Say what you like about "saving the auto industry"; good, bad, or indifferent, there's a cost here.
...GM, Chrysler and Ford's remaining tax credits, the exact value of
which is shrouded in state tax law secrecy, are part of an overall $6.5
billion estimated liability that threatens to consume at least 7.5
percent of the state's roughly $10 billion general budget annually for
the next few fiscal years. The automakers declined comment.
The
$807 million that state economists officials say is needed to pay for
business tax credits in next fiscal year is more than what Michigan is
spending this year on community colleges, local health agencies and the
Department of Natural Resources combined....
Seems that one of the players cashed in $224 million in credits last year--and the Governor will have to cut a bunch of spending to fix that problem.
For about the next 10 years, the Michigan budget will be very, very, very dicey. Maybe the auto industry will manage to hit its goals in Michigan.
And maybe not. 16++ million sales/year is a very large number in a so-so economy.
Regarding Michigan's $10 billion general-fund budget, remind me again how much more populous Wisconsin is than Michi...wait a minute, Michigan is signficantly more populous than Wisconsin, yet it has a significantly smaller general-fund budget.
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