Candidates for city council and Mayor can choose to participate in the Fair Elections Fund. By opting in, candidates agree to accept small-dollar contributions only from individuals, not political action committees (PACs) or corporate entities. Donations of up to $50 from Ann Arbor residents and taxpayers will be matched at a 9-to-1 ratio through the Fair Elections Fund, similar to other small-donor matching programs across the country.

Council candidates would be eligible to receive up to $40,000 in matching funds, while mayoral candidates could receive up to $90,000. Unmatched contributions above $50 would be limited to no more than a quarter of the amount allowed by state law which would be $312.50 for Council campaigns and $625 for mayoral campaigns.

Every four years, the city will adjust both the small-donor contribution limit and the matching cap to reflect changes in local needs.

It will not raise your taxes! The annual allocation per voter amounts to less than the price of a Big Mac. The Fair Elections Fund will be financed through a recurring annual allocation of three-tenths of 1% of the city’s general fund budget. For example, Ann Arbor’s FY24 general fund budget was  $130,438,071, which would result in an allocation of $430,446 to the Fair Elections Fund. With a 2023 population of 119,381, this amounts to just $3.61 per resident for the year.

In the event of a fiscal emergency, defined as a 2% drop in general fund revenue, the City Council may vote by a two-thirds majority to waive the annual allocation for one year. Additionally, after each mayoral election year, 75% of any remaining balance in the Fair Elections Fund will return to the general fund.

The Coalition for Ann Arbor’s Future is a group of about 150 residents who participate widely and deeply in civic life in Ann Arbor and elsewhere. We serve on PTSOs and volunteer in classrooms. We work to make the arts in our community stronger, volunteering with and supporting the Ann Arbor Art Center, the Michigan Theater, and the University Musical Society. We are environmental activists who have served on the Board of the Huron Valley Group of The Sierra Club, and have been leaders in demanding an end to the pollution of groundwater by industrial contaminants and gravel pit mining. We work to make sustainable, affordable electric power a reality. 

We advocate and work for student rights, including the ability of students to have a voice in the city where they study, work, and live. We have established and lead neighborhood associations, and we promote historic preservation. We defend unions and workers’ rights. We worked with the Voters Not Politicians campaign to pass a referendum ending gerrymandering in Michigan. We are members of the League of Women Voters. We volunteer with the Washtenaw prison literacy program. We campaign fiercely for Reproductive Freedom for All and women’s reproductive rights. We have insisted that the under-represented have a voice in our community. We are strong advocates for tenants’ rights and better policy for truly affordable housing. We are a cross-section of Ann Arbor’s civic activists. 

Collectively, we represent decades of civic engagement. We share the conviction that our local democracy is stronger when more people participate as voters and candidates and when regular people believe that they have a voice in their government.   

Funding for the charter amendment campaigns comes from dozens of city residents, activists, and boosters who believe that our community will benefit from more voter participation and a stronger local democracy. 

More voters, more choices, less big money in our elections. 

Voters will benefit when elected officials are less dependent on outside money and PACs, leading to greater engagement with constituents whose small-dollar donations enable them to run for office. It will allow members of under-represented parts of our community to participate in civic life. This investment in a more inclusive democracy will open the door for more people to run for local office—not just those with access to networks of money and influence.

Administratively, the amendment defines a specific budget allocation and broad terms for participation in the Fair Elections Fund. It directs the City Council to establish additional requirements and safeguards for the proper and efficient management of the program. This may include requiring candidates to demonstrate reasonable levels of public support by securing a sufficient number of qualifying contributions to ensure that only serious candidates can access matching funds. Additionally, candidates must comply with stringent state campaign finance reporting requirements for fundraising and expenditures.

The Fair Elections Fund is an investment in democracy, designed to open the door for candidates with a variety of perspectives on important city issues. While you may not agree with every candidate, the diversity of ideas strengthens our democratic process. You will have the opportunity to express your preferences both with your small campaign donations and your vote.

Importantly, small-donor matching funds are only available to candidates who can demonstrate genuine support from Ann Arbor residents and taxpayers. This ensures that candidates who don’t reflect the values of the community are unlikely to qualify for matching funds. In other cities with similar citizen-funded programs, candidates who fail to resonate with local values simply don’t attract the necessary support to access public funds.

