Wayland City Councilman Rick Mathis Monday evening told his colleagues that the city has lost about $1.5 million in revenue sharing from the state since 2003.

Mathis said he learned of the situation while attending a Michigan Municipal League seminar earlier this month. He said 14 cities have banded together to file a lawsuit against the state, demanding the money they believe they’ve been shortchanged be returned.

“That $1.5 million is a lot of money lost for our city and our residents,” he said.

Detroit Free Press reporter Christina Hall said in a story published earlier this month that local governments throughout Michigan have been having to slash programs and make serious budget cuts because of decreasing state fund support.

Eastpointe City Manager Steve Duchane, other local employees and Taxpayers for Michigan Constitutional Government have filed a lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Technology Management and Budget and Michigan Office of the Auditor General.

The complaint asserts that “the state is violating the Michigan Constitution by overstating spending that is paid to local governments and engaging in an ‘illegal tax shift’” the Free Press reported. “The complaint states that Michigan is including payments from Proposal A revenue and payments to charter schools, county road commissions and others from the trunk line roads fund and payments to cover the costs of state mandates in its calculations of spending in the form of aid that is paid to local governments.

“When these items are subtracted, state spending in the form of aid that is paid to local governments falls significantly below 48.97% of total state spending,” violating the constitution.”

The non-profit group is asking to have these items be removed from the state aid funding formula for local governments and seeks a court order for the state to make up funding shortages.

The group claims the loss of billions of dollars in funding has caused local governments to make significant cuts to services and programs in order to stay solvent.

The Free Press reported, “Many Michigan communities have said they were brought to their knees financially by a combination of events, including the Great Recession, the mortgage market meltdown that dramatically cut real estate values, the state’s elimination of the personal property tax on businesses and continued cuts in state revenue sharing. Working their way back has been difficult because of the limits on property tax growth imposed by Proposal A and the Headlee Amendment.”

PHOTO: Councilman Rick Mathis