“My goal is to cut government in half in 25 years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.” — Grover Norquist

Columnist Ranger Rick has been pressuring me to let the world know the highest total tax rate in Allegan County is paid by residents of the City of Wayland.

At first, I told him he was wrong, that the City of Holland was highest and Wayland and Allegan were virtually tied for second.

Since then, he has produced information published in early 2017 that indicates the City of Wayland’s total millage rate is highest at 43.1667, followed by Allegan at 42.8680, Holland at 42.2939, Plainwell at 41.7973 and Otsego at 41.3242. Fennville, Hamilton, Saugatuck and South Haven all are under 40.

The city’s “Where Do My Tax Dollars Go?” publication, courtesy of City Clerk Michelle Herman, says, “Your taxes you pay to the City of Wayland and to support many different efforts and services. Besides the City, Wayland Schools, Allegan County Intermediate School District, Allegan County Government, County Roads, County Seniors, and the Henika Library all collect taxes based on the value of your property.”

So, the 43-plus mills total doesn’t just go to the city.

But Rick apparently was correct.

The difference between Wayland and Allegan is about three-tenths of a mill and with Holland less than a mill. And I’m not entirely certain this proves, as Rick believes, that Wayland is horribly overtaxed.

Before his abrupt departure last August, former City Manager Tim McLean and City Councilman Rick Mathis suggested local governments have been suffering from reductions in state revenue sharing support, a process sometimes known as “Starve the Beast.”

McLean said he wondered how local governments will be able to operate and provide service to residents with less revenue support. Mathis told colleagues Wayland has missed out on nearly $1.5 million in state aid over the past 14 years.

McLean, commenting about the promise of another revenue sharing freeze from the state in October 2017, said, “Michigan ranks last (in the nation) in percentage of investing in local communities, and it will remain last if this continues.”

The bill to eliminate the 4.35% state income tax, has been introduced again, a politically popular idea once suggested by County Clerk Bob Genetski when he was a state representative, but there is no plan to replace the lost revenue.

“If there has ever been a time when local government has operated leaner than today, I would challenge anyone to provide data for this,” McLean said. “The state is quick to talk of how they have balanced their budget and how ‘in order’ their own house is. I maintain that this was done on the backs of local governments.”

Bridge Magazine and the Center for Michigan Studies recently published as analysis of city governments in the state:

“Michigan is a tale of two kinds of cities. Cities such as Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Traverse City and Ann Arbor have healthy and diverse economies. Other cities — Flint, Saginaw, Jackson, Muskegon, Battle Creek and many smaller municipalities — face deep and long-term financial crisis and depressed local economies. And Detroit, the state’s flagship city, is a complex chowder of economic revival downtown and deeply troubled neighborhoods on the periphery.”

The analysis agrees with McLean and Mathis that the state’s revenue sharing support indeed has declined.

“Michigan cities are funded in part by tax revenues shared by the state with local governments. Called ‘revenue sharing,’ these payments are partially required by the state constitution and partially ‘statutory.’ The governor and Michigan Legislature have discretion to reduce or increase statutory revenue sharing…

“The number of communities the state considers distressed is long – 138 cities, 36 townships and 15 villages, that run the gamut from Adrian to Ypsilanti. They’re communities with lagging property values, are losing population and have higher-than-average poverty and unemployment rates. That makes them eligible for special state grants, but also underscores the challenges facing many cities.

“In Michigan, it’s often a case of have and have-nots among cities.”