Revenue from Michigan's sales tax is expected to be down just 1 percent this year, which is one more reason why talk among legislators about expanding it to services is a bad idea, Fiscal Policy Analyst James Hohman writes in this Oakland Press Op-Ed.
"Consider that the state has the highest unemployment rate in the country and is in the bottom 10 states in per-capita production - down from 19th place just a decade ago. Nevertheless, in the past year, Michigan's treasury has been outperforming Michigan's economy. The state's tax revenues dropped 4.9 percent in 2009, but the state shed 6.9 percent of its jobs," Hohman writes.
He's addressed this issue several times before, including here, here, and here.
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