Rep. Mark Ouimet Reflects on Freshmen Term, Sets Sights to 2012

Though the Michigan Legislature is out on holiday break, state Rep. Mark Ouimet, R-Scio Township, hasn't missed a beat.

Ouimet has spent the past month hosting coffee hours and talking with local residents on issues affecting the 52nd District in a massive door-to-door campaign before returning to work in Lansing next week.

Ouimet, who posted a in the House during 2011, was eager to sit down with Dexter Patch on Thursday to talk about goals for the coming year.

One of the top priorities, he said, will be determining the best way to allocate a possible $1 billion surplus in the new year. The surplus is being calculated, in part, based on a report last week by the Senate Fiscal Agency. It will be used by state officials to help come up with a consensus revenue forecast on Jan. 13, according to Ann Arbor.com.

"I don't want to spend it before we get it, but I think we have an obligation to help out our school districts by paying down on the teacher retirement program," Ouimet said. "We want to help school districts put more money back in the classroom."

Ouimet said he would also like to see some of the money spent on local government, as well.

"Local governments have seen a lot of pressure on their budgets because their revenues have gone down and the state has reduced its obligation to these taxing units," he said. "I think we need to look at helping local governments get back to the funding levels they were once at without raising taxes."

Another area of focus will be funding transportation and local infrastructure improvements. Michigan is losing more than $500 million a year for road repair and construction because its gas or diesel tax has not been raised in 14 years, according to a report released in December by The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

The report shows that Michigan has not raised the 19-cent per gallon gas tax for 14 years and the 15-cent per gallon diesel tax for 27 years.

In response, Gov. Rick Snyder has called for a switch from the gas tax to a tax on wholesale prices. Snyder also proposed a local option to increase vehicle registration fees by an additional $10 per month, which would bring in $120,000 per year in revenue.

"We are shy about $1.4 million to fix our roads and bridges in our state," Ouimet said. "We are in the process of getting feedback about both of those revenue streams. What we're hearing is that people are concerned that the money we've designated for roads and bridges haven't been going there."

The debate over personal property tax

Locally, Ouimet said school district officials and local municipalities have expressed fear with the Legislature's debate over eliminating the state's personal property tax.

"People want to know how we're going to deal with it," Ouimet said. "I'm a big believer that we need to have a replacement tax for the personal property tax. I think it's an archaic way of collecing revenue, but we can't let our governmental units and schools go without that revenue source."

As a whole, Michigan's personal property tax brought in about $1.2 billion in 2010. The tax is applied to items such as machinery, equipment and office furniture, but excludes buildings and land.

According to an article from the Michigan Policy Network, K-12 schools received nearly $225.7 million in 2010 from personal property taxes. Cutting the personal property tax would not necessarily mean schools would suffer a $225.7 million hit, however. Since the state maintains per-pupil funding guarantees, the $225.7 million contributes to the state's obligation, lessening the amount of money it has to remove from the School Aid Fund to pay for education. 

When pressed on a alternate option to the tax, Ouimet said no concrete plan has been presented.

"I think the governor is fully aware this would be a major challenge to do away with that revenue source," he said.

Looking to the future

Despite several accomplishments during the past year, including helping balance the state's budget five months ahead of schedule, Ouimet said there is still work to be done.

"My skill set has been best utilized in a time when there was a need for great change. Being able to help facilitate that change and explain it to people has been a pleasure," Ouimet said. "I have a lot of background in business, education, government and nonprofits and I've been able to take those skill sets to Lansing.

"I'm in the district every night attending meetings ... which helps me connect with the voters," he said. "The district is where I learn what's working, what isn't working or ideas on how we can improve."

When asked if he would seek re-election in November, Ouimet said he plans to seek another term.

"When I ran for this office, I promised to revamp the tax code, go to a two-year budgeting cycle and end the one-time budget gimmicks in Lansing that have been performed for the last four years; we accomplished all those goals," Ouimet said. "I'm looking forward to continuing our progress for Michigan as we head into the next Legislative session."

Ouimet said he will hold a series of coffee hour sessions throughout the district in February. No dates have been determined.