No Big Bang, Just a Whimper for State Revenue From Fireworks

Promises promises.

Advocates of legalizing fireworks in Michigan promised lots and lots of state revenue, somewhere between $8 million and $40 million.

But noooo.

The reality is that fireworks companies paid the state an estimated $2 million in licensing fees and the 12 percent in sales taxes from their products through August, the Detroit News reports.

Promises of a big pay day for the state helped get state lawmakers and the governor to lift the 45-year ban on the sale and use of airborne fireworks.

"I don't think it's the $40 million people have been throwing around," Allan Pohl, director of finance and administrative services at the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs told the News. "I was not going to bet the farm on what they were saying."