New programming will soon be available to U.P. business owners to provide relief and encourage economic development in Michigan.
The legislature approved a $75 million small business tax cut that will increase the small taxpayer exemption to the state’s personal property tax. Under it, entities with less than $180,000 in industrial personal property and commercial personal property would be able to qualify for the exemption. The current cap is $80,000.
Within a $1.5B incentive plan, $409 million will be used for business relief. The program will be funded with federal dollars and will provide grants to businesses that have realized a significant financial hardship due to COVID-19, defined by a decline in total sales. The aid available will be capped based on property taxes or certain fees and taxes. Eligible businesses include entertainment venues, exercise facilities, restaurants, barbershops, cosmetology shops, and hotels. Overall, grants to businesses cannot exceed $5 million. As the bill has now been signed into law, more detail is expected to soon follow to further explain eligibility and the application process.
Additionally, a package of bills vital to Michigan’s efforts to compete for, and win, transformational projects in the state was recently passed by the Michigan legislature with strong bipartisan support. Written in a way that permits the Upper Peninsula to qualify for that funding for transformational projects, the legislation appropriates $1 billion for programs that will put the state in the strongest possible position to win projects that would create economic opportunity in the state for the next 20 years and beyond.