January 20, 2012
Funding Will Assist with Local Government Consolidation Projects
The Michigan Department of Treasury has announced that 27 Michigan communities will receive Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP) grant funding totaling $4.3 million. The EVIP program, proposed by the Governor in the budget and passed by the Legislature, replaced traditional statutory revenue sharing in the current Fiscal Year. It included a $5 million, incentive-based grant program to help offset costs for cities, villages, townships, and counties interested in service consolidation or sharing, or other cooperative efforts among local units of government.
“This program has and will make a difference in helping partner with local governments on innovative collaborations and best practices, leveraging limited resources,” Snyder said. “These grants will boost or upgrade service delivery for residents of these communities and help provide cost savings. That’s a win-win.”
The following communities will receive EVIP Grants with projects and amounts noted (alphabetical order):
Arcadia Twp. |
Strategy Regional Master Plan & Implementation |
$157,000 |
| Calumet Twp. |
Creation of North Houghton County Fire District |
$23,000 |
| Comstock Twp. |
Kalamazoo Area Building Authority |
$78,657 |
| Dearborn |
Feasibility Study - Tax Administration Services |
$25,000 |
| Delta Twp. |
Delta Twp.-Looking Glass Reg. Fire Auth. Consolidation |
$180,000 |
| Douglas |
Kalamazoo Harbor Authority |
$38,008 |
| Farmington Hills |
Combined Public Safety Dispatch & Jail Project |
$148,250 |
| Fremont |
Joint Planning Commission-Zoning Ordinance Review |
$6,985 |
| Gaastra |
Gaastra/Caspian Consolidation (Fire & Police) |
$32,000 |
| Grand Haven |
IT & Assessing Services via Inter-local Agreements |
$47,499 |
| Grosse Pointe |
Public Safety Department Consolidation Study |
$20,000 |
| Grosse Pointe |
All Grosse Pointe Dispatch Consolidation |
$300,000 |
| Kalamazoo Co. |
PSAP Consolidation Project Study |
$20,000 |
| Kent Co. |
Multi-Jurisdictional Parks and Recreation Study |
$37,500 |
| Marshall |
Shared Police Facility Feasibility Study |
$21,146 |
| Onekama Twp. |
Disincorporation of Village into Onekama Township |
$355,365 |
| Ottawa Co. |
Holland-Zeeland Service Sharing Initiative |
$14,804 |
| Pleasant Ridge |
Pleasant Ridge/Berkley Public Safety Merger |
$132,250 |
| River Rouge |
River Rouge/Ecorse Public Safety Department Project |
$647,609 |
| Saginaw |
Regional Fire Collaboration Project Study |
$12,500 |
| Southgate |
Allen Park/Lincoln Park/Southgate/Wyandotte's
Animal Control Services Consolidation |
$235,000 |
| Stockbridge |
Municipal Building & Middle School Facility Sharing |
$3,250 |
| Trenton |
Combined Dispatch Center & Prisoner Lockup Facility (Trenton/Riverview) |
$239,750 |
| Wakefield |
Consolidation of Collection Service, Transportation & Disposal of Waste |
$241,500 |
| Washtenaw Co. |
Washtenaw Metro Dispatch |
$177,500 |
| Waterford Twp. |
Waterford/Pontiac Fire Services Consolidation |
$567,500 |
| Westland |
District Court Consolidation (Dearborn Heights/Garden City/Inkster/Wayne/Westland) |
$8,750 |
The very first EVIP grant was awarded to the city of Grand Rapids in October 2011 in the amount of $550,000 for its inter-local agreement with Flint and Lansing to combine their income tax processing and tax payment systems. The project is expected to be operation in 2012. Any of the 22 Michigan cities which administer a local income tax can also join the partnership.
In all, these EVIP grant payments help offset costs for 28 projects. In most cases, grants were approved at 50 percent of the amount applied for. Approved projects include a complete merger of two local units of government, six consolidations of police and fire services and four consolidations of dispatch-related services. The grants will also fund eight feasibility studies, four of which involve emergency fire services.
In his State of the State address on Wednesday, Jan. 18, Gov. Snyder proposed additional funding for the EVIP grant program, given the significant interest and demand that couldn’t be met in the initial application round and the focus on outcomes and results for citizens and taxpayer dollars. Specifics will be unveiled during the budget presentation slated for Thursday, Feb. 9.
For more information, visit www.michigan.gov/treasury and click on Local Government Services.
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