Eight months before the final submission deadline and more than a year before the November 2026 general election, organizers say the AxMITax petition nearly has enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
AxMI ax is a citizen ballot initiative to eliminate all property taxes, both residential and commercial, in Michigan via a constitutional amendment.
The campaign is not new, as it tried and failed to gather enough signatures to make the ballot in 2024.
AxMITax founder Karla Wagner said she started the campaign after she struggled to pay the property taxes on her two businesses — a small restaurant and an antique shop — during the pandemic. This, she said, opened her eyes to the “frivolous” ways property taxes were being spent.
“Pickleball courts and splash pads,” she said. “Those are nice to have in a community but not at the expense of the people in the community losing their homes.”
While the allocation of property taxes is determined by voter-approved millages, Wagner argued that this isn’t fair due to individual finances.
“People might lose their home because a stranger voted 'yes' on a millage,” she said. “It’s a very faulty system. It will continue to be abused against us if we don’t get rid of it altogether.”
The petition does propose alternative funding sources for schools, public safety and some other public services that receive property tax revenue. However, for community amenities like libraries and zoos, Wagner said they should be funded directly by users.
“If you want to go to a library, buy a library card for $150,” she said. “Whether you’re a renter or a homeowner, you pay the same.”
Dillon Geshel is the interim executive director of the Michigan Library Association, a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of Michigan public libraries. He said charging users for entry or membership is antithetical to a public library’s mission.
“That idea really illustrates a fundamental misunderstanding about what libraries do and why they exist,” Geshel said. “Public libraries are guaranteed by law to be open to everyone regardless of an individual’s background or income or their ability to pay for services. If libraries are only accessible to those that are able to pay a fee, by definition they are no longer a public library.”
According to Geshel, property tax revenue accounts for the vast majority of funding Michigan libraries use for day-to-day operations.
“The AxMITax work is a major threat to our libraries,” he said. “If libraries couldn’t levy funding to support their work, you would see mass closures, huge cuts to services, and you’d be hard pressed to find any local institution that’s more transparent or more fiscally responsible than your local public library.”
Geshel warned that libraries in rural areas would be most likely to shutter their doors if property taxes were eliminated.
However, Wagner said it’s not fair for homeowners who don’t use community amenities to pay for them.
“I’m going to lose my house to the monkey in the zoo or I’m going to lose my house to the book in the library,” she said. “That is so, so wrong.”
Without property taxes, zoos may also have to close their doors.
Potter Park Zoo Director Cynthia Wagner said property tax revenue makes up 70% of the institution’s operating budget.
While the city of Lansing owns the Potter Park Zoo property, Ingham County currently manages the zoo’s day-to-day operations, and the funds to operate it come from millages.
“If the millage went away, either because there weren’t property taxes or it didn’t pass, then the zoo would immediately revert back to being managed by the city,” she said. “If the city didn’t have the funding for the zoo, then the zoo would close.”
According to the May 2024 Potter Park Zoo Economic Contribution Analysis, the facility brings in approximately $23.1 million in economic output every year.
Cynthia Wagner has no relation to Karla Wagner.
The AxMITax petition still has a long way to go.
While Karla Wagner said the campaign is nearing the minimum number of signatures it needs — which is more than 446,000 valid signatures — organizers are aiming to collect over 600,000 signatures as a cushion for any that are thrown out.
AxMITax must collect all valid signatures in a 180-day period, but Wagner said they’re operating on a rolling deadline.
“We can keep moving the goal post,” she said. “If we move further into the fall, we drop off a month in the spring.”
If the petition is submitted by July 6, 2026, and the Board of State Canvassers verifies the minimum valid signatures needed, the proposal will move to the ballot as a proposed constitutional amendment.
The amendment would require a simple majority of 50% in the 2026 general election to pass.
Wagner is determined to see property taxes eliminated in Michigan, going as far as entering the gubernatorial race as a Republican candidate to advocate for the issue.
"Come hell or high water, I’m going to get rid of [property tax],” she said, “because I see it as the only way to save our state, and to save the people in it.”
