a land developer who doesn't feel like paying free-market prices to assemble your land, all you have to do is buy the obedience of four of the seven board members and any land in Michigan can be yours at whatever price the court fixes. Then you can finance your project with tax-free revenue bonds, and dodge local property taxes indefinitely, giving you an advantage over less-well-connected private developers. This bill includes language carefully crafted to try to exempt the Port Authority from recent changes to Michigan law that try to make it harder to condemn land for use by private developers. The language might work, too, automatically endowing any Authority scheme with a "public purpose." This bill invites corruption on a fantastic scale. It would make the current deal for a new State Police headquarters look like a (subsidized) lemonade stand.

Can you tell me what is the difference between the Democrats and Repubicans? It seems like we have far too many on either side of the aisle that want to find the means to tax us and take away our property rights without our voice or vote. Taxing Authorities are entities who have the ability to tax without the vote of the people. The people who sit on these authorities are not answerable to the public, ie..., taxpayers and property owners. Have fun with trying to find out who the people are sitting on these authorities. We do not need anymore Taxing Authorities blind-siding the peoples will and rights. It is another means for our legislatures to pass off their elected responsiblities to an unelected, anonymous body.

Both parties are eliminating the middle class. We get taxed by both parties. They get benefits for life and we are dealing with foreclosures, no medical insurance, and bankruptcies. The bankruptcy rate in Oakland Co is one out of 60. We have our assessments going up, so they can get more tax money from us, and we all know our residential property values have decreased significantly.