The court ruled that the state had violated the Headlee amendment. Another 440 school districts, which had operated under the same unfunded mandates, had not sued but nonetheless held similar claims against the state. At about the same time, the court issued a similar opinion with regard to funding child-welfare services. This ruling will more than double state reimbursement to counties. That may be, but these cases surely suggest that future state governors and legislators will be careful to fully compensate local units of government for any new programs, services, or activities that they ask them to carry out.
Cities also receive support.
Public Act 342 of 1996 eliminated consideration of relative tax effort as of September 30, 1998. The new law also removes income, intangibles, and single business tax revenue from the revenue-sharing pool, offsetting the loss with new money from the sales tax. Copyright 1998 Public Sector Consultants, Inc.