Son of ‘Proposal A’ tax relief in the works

Raise your hand if you remember the 1994 statewide vote on Proposal A which produced property tax relief with a corresponding hike in the state sales tax?

For those of you who were politically asleep or young chickens at the time, it was an historic moment in state history. With the state granting property tax relief to put more money in the pockets of weary taxpayers, leaders had to find some way to replace those dollars which went to schools and local governments that relied heavily on the property levy.

In a bit of political wizardry and brilliance, Gov. John Engler and friends devised a plan, some might have called it a scheme, to avoid forcing lawmakers to vote for a increase tax to get that job done.