Give and take: $5 billion in tax credits still loom from Granholm years

Give and take: $5 billion in tax credits still loom from Granholm years | Crain's Detroit Business:
Tax credits granted during the Granholm administration are the gifts that keep on giving to the 3,500 state businesses who have earned them, but they're a continuing headache for the group of state employees who have to predict how much money Michigan has to spend.

Sometimes it works out — more than $400 million of the fiscal 2013 $1 billion budget surplus is due to credits the state thought would be claimed but weren't.

But in future years, a bad estimate could end up as a budget deficit, threatening Michigan's ability to fund big-ticket items such as roads, education and public safety.

And the $400 million not claimed in fiscal 2013 could still be claimed in the future.