Shelley Martinez / Elk Country Log Homes's Friends

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Shelley Martinez / Elk Country Log Homes's Blog

Dreaming of Northern Michigan

It's an ongoing dream of my husband and mine. We want to live in Northern Michigan. Every weekend when we drive back downstate from our log home, I feel like I'm leaving my "real home." We built our modest vacation log home last year and are already looking forward… Continue

Posted on January 7th, 2009 at 9:00am — 1 Comment

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At 11:34am on January 15th, 2009, mbickley@marbleera.com said…: Hi Shelley,
There is no better place to live then Northern Michigan. We are grainte,stone,marble,quartz etc. fabricators for kitchens and baths located in Gaylord and Hillman. When you are ready to remodel I will be glad to answere any questions. We have the BEST kitchen and bath Designers living and working in Northern Michigan.
Keep warm, Mary

At 5:12am on January 7th, 2009, Daar Fisher said…

Hi Shelley, I’m the Internal Communication Director for the Michigan FairTax Assn. As you’re aware, our state legislature has recently enacted the Michigan Business Tax [MBT] as a response to ending the Single Business Tax [SBT] (a gross receipts tax). Our goal is to inform Michiganders about a proposed Michigan FairTax alternative that would both simplify, and stimulate, Michigan's business / jobs climate in order to stem the mass-emigration of businesses and families currently taking place.

The proposed Michigan FairTax would REPLACE the income tax and current sales tax, with a consumption tax (sales tax at point of retail sale). Under this plan, no more state tax will be withheld from Michigan wage-earners' paychecks. What's more, every Michigan resident-family will receive a monthly "prebate" check, in amount based on family size. This will ensure that NO Michigan family will EVEN BEGIN paying the MI FairTax on goods / services unless, or until, they exceed poverty-level spending.

Under the MI FairTax plan, points of collection are substantially reduced to just retailers, many of whom are already collecting sales tax. Because service providers must account for income tax withholding and compliance costs, their prices carry a hidden tax which a FairTax will make visible. (Business-to-business purchases would not carry the tax, as this would, again, hide the cost of taxation in prices.)

Because of the "prebate" (advance rebate calculated as .0975 x $ [poverty level spending per family size]) to ALL Michigan-resident households, the MI FairTax rate would effectively be 0% on all monthly family spending to the poverty level; thereafter it's 9.75%. A reasonably inferred average effective rate would be ~5.5% (see p.2 of pdf brochure, also review an economic analysis [pdf] on MI FairTax effects prepared by the Hillsdale Policy Group).