Kent County officials will discuss a proposal Tuesday that would allow Michigan neighbors to save for child care costs through a new tax-advantaged savings account.
The child care savings account is part of a larger set of recommendations from the Kent County Childcare Task Force aimed