Study: Two-Thirds Of Michigan Adults Favor Graduated Income Tax Plan

DETROIT ? Nearly two-thirds of Michigan adults favor shifting away from the state’s current flat income tax to a graduated income tax plan, while just under a third support raising Michigan’s current flat income tax rate.

The study was done by Wayne State University’s Center for Urban Studies. It showed 64.3 percent favor shifting away from the state’s current flat income tax to a graduated income tax plan. It also showed 32.6 percent support raising Michigan’s current flat income tax rate.

Lyke Thompson, director of Wayne State’s Center for Urban Studies and political science professor, led the study.

“These findings definitively show that Michigan residents want a thoughtful governor – one who can balance selective cost-cutting measures with prudent tax increases,” Thompson said. “They are particularly telling when put in the context of Michigan’s upcoming gubernatorial election and the economic platforms expressed by the Democratic and Republican candidates.”

Additional findings show:

More than two-thirds of Michigan residents surveyed (67.3 percent) want the state budget balanced using spending cuts coupled with tax and fee increases.

Only about a fourth (26.2 percent) want Michigan’s budget balanced via spending cuts alone.

Michigan residents are almost equally likely to oppose spending cuts (24.7 percent) as they are to support the use of spending cuts alone to balance the budget (26.2 percent).

When asked what areas of Michigan’s budget they want to see cut, the majority of residents oppose budget cuts to public services. Three-fourths of residents opposed spending cuts to K-12 education (75.6 percent), about two-thirds were opposed to funding cuts affecting road maintenance and construction (64.1 percent), mental health services (63.6 percent), or higher education (63.6 percent). Slightly smaller majorities opposed cuts to Medicaid services (60.9 percent), public safety and corrections (58.9 percent), and economic development (58.5 percent). In contrast, less than half of those surveyed were opposed to budget cuts affecting public assistance (45.9 percent).

a>>