Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero delivered his sixth State of the City address last night. As Michigan Radio's Steve Carmody reports, he had a lot to say about past accomplishments but said next to nothing about the city's projected $15 million dollar budget deficit:
"Look around and see for yourself, it's happening in Lansing," Bernero said. That was the theme of Lansing mayor Virg Bernero's state of the city address. To that end, Bernero spoke a lot about recent business investment in the capitol city. He didn't speak directly to Lansing's projected $15 million budget deficit. He did suggest part of the budget problem can be found across the street from Lansing city hall at the state capitol. "City budgets across Michigan are on life support. The loss of property tax values means the loss of property tax revenue. High unemployment means the loss of income tax revenue. And the continued failure of state government to manage its own budget problems has cost of tens of millions in state shared revenues," Bernero said. Bernero also said Lansing needs to work with its neighbors to deal with a variety of regional problems.
Bernero was the Democratic nominee in Michigan's 2010 Gubernatorial race. He lost the race to his Republican opponent Rick Snyder. Snyder delivered his first State of the State address as Governor last Wednesday evening.
