Proposed program cuts, such as the Senior Citizen Services Department or the Michigan State University Extension service, have already produced public outcry. (emphasis mine)

The DetNews article ends with this:

Macomb County levies a property tax rate of 4.2 mills, but can now raise that rate to 4.56 mills without voter approval. By some estimates, increasing the rate to the maximum would generate $10 million. For a $150,000 home with a taxable value of $75,000, that would mean a tax increase from $315 to $342. "It's something we definitely have to consider," said Commissioner Brian Brdak, D-New Baltimore. "There aren't a lot of other options."

Because - you know, what's an extra $342 between neighbors, right? Even in a time of crises, where Michigan moms and dads are getting layed off right and left. When people are worried about how they're going to feed their family. How they're going to keep up with house payments, etc. It's only $350. That is, if you happen to live in a $150,000 home, which, in Macomb County, would be a condo, not a home. Home prices were double that for some years now. So let's say $700. That's not too much, is it? I mean - it will only keep a family fed for a month, maybe 5 weeks . So let's just take 1/10th of a family's annual food budget, call it a tithe to the County, and then we won't have to throw grandma down the stairs! Yeah - that's the ticket!

Except for one thing - in a prior post I shined some light on a telling quote from one of the handful of Republicans on the Commission:

"We haven't even gone through our budget yet to find ways to save money," said Commissioner Kathy Vosburg, R-Chesterfield Township.

Ah yes - the inconvenient quote. About says it all, no? So in reality (take a deep Ace Ventura Breath), the Democrats on the Commission are in cahooots with the labor unions, who bail them out of making tough decisions at the expense of their own membership, doing so by overturning lawful decisions of their own membership, slap back efforts for real reforms, use human shields to ram their agenda through, and stand there in front of the voters with a straight face and a tin cup ("hey buddy, can you spare $700?"). (gasp, gasp)

Nice. Real nice. Now, you must be saying "surely this same thing is going on in similar Counties in the region." Well, it's not going on (and stop calling me "Shirley!"). Case-in-point: Oakland County, neighbor to Macomb. I shed some light on this some time ago now, but here's the telling snippet from that prior post:

"Macomb County Commissioners are laying off county employees and preparing to raise citizens' property taxes to close a $20 million budget deficit. Meanwhile, Oakland County has a balanced budget, no pending layoffs, and no tax hike planned. Why the difference? Leadership." Why such disparity between two neighboring counties? Here's the key phrase from the article: "For more than a decade, Oakland County leaders have stood up to government employee unions..."