{"id":5604,"date":"2026-03-30T23:16:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T23:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/03\/30\/fact-check-perry-johnsons-4747-plan-overstates-michigan-tax-cut-savings-bridge-michigan\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T23:16:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T23:16:37","slug":"fact-check-perry-johnsons-4747-plan-overstates-michigan-tax-cut-savings-bridge-michigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/03\/30\/fact-check-perry-johnsons-4747-plan-overstates-michigan-tax-cut-savings-bridge-michigan\/","title":{"rendered":"Fact check: Perry Johnson\u2019s $4,747 plan overstates Michigan tax cut savings – Bridge Michigan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bridge Michigan<\/a>
\t\t\t\t\tMichigan\u2019s nonpartisan, nonprofit news source\t\t\t\t
LANSING \u2014 Michigan gubernatorial hopeful Perry Johnson is filling television airwaves and social media feeds with a promise to save taxpayers $4,747 a year by eliminating the state income tax.
“Keep your money, live your dreams,” Johnson’s campaign says as part of a reported $10 million ad blitz<\/a> from the wealthy Republican businessman, who is pumping his own money into the race after spending more than $20 million on prior failed campaigns for governor and president.
Fellow GOP candidates Mike Cox, Aric Nesbitt and Ralph Rebandt have also called for axing the income tax, while others have called for cuts. Some candidates are also proposing property tax cuts or elimination.
Johnson\u2019s proposal, in particular, has sparked several reader inquiries as part of Bridge Listens<\/a>, our non-scientific survey of election year issues. Among them:
The purported $4,747 in savings touted by Johnson is, in part, a nod to President Donald Trump, who is the nation\u2019s 47th commander-in-chief. Johnson calls it a \u201cmagical number.\u201d
Related:<\/strong>
But an analysis by Bridge Michigan shows most families would not save as much as he claims. And major questions remain about how he \u2014 and other candidates with similar proposals \u2014 would operate state government after cutting one of its primary funding sources. 
Here are the facts.
Asked about the math behind Johnson\u2019s claim of income tax elimination savings, his campaign pointed to a social media video<\/a> in which he explains: \u201cThe median income for a family of four is $111,690. A savings of 4.25% in income tax would be $4,747 every year in your pocket.\u201d 
On its face, that math essentially checks out. Michigan currently has a 4.25% income tax, and the median family of four actually earns a bit more than Johnson claims.
But taxes aren\u2019t so simple. 
After exemptions, subtractions and credits, single and joint filers who earn between $110,000 and $120,000 paid an effective Michigan income tax rate of 3.01% in 2021, the most recent year for which state data<\/a> is available. 
Filers with gross incomes of $111,691 paid an average state tax of $3,406 that year \u2013 about 30% less than Johnson claimed. 
\u201cTreasury data is a better way to look at it,\u201d said Bob Schneider, a state budget expert with the non-partisan Citizens Research Council of Michigan.
According to the most recent<\/a> US Census Bureau data, Michigan\u2019s median income for a four-person household is currently about $123,010. Filers who earned that much in 2021 paid an effective tax rate of 3.11%, or about $3,826.
So those families would save significant money if the income tax were eliminated \u2013 just not as much as Johnson has suggested. 
Also worth noting: Because Michigan has a flat tax \u2014 4.25% regardless of income \u2014 higher earners would save more on a dollar-by-dollar basis if the tax is eliminated:
Michigan\u2019s 4.25% income tax generated about $13.5 billion in revenue for the state last fiscal year, and experts say eliminating that funding would mean a sea change for the way Michigan funds its government. 
The income tax provides about a third of all state funding used to craft annual budgets, which must be balanced each year under the Michigan Constitution. But it makes up a far larger share of discretionary revenue \u2014 about 60% \u2014 that state officials can spend without strings attached. 
Michigan\u2019s state government took in about $14.5 billion in unrestricted revenue in the last fiscal year, according<\/a> to the House Fiscal Agency. Personal income taxes made up $8.4 billion of that. Another big chunk of income tax revenue \u2014 close to $4 billion  \u2014flows into the School Aid Fund for education.  
Many of the Republican candidates now pitching major tax cuts point out that state budgets have grown significantly under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. This year’s $81 billion state spending plan is up from the $57 billion budget signed into law the year before she took office. 
That\u2019s true. But eliminating the state income tax would still require the next governor to cut significant spending, not simply vow to attack \u201cwaste, fraud and abuse.\u201d
\u201cYou’re talking about a massive amount of the state’s general fund, and you would need to eliminate a lot of stuff,\u201d Schneider said. \u201cWe can evaluate whether individually, any of those are good things, but they’re not gonna get you $13 billion.\u201d
Johnson has offered a handful of ideas to help pay for his proposed income tax elimination, but several of his plans are vague and he has not identified projected savings. 
Among other things, he\u2019s vowed to: 
The problem with relying on savings from unemployment insurance reform? Employers fund the program, not individual taxpayers. 
\u201cIt doesn’t mean it’s not something we should look at, but it’s not going to\u2026 address this issue of, how are we going to find savings that help us defray $13 billion of income tax?\u201d Schneider said.
Responding to specific questions from Bridge, Johnson\u2019s campaign insisted his administration would uncover \u201cbillions of dollars of fraud,\u201d use zero-based budgeting to \u201cdramatically cut spending\u201d and grow the tax base by encouraging people to \u201cflock to Michigan.\u201d
Johnson isn\u2019t the only candidate to promise major tax cuts without providing a detailed plan to pay for the lost revenue. 
Cox, for instance, has said he\u2019d do it the same way he \u201cnavigated the attorney general\u2019s office,\u201d where he had proposed spending cuts<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s a process,\u201d he said during a February appearance on WKAR-TV\u2019s Off the Record.
Aric Nesbitt, the state Senate Minority Leader now running for governor, has no qualms saying he wants to contract state government in order to pay for income tax elimination. 
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to shake up the status quo, shrink the size of government, make sure more money is back in the pockets of hard working families,\u201d Nesbitt told Bridge. 
Nesbitt argues there\u2019s savings to be found by cutting unspecified \u201cwaste, fraud and abuse\u201d out of the state budget and promises \u201cwe can find savings.\u201d 
Candidates could have a strategic reason for being intentionally vague about potential cuts but may have \u201ca secret plan,\u201d said James Hohman, the director of fiscal policy for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank.
\u201cThere is a lobbying interest group behind every single dollar of spending from the state budget, and by being very specific about what you’re going to do to them, you’re painting a target on your back,\u201d he said.
Hohman added that campaigns often don\u2019t have the policy staff needed to nail down details, and he suggested eliminating the income tax should be spaced out over a long period, using economic growth to gauge the size of cuts.
Both Nesbitt and Johnson have also called for property tax cuts, backing a proposal from GOP House Speaker Matt Hall to begin by eliminating the State Education Tax, which charges homeowners $6 for every $1,000 of taxable value on their homes per year to fund schools. 
In the fiscal year ending October 2024, the education tax raised more than $2.5 billion for schools. 
Nesbitt cited \u201csocial welfare\u201d \u2014 meaning programs like Medicaid or food assistance \u2014 as potential targets for savings. But he has not specified how he\u2019d reform those programs, which are primarily funded by the federal government and relied upon by millions of Michiganders. 
\u201cWe need to fund our schools, our law enforcement and our roads first, but the growth and scope of social welfare over the last seven years under this governor has been huge,\u201d he said.
Of the $27.8 billion allocated for Medicaid spending in the last fiscal year, Michigan directly paid about $8 billion. The state Department of Health and Human Services, which administers the program, has noted<\/a> the cost of private insurance has far outpaced Medicaid over the past two decades.
Pastor Ralph Rebandt is going a step further than some GOP gubernatorial candidates by backing an AxeMITax initiative that aims to cut all property taxes \u2014 state and local \u2014 in Michigan. 
\u201cBy doing a total overhaul on the budget, on the economy, in the government, we will cut (property tax) out,\u201d Rebandt said in a recent candidate forum.
The effects across Michigan would be seismic, cutting off billions of dollars in funding for state and local governments that rely on property tax revenue to fund essential services.
Neither Rebandt nor AxeMITax proponents have said how governments would rebound from the drop in revenue.
Schneider estimated property taxes make up as much as 90% of the funding for many municipal and county governments, which collected about $6.8 billion in property taxes in 2024. Public schools, too, are dependent on property taxes to fund capital projects, raising about $8.8 billion.
\u201cAny local government in Michigan is going to be highly dependent on the property tax, so you’re basically taking out the fundamental fundable component of local revenue across the entire state,\u201d he said. \u201cNo local government would not be heavily impacted by the elimination of the property tax without replacement revenue.\u201d
Hohman, with the Mackinac Center, said voters shouldn\u2019t expect details about potential cuts because campaigns have little incentive to provide them. 
\u201cUntil people demand that type of detail in order to feel confident in their pledges about tax cuts, you’re unlikely to get it from the campaigns,\u201d he said.
Journalism like this doesn’t happen without community support. Your contribution powers reporting that listens to Michigan residents and holds leaders accountable.
Join 8,000+ members building accountability journalism that serves communities, not special interests.<\/strong><\/p>\n