No city income tax in Reed City or Evart

Two of Michigan’s long rail-trails cross in Reed City — the White Pine running north–south between Grand Rapids and Cadillac, the Pere Marquette running east–west — and the depot at the junction doubles as the town’s trailhead. It’s also a decent place to sort out a paycheck question: neither Reed City nor Evart charges a city income tax. Osceola County’s two cities sit outside the twenty-four-name list of Michigan cities that tax wages.

The list’s nearest entry is hard to ignore, though. Big Rapids is about 15 miles down US-131, and it keeps 0.5% of the wages nonresidents earn inside its limits. Live in Reed City and work at Ferris State, and that half-percent comes out of every check. Work instead at the Yoplait yogurt plant in Reed City itself, and no city anywhere touches your pay.

Evart, upstream on the Muskegon River, runs the same way: state income tax, the federal bill, local property mills, and nothing for a city treasurer. Ride the White Pine north out of Reed City and you can pedal clear to Cadillac without passing one city that taxes a paycheck.