Michigan Fails to Invest in its Greatest Natural Asset

“By the Numbers” is a series of short articles evaluating the finances of Michigan local governments, primarily through the use of U.S. Census reports on Local Government Revenues and Expenditures by Type of Government, and State and Local Government Revenues and Expenditures. These articles look at how Michigan compares over time to the rest of the nation.

Several articles have benchmarked changes in revenues for local governments comparing the years 2002, 2007, and 2012. Changes in revenue collections, as well as transfers from the State and Federal governments, have been evaluated for each type of local government in Michigan – municipalities, counties, townships, and school districts. Another installment looked at two distinct types of own source revenues: taxes and fees.

Later articles benchmark Michigan’s state and local expenditures on various categories of services on a per capita basis as compared to other states, using information from 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, and 2012. Expense categories analyzed include payroll, administrative costs, and public safety. The last entry in the series focused on K-12 education funding.

Finally, overall results will be evaluated with a critical look at Michigan’s current system of funding local governments and the services they provide.

Two Census categories from the State and Local Government Revenue and Expenditure reports are a good barometer of Michigan’s efforts to capitalize on its greatest natural asset – the great outdoors. The categories to consider are Natural Resource expenditures and Parks and Recreation spending.

Natural Resources expenditures are for conservation; promotion; and development of natural resources such as soil, water, forests, minerals, and wildlife. It includes expenditures for irrigation, drainage, flood control, forestry and fire protection, soil reclamation, soil and water conservation, fish and game programs, and agricultural fairs.

Michigan has traditionally ranked poorly in this category compared to the rest of the nation. In 1992, Michigan ranked 41st in the nation in per capita expenditures for natural resources. In 1997, Michigan had improved its standing to 31st, but since that time Michigan has continued to slide down in national rankings. In 2002, Michigan was 34th in expenditures; by 2007, Michigan had fallen to 46th; finally, Michigan hit 47th in 2012.

Michigan’s national standing for Parks and Recreation services was not significantly better. Parks and Recreation expenditures include golf courses, playfields, playgrounds, public beaches, swimming pools, tennis courts, parks, auditoriums, stadiums, auto camps, recreation piers, marinas, botanical gardens, galleries, museums, and zoos. It also includes building and operating convention centers and exhibition halls. Outside of a ranking of 19th in the nation in 2002, Michigan has ranked between 33rd and 39th in the nation in the other years that were reviewed. By 2012, Michigan had fallen to 40th in per capita expenditures in this category.

Michigan’s high expectations to generate significant revenue from tourism activities and to leverage our Great Lakes and other waterways as economic development “drivers” are not backed by our state and local government priorities in spending as this data describes.