Michigan Sales Tax Amendment (2010)

Not on Ballot
This measure was not put on an election ballot

Michigan Sales Tax Amendment did not appear on the August 2010 statewide ballot in Michigan as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment.

The measure proposed dropping the state sales tax from 6 percent to 5.5 percent and extending it to other services not taxed. Generated revenue was estimated to total $554 million and would have been used for school aid in the new budget year - FY 2011. Any additional revenue would have been used to reduce business taxes. The measure was proposed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in effort to avoid state budget cuts.

Rep. Tim Melton, House Education Committee Chairman, announced in March 2010 that he was working on legislation that tied spending reforms for school employee retirement and health care to the proposed sales tax ballot measure.

Ballot summary

According to reports, the question that would have appeared before voters would have been as simple as - Do you support a sales tax on services? A "yes" vote would have eliminated an education budget cut. A "no" meant a $255 per pupil cut would have been made.

Path to the ballot

See also: How the Michigan Constitution is amended

To place the measure on the ballot a minimum of a two-thirds vote was required in both the House and the Senate.

See also

• 2010 ballot measures
• Michigan 2010 ballot measures

Additional reading

• The Detroit News, "Granholm urges speed on plan to spur public employee retirements," March 16, 2010