June 26th, 2008
Dear Friends:
As
your State Representative, I will periodically send out
e-newsletters to keep you informed of current events in
Lansing. I hope
you enjoy reading them. However, should you wish to be removed
from our email list, please reply to this message and put the
word, "unsubscribe" in the subject line of the email.
Comparing
Spending:
I
recently compared Michigan's taxing and spending system to
Missouri's system. Michigan could take a page from
Missouri's playbook on reducing taxing and spending.
Missouri and Michigan are similarly-situated states and helps
put into perspective how Michigan is overspending in certain
areas. What really appealed to me about Missouri's
spending is how it was focused on the actual taxpayers. In
comparison, the state of Michigan needs to make some changes to
become a better servant to the people that fund it.
Missouri being known as the "Show Me State" lives up to its
reputation and provides a website that shows where their tax
dollars are being spent (See
www.mapyourtaxes.mo.gov).
Michigan could benefit from a website like this. It would
provide Michiganders with an easy way to see how their tax
dollars are being spent and would encourage more efficient
spending on the part of the legislature since all spending would
be made easily accessible to the public.
As you know I have been an advocate for reducing the amount the
government pays its state employees. When I compared what
Missouri pays its state employees I was not surprised to see
that Michigan pays more. On average Michigan pays $49,600
per state employee, compared to Missouri's $36,974 per state
employee. Michigan is paying 34-percent more
per government employee than Missouri pays its state
employees. When you consider that Missouri and Michigan
residents have relatively the same average for personal income
of $32,793 and $33,784 respectively (a difference of only 3
percent) you begin to wonder why the State of Michigan's
employees are paid so much more in comparison to the average
personal income.
Part of Michigan's problem with spending is that it is not
focused on benefiting the taxpayers. For instance,
Missouri spends $104.05 per capita on prisoners compared to
Michigan which pays $170.41 per capita on prisoners (66-percent
more than Missouri). Missouri saves its taxpayers money on
prisoners, something few would object to. Missouri seems
to understand that its tax payers should reap the benefits of
their hard earned dollars. Michigan spends 22-percent less
per capita on road improvements compared to Missouri, despite a
harsher climate and heavier load maximums here. In
Michigan we pay a higher gas tax, sales tax and nearly double
property tax than if we resided in Missouri. These
significant discrepancies in spending are not fair to Michigan
taxpayers and need to be addressed.
To the disadvantage of Michigan residents like you, House
Democrats have refused to take-up acts that would allow
taxpayers to plainly see where their tax dollars are going.
If such acts were put in place Michigan would have a website
like Missouri that would show taxpayers where their tax dollars
are being spent. Wouldn't it be nice to know exactly where
your money is going when you pay your state taxes? House
Democrats don't seem to think so. They believe you should
put blind trust in your government spending billions of your
tax dollars.
I hope this comparison to Missouri has helped put into
perspective the need for more responsible spending in Michigan.
As your Representative I want to assure you that I recognize
Michigan's spending problem, and I continue to be open to all
ways in reducing spending and ultimately reducing taxes on hard
working people like yourself.
Sincerely,
Dave
Dave
Agema
State Representative
74th District of Michigan