Michigan property tax relief on the horizon, Republican Speaker says

(FOX 2) - It was 31 years ago when then-Gov. John Engler and the state legislature put Proposal A on the statewide ballot to reduce property taxes. It passed, ending a three-decade-long battle to do that. And ever since, lawmakers and governors have left it alone.

Now, plans are in motion for more property tax relief. 

The backstory:

In 1978 Dick Headlee, a Republican who ran for governor, pushed the Headlee Amendment. It provided its own form of property tax relief. Lawmakers and governors haven't touched it since.

The reason why? It opens up a political can of worms with huge political ramifications.

But that doesn't seem to bother House GOP Speaker Matt Hall, who surprised Lansing by saying he would revisit the property tax, the Headlee Amendment and Proposal A for the schools.

"That's the next issues that I think's going to dominate this town: How do we do property tax and the potential of putting that on the next ballot if we can't do it all, legislatively," Hall said.

Big picture view:

Trying to revamp the property tax system is a delicate assignment because local governments are dependent on that tax to pay for local services, and anything that reduces their revenue will not be welcomed with open arms.

The same holds for K-12 educators. Proposal A is their main source of revenue and depending what changes are made, they could lose dollars, too.

But Speaker Hall and others also hear the gripes about property taxes from voters. And since 2026 is an election year, what better time to address it as lawmakers run for re-election hoping to cut taxes to get your votes.

"That looks at Proposal A and Headlee and tries to kind of modify those so that we can make property taxes more affordable," Hall said. "To prevent some of those long-term increases in property taxes that homeowners face."

Complicating this debate is a proposed petition drive that seeks to eliminate all property taxes. If that gets on the ballot, there could be competing tax relief plans for you to decide.

But the speaker has an ominous warning about a total repeal.

"We need to properly fund education and local governments - that's why you can't get rid of the property tax," Hall said. "After the budget, our next focus is going to be how we tackle this issue and at that time I'll have a good read on whether that's something we can pull that together for this election. We're definitely considering it."