Focus EMU Online, Weekly Issue

EMU employees face possibility of paying city income tax in future

Those who work at Eastern Michigan University may be paying a city income tax next year.

The city of Ypsilanti, which has struggled to maintain basic services and has cut several others in the last few years, is strongly considering putting the proposal of a city income tax before voters next winter or spring in an effort to generate funds to operate efficiently.

TAXED TOWN: Due to a plethora of reasons that have
dwindled the municipality's revenue base, the City
of Ypsilanti has struggled to maintain basic services
and has cut many others in the last few years. To
bolster operating revenues, city officials are now
strongly considering placing a city income tax
proposal on a ballot in February or May 2007.

"The campus community has mixed emotions," said Brian Filipiak, who's seen the issue from both side of the fence. Filipiak works at EMU in teacher education and he also happens to be an Ypsilanti City Councilman. "I've had people walk up to me who've read the stories and heard Ypsilanti's in trouble. Some have said they're willing to support it, willing to help out. Others are very angry about it. They've vowed to fight it or not support local businesses. That would be painful. You can't please everyone in this situation. We have a city to run and have to figure out how to pay for it."

Under the proposal, the city would enact an income tax rate of 1 percent for city residents and a 1/2 percent for non-residents. For EMU employees, that means a city resident who works at the University would pay the former income tax while an EMU employee who commutes from Ann Arbor or Detroit, for example, would pay the latter.

The income tax, which would "sunset" or cease after five years, could generate approximately $4 million annually, according to Plante & Moran, the regional management consulting and certified public accounting firm the city hired to conduct an income tax study. However, the city would actually collect something closer to $2.5 million annually, said Ypsilanti City Manager Ed Koryzno.