Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed budget for next year includes about a 5 percent increase in the Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP, formerly statutory shared revenue).
“If  this holds true, it could mean as much as $9,000 more for Dowagiac’s general fund next year,” according to City Manager Kevin Anderson.
“While this number is still nearly $80,000 less than 2010 state funding levels, it is encouraging that further cuts from Lansing are not proposed at this time,” Anderson said.
Also, additional grant funding for shared services is part of the governor’s proposal, though it remains to be seen how the proposed budget will be shifted as it goes through the legislative process.
Public Act 63 of 2011 introduced EVIP, by which each city, village or township that received a FY 2010 statutory payment greater than $4,500 and fulfills specific requirements for all three categories will be eligible to receive a maximum of 67.837363 percent of its FY 2010 total statutory payment, rounded to the nearest dollar.
An eligible city, village or township receives one third of the maximum amount for each of three categories for which they fulfill specific requirements, including accountability and transparency, consolidation of services and employee compensation.