PILT FOR SLEEPING BEAR DUNES S.B. 1061: COMMITTEE SUMMARY
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Senate Bill 1061 (as introduced 1-14-10)
Sponsor: Senator Ron Jelinek
Committee: Appropriations


Date Completed: 1-14-10

CONTENT
The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Park conveyance legislation, Public Act 359 of 1974, allowed the Department of Natural Resources to convey certain land to the Federal government for the creation of this national lakeshore park. Under the Act, the Department of Treasury was required to make payments in lieu of taxes to the local units of government located in Leelanau and Benzie Counties for a period not to exceed 10 years from the date of purchase by the Federal government, followed by a 10-year phase-out period. This bill would amend the Act to require the proration of these payments to the local units of government, if the amount appropriated by the Legislature were less than the amount required to make these payments.


MCL 3.908

FISCAL IMPACT
This bill would amend the authorizing act for the reimbursement program to specify that, if appropriations were less than the amount necessary to fund the payments in lieu of taxes, appropriated funds would be distributed to eligible local governments in the same proportion as the funds available were to the amount needed to fully fund the payments. Public Act 128 of 2009, the FY 2009-10 budget for the Department of Treasury, provided no funding for this program. This bill would provide for the possibility of prorated payments in future years.


Most of the property acquired for the park is no longer eligible for reimbursement; however, at the time of the original park creation, some land continued in private ownership. As those parcels have been added to the park, the 10-year payment obligation and the 10-year phase-out were applied. The appropriation for FY 2008-09 for this program was $3,700. This amount funded payments of $2,139 to Leelanau County and $1,561 to Benzie County.

Fiscal Analyst: Elizabeth Pratt and Maria Tyszkiewicz

Analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent. 1061/0910