LANSING ? Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm believes there is a window of opportunity after the November election to work out a deal on a replacement to the Single Business Tax, don?t expect any new proposals this week at the Detroit Regional Chambers Mackinac Island conference.

The governor does have an economic development plan and the dividends to it are working – what Granholm will tell those convened for the three-day conference, said spokesman Liz Boyd.

While Granholm has a new State Treasurer in Bob Kleine, she has given him no timetable to come up with a replacement for the single business tax, Boyd said. Both the governor and treasurer are talking with business groups on the issue.

The administration remains determined that the only complete business tax reform plan up for discussion remains Granholm’s proposal from 2005. That plan, considered pretty much null and void by Republicans, would have taxed insurance companies, cut the SBT rate from 1.9 to 1.2 percent, provided a 35 percent credit for personal property taxes and changed the apportionment factor from 90 percent sales and 5 percent each for payroll and property to 100 percent sales.

The Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic governor worked out a tax cut deal in late 2005 that created a 15 percent credit for personal property taxes paid, 100 percent credit on personal property taxes paid on equipment used for consolidating jobs in the state and boost of the apportionment to 92.5 percent this year and 95 percent on sales by 2008 (it was 90 percent).

Republicans say they are now waiting for Oakland County Executive Brooks Patterson’s SBT repeal petition to work its way through the Department of State elections staff and the Board of State Canvassers after his planned submission of petitions on Tuesday.

“It’s encouraging she wants to talk,” said Ari Adler, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema (R-Wyoming). However, “right now, we’re waiting for the (petition) process.”

Adler said Granholm’s comments on negotiation only show that Sikkema was right in saying that serious discussions on the issue could not occur without a repeal first.

But Boyd, pointing to two statements earlier this year by the governor on dealing with the issue, said Granholm has consistently said she is willing to talk this year about how to replace the SBT. Those statements agreeing to sign an SBT repeal and craft a replacement centered on what remains a dispute with Republican leaders: not shifting costs by a net cut in business taxes to individuals by either cutting services or raising their taxes.

Patterson said Friday that he sees no need to rush certification of the SBT repeal petitions through the state, which is a maximum 60-day process. The Legislature would then have 40 days to respond to the legislative initiative.

The drive has collected more than 360,000 signatures and will submit those to the state on Tuesday. Kelly Chesney, spokesperson for the State Department said the review of petitions will proceed as usual.

Patterson reiterated that Granholm’s reliance on the issue of revenue neutrality to a replacement business tax is really the only hurdle between her and Republican lawmakers. “We’ve always had an agreement in principle that the repeal had to go.”

“There will be a tax cut,” he said, adding that he would not have gone through the petition drive and fundraising process if it didn’t produce a net reduction in taxes.

In terms of a replacement strategy, Patterson said the SBT issue is sure to come up at Mackinac as he reflected as well on the coincidence of the timing of the conference and the petition deadline, which is set out by law.

Patterson said replacement talks will happen there and that officials will be able to answer some questions for businesses, assuring them that their tax credits for brownfields and the like will not be deleted.

Adler added, “I doubt anybody will get off the island without talking about the SBT at least three times.”

Replacement to the SBT legislatively was dealt a blow, Republicans say, by Granholm’s line-item veto in the supplemental appropriation (SB 242 ) that would have allowed Treasury, along with the two fiscal agencies, to come up with legislation providing access to relevant tax information.

Matt Resch, spokesperson for House Speaker Craig DeRoche (R-Novi), said the Republican leader wanted that wording in so the fiscal agencies could have more information regarding the single business tax, therefore allowing lawmakers to come up with a more thorough plan.

The veto of that $100,000 appropriation, a proposal Granholm cited as having confidentiality issues as it could involve individual tax records, shows that the Legislature will continue to be hamstrung by Treasury’s bureaucracy, Resch said.

The legislative petition would call for an end to the SBT by December 31, 2007, which gives leaders plenty of time to come up with a replacement, Brooks said.

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