No. The city’s FY25 budget was nearly $563.6 million, including a general fund budget of $139.6 million. Each year, the general fund budget includes unallocated funds that are at the discretion of the mayor and City Council. For example, $100,000 was set aside in this year’s budget for Council members to send mailers to constituents and another $55,000 was allocated for Council travel expenses.

The Fair Elections Fund will draw from a small portion of these unallocated funds, ensuring that it doesn’t divert resources from essential services. By supporting a more inclusive and accountable election process, this fund strengthens democracy without compromising critical needs.

It is the Governor who approves or objects to a charter proposal and the Governor did not object to Proposition D.

The Coalition submitted all its petitions and the proposals to the City within the timeframes required by law. The Coalition has two active ballot questions: Props C and D. As to Prop D, the staff attorney stated it was consistent with the Home Rule City Act but noted it could be at odds with Section 16 of the Uniform Budgeting and Accounting Act (“Budget Act”). We disagreed and issued this statement.

Importantly, the Governor herself then did not adopt the conclusion of the staff attorney. Since it is the Governor who may object to a charter proposal, Governor Whitmer’s decision supersedes the note of concern by the State Operations Division. In short, Governor Whitmer did not object to either proposal.

Rather, Governor Whitmer said simply that her nonbinding, administrative, internal deadline had passed. Her only concern was a technicality of timing—nothing because of the law.

Opponents of campaign finance reform have been creating confusion by spreading misinformation in the last few weeks. To summarize the timeline: 

1. Internally, the Attorney General and the Governor’s office asked for submission of ballot questions before June 14, 2024.

2. On July 9, City Clerk Beaudry received the initial petition and first round of signatures. The City chose not to forward Prop D at this time.

3. On August 5 the City Clerk in Ann Arbor confirmed that we had gathered sufficient voter signatures to place Prop. D on the November ballot. 

4. On August 8, the City Clerk emailed a notice of certification of Prop D to the Washtenaw County Clerk, before the deadline required by state statute. The Coalition submitted all its petitions and the proposals to the City within the timeframes required by law.

5. On September 6, an Assistant Attorney General in the State Operations Division issued a letter noting a concern with the Budget Act. The Attorney General’s Office also said clearly that: Section 22 of the Home Rule Cities Act, nevertheless, requires the proposal to be submitted for voter approval.

6. On September 11, Governor Whitmer responded with a single letter referring to both proposed amendments—in the plural. Her answer was simple: She was “unable to approve [the] proposed charter amendments” because her office’s internal “deadline has passed” to do so.

Section 22 of Michigan’s Home Rule Cities Act (HRCA) is the law that enables residents of Michigan cities to petition and bring issues to voters. The HRCA is especially deferential to changes to charters that are proposed by citizen initiative (petitions), as opposed to, for example, changes proposed by city councils.  The last sentence of Section 22 reads as follows:

If it be an amendment proposed by initiatory petition, it shall be submitted to the electors notwithstanding such objections.

So, the State’s Assistant Attorney General expressed a concern with Proposition D. Our reply statement, explaining why we disagree with the Assistant Attorney General’s position. In any event, the Assistant Attorney General was very clear that the proposition must be presented to the voters on November’s ballot. 

On September 11, Governor Whitmer’s office released a letter saying that for reasons relating to administrative guidelines published by her office (not a state law) she did not receive the proposed charter amendments “at least 60 days prior” to her office’s administrative deadline and therefore she was unable approve it.   

Notably, state law requires that if the Governor rejects a proposal, that rejection must be accompanied by an explanation as to why. Notwithstanding the Assistant Attorney General’s opinion, the Governor’s letter contains no such rejection and no such explanation.  We made a further response on that issue, showing that the Governor has offered no principled objection to the proposal. 

Absolutely.  State law is very clear that citizen-backed charter initiatives with the requisite number of signatures must appear on the ballot, notwithstanding any objections by any state official. Governor Whitmer did not object to Prop D.

Prop D is not illegal. State law allows local voters to allocate City funds via ballot initiative, and there is plenty of precedent for that throughout the state of Michigan. The Assistant Attorney General stated that, in accordance with state law, the ballot initiative must go before the voters. ✅

Prop D contains certain key operational provisions that require Council to allocate a small amount of the City budget to pay to candidates meeting the qualifications.

We think that the city will act reasonably to implement the clear intentions of the more than 150 citizens who circulated the petitions, the more than 5,000 petition signatories and the November voters.  If not, then we will use appropriate means to remind the city that the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances is fundamental to our democracy.