State Rep...
proposes
alternative
to isch tax
cut proposa

The Michigan Daily-Saturday, May 24, 1980-Page 3
cal S cen e '{."C"nxn .'.n:

By BETH PERSKY -
The tax cut proposed by Shiawassee
County Drain Commissioner Robert
Tisch would be devastating for the
University, Rep. Mark Siljander (R-
Three Rivers) predicted at a press con-
ference yesterday.
Speaking to a group of University of-
ficials and media-representatives in the
Union Pendleton Room, Siljander said
"His (Tisch's) perspective is limited.
He isn't aware of the fatal implications.
of what he's trying to do."
SILJANDER IS pushing his own tax
cut proposal - one of four that could
appear on the November ballot - as he
attempts to gather a mandatory 287,622
petition signatures by July 7.
While the Tisch Amendment proposes
cutting in half the property taxes of
businesses as well as those of
homeowners and farmers, Siljander
proposes halving only the property '
taxes of Michigan homeowners and
farmers. Under the Tisch amendment,
Siljander said, the state must reimbur-
se local government for the funds lost
because of property tax cuts.
Though Siljander said he agrees with
Tisch that there is waste in gover-
nment, he added that radical tax cuts
may cause difficulties for the state as
well as the University.
SIXTY PER cent of the University's
revenue comes from the state, Siljan-
der said, and Tisch's amendment would
eliminate thisl source of income. Under
Tisch's proposal, Siljander added, the
University could not compensate for
this loss with a tuition increase unless
supported by 60 per cent of all Michigan
voters. University property, added the
representative, would go back on the
tax rolls, causing the University to in-
crease its expenditure in property
taxes.
To compensate in part for the loss of
state revenues that would result from
his proposed property tax cut, Siljander
proposes raising the sales tax from the
current four per cent level to five per
cent.
Siljander predicted a $400-$500
million increase in state revenues in
1981-82, which he said will occur as
currently laid-off autoworkers go back
to work and begin paying taxes again.
He said the autoworkers will return to
work within the year as stockpiles of
cars are sold and a demand for autos is
created.

THE COMBINATION of an increased
work force and increased sales tax,
therefore, would compensate for the
loss in state revenue due to the property
tax cut, Siljander said.
Michigan voters are ready for a tax
cut, Siljander said, and will not support
a mere tax shift such as suggested in
the Smith-Bullard and Milliken-
Legislative Coalition Proposals.
The Smith-Bullard plan, sponsored
by state Reps. Roy Smith (R-Saline)
and Perry Bullard (D-Ann Arbor),
provides for a shift from dependence on
See STATE, Page 10

REP. MARK SILJANDER (R-Three Rivers) addresses a group of University
officials and media representatives concerning the controversial Tish tax cut
proposal yesterday in the Union's Pendleton Room.

urvey reveals waste
in city housing spaceorfwwbie17
By JOYCE FRIEDEN as experiencing an increase in the populations of two or fewer, while 1970
Although there are more apartments number of one- and two-bedroom census figures gave a figure o 53.7 per
in Ann Arbor than ever before, fewer dwellings and an increase in the Con- . cent. Bohi cited the nation's increasing
people are living in each of them, ac- sumer Price Index (an important fac- divorce rate and decreasing birth rate
cording to statistics in a recently- tor in measuringinflation) of 107.9 per as possible reasons for this decrease.
released survey conducted jointly by cent over the past ten years, which was Bohl said he felt the increase in the
the city's planning and community slightly higher than the national in- percentage of one-person households
development departments. crease of 105.8 per cent over the same reflected a fallacy about housing prices
Planning Department Information period. in Ann Arbor."People are always com-
Manager Fred Bohl said the survey The size of the average household is plaining that the housing prices are too
consisted of questionnaires mailed to decreasing, according to the report. expensive, but people must be able to
3,093 city residents chosen through a The 1980 survey showed that 63.2 per afford it, since there are so many one-
scientific method known as "stratified cent of the city's households had See CITY, Page 1i
random sample."

"PRIMARILY, WE wanted to find
out what kind of people live in this
town," Bohl said. He added that other
sources of data of this type are
poor-for example, the results of the
1980 census won't be available until
1982, so the Planning Department must
rely on the 1970 census for demographic
data.
"There is much underutilization of
housing," Bohl said. "Many people are
living by themselves in dwellings that
were built to house two people." '
Bohl cited population statistics to ex-
plain the situation. "We estimate that
the populaton has increased by only
7,000 since 1970 ... We've built 7,000
apartments (for more than one person)
since then, yet people are still saying
there's not enough housing."
THE REPORT SHOWED Ann Arbor

State Rep. calls for
drinking age of 19

By JANET JIRUS
At the age of 18 an individual is old
The Citizens for a Fair Drinking Age
are busy gathering signatures in the
state to put the question of a lower
drinking age before the voters in
November. See Story, Page 10.
enough under Michigan law to vote,
take out a bank loan, and get married.
"But at the wedding reception there

better not be any champagne to
celebrate if the couple is below the legal
drinking age of 21," cautioned Richard
Fitzpatrick, chairman of the Citizens
for a Fair Drinking Age.
Fitzpatrick (D-Battle Creek) has
been touring the state in an effort to
spark interest in the CFDA petition
drive to put the drinking age question
on the November ballot. The legal
drinking age was raised to 21 last year
when Proposition D was approved;
See STATE, Page 13