Testimony on SJR E and SB 693 — Eminent Domain Legislation
27 September 2005
Senate Joint Resolution E, Senate Bill 693
Senate Transportation Committee
Mr. Chairman, Senators, good afternoon. I am Paul Stankewitz with the Michigan Catholic Conference. I would like to address Senate Joint Resolution E, and Senate Bill 693.
The right to the ownership of private property and the promotion of the common good are both moral goods, and cherished American values. The Church accepts that private property is a limited good conditioned by its contribution to the common good.
The government has a legitimate and necessary role in balancing the private and public dimensions of the common good, including private property, for the benefit of the entire society.
The use of eminent domain to create public infrastructure such as parks and roads results in something held in common by all members of a community. The recent decision of the United States Supreme Court allows a different motivation. Increasing tax revenue based upon the public taking and subsequent transfer of property from one private concern to another is of very questionable public value. Short-term increases in tax revenue would surely be offset by instability, insecurity, and uncertainty regarding the value of private property ownership.
Once decisions can be made that a viable and successful mom & pop hardware store is less valuable to a community than Home Depot, or an older home owned by an individual on a fixed income is less valuable than a new home, who among us can be secure?
Open space and farmland, if you don’t care about food production, would certainly generate more taxes if taken by the government and transferred to a different private concern.
Private schools, and every Synagogue, Church, Temple, and Mosque in Michigan would fail the “common good” test if the criteria for exercising the power “eminent domain” is expanded to include tax generation.
The traditional view of private property, the common good, and their proper balance should be maintained. The MCC, therefore, supports adoption of the legislation before you today.
Thank you.
