LANSING – The administration of Governor Jennifer Granholm will not ask for more tax increases in the future, even if the state budget is still short of revenue, Treasurer Bob Kleine said in a radio interview Tuesday.

Even if revenues for the 2008-09 budget are down by some $300 million to $500 million, that would require manageable cuts, Kleine said in an interview on WJR Radio.

But if the Legislature had not acted to boost taxes in the marathon sessions over the weekend, and the state saw a shortfall in revenues next year, then the state would be put into an extreme position, he said.

House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.) in a separate interview said he would not go back to the taxpayers for more revenues “but somehow we have to rein in costs.” On a different but related note, Dillon said he had wished all sides had been straight with the public on forging a bipartisan solution to the budget this spring instead of Republicans saying for months it could be solved with just cuts and reforms.

Without the increased revenues the state will see through the tax increases, it would be in an “untenable position” if revenues continued to decline, Kleine said.

The tax increases have helped the state take a major step towards restoring its fiscal stability and eliminating its ongoing structural deficit, Kleine said.

The state will still face fiscal pressures because of its economic straits and the pressure that puts on the budget through Medicaid caseloads, he said.

In fact, Kleine said unless a national health insurance system was created the state may never be able to completely solve its structural fiscal problems.

He acknowledged that preliminary indications are the state will still see declining revenues in the next fiscal year, saying that reductions of $300 million to $500 million were likely in the ballpark of what may happen.

By 2009, however, Kleine said he hoped the state would see more normal economic activity as the auto industry completes its major restructuring.

TAX INFORMATION: Information on the state’s new income tax withholding rates as well as information on what defines the services that will have to collect sales taxes is now posted on the Department of Treasury’s website, Michigan.Gov/Treasury

A spokesperson for the department said the department is developing a full explanation of what the services are that would require collection of the sales tax. The sales tax on services begins on December 1.

Now, the site lists the services affected by the tax and links to the federal NAICS code with its explanation of what each business type is that would be subject to the tax.

In addition, the state has now listed the new withholding rates for the state’s 4.35 percent income tax. The new tax rate took effect on Monday.

For the year, when individuals file their income tax returns, they will have to file based on a blended tax rate, but Terry Stanton said the state has not yet completed calculating what that blended rate would be.

S.B.A.M. CALLS FOR SERVICES TAX REPEAL:

The Small Business Association of Michigan called on the Legislature to “immediately repeal” the sales tax on services, saying it would kill jobs in the state. Todd Anderson of SBAM said that most of the tax will be paid by businesses on services they need and use, such as consulting services, and the tax could discourage large companies from hiring smaller firms to provide services.

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