As the Federal debt grows and the U.S. economy stagnates, an increasing number of Michigan communities are taking on old (no pun intended) responsibilities.

In 63 of Michigan’s 83 counties, dwindling federal and state dollars have been supplemented with countywide senior-dedicated millages.

The taxes bring in millions of dollars that help senior citizens stay in their homes and access health care and legal help.

…Despite a shattered state economy, every millage across the state dedicated to senior funding passed, including a quarter-mill levy in three communities along the western edge of Oakland County.

In counties without a millage, senior centers and social service agencies rely on dwindling state and federal money, unpredictable funding from the general fund of local governments, private donations, grants and even bake sales.

Incidentally, Georgia has the fifth youngest median age in the country at 34.9 years.  Still, it’s an interesting question for anyone effected by an overextended federal government.

h/t:  Otis White

I thought this was an interesting little Decatur tidbit.  From the city’s Decatur Tax Blog…

…the largest tax exempt property owners in Decatur are DeKalb County, Agnes Scott, the City of Decatur, Columbia Seminary, the Decatur Housing Authority, DeKalb Medical, the First Baptist Church, Decatur First United Methodist Church, MARTA, and Decatur Presbyterian Church. Two final notes: 1) Decatur’s tax-exempt owners do pay stormwater bills and 2) they’re also some of the largest employers in town.

An interesting blurb from page 29 of Decatur’s 2010-2011 city budget…

Priority Two: Online Taxes

The Revenue division has reviewed proposals and viewed demonstrations from a number of vendors for online tax information. The division is prepared to move forward with a particular vendor that will provide the ability to view tax accounts, re‐print tax bills and eventually pay taxes over the Internet.  This will be an enhancement to our customers who must call, email or visit the office during regular business hours to obtain tax information today.

What’s become of me?  There once was a time when I’d have been all over something like this.

A tax on soda was one option considered to help pay for health care reform (the Joint Committee on Taxation calculated that a 3-cent tax on each 12-ounce sugared soda would raise $51.6 billion over a decade), and President Obama told Men’s Health magazine last fall that such a tax is “an idea that we should be exploring. There’s no doubt that our kids drink way too much soda.”

But with all the junk food and U.F.O.’s (unidentifiable food-like objects) out there, why soda? Why a tax? And, most important, would it work?

But before we all jump on the Captain Obvious-sponsored “Soda Isn’t All That Good for You” bandwagon, perhaps we should recognize this solution for what it really is: LAME.

The problem here isn’t the sugary drink itself, but the much wider prevailance of cheap, sweet calories.  Soda is NOT the new tobacco, as the New York Times wondered yesterday, because soda is just one of many forms that cheap calories take. Tobacco, on the other hand, is clearly tobacco, for better or worse.  Period.

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For those with mortgages at Bank of America, take note!  Robert just wrote this into the Oakhurst Message Board…

For any of you un-lucky enough to have both BANK OF AMERICA as lender and DECATUR your city, you may be getting a collection letter from Decatur saying you are delinquent on your property taxes even though you have been paying into an Escrow account with BOA that should have automatically paid your taxes with Decatur.

I was blessed with this letter today

After calling both Decatur and BOA lender couple times, here is what I found out:

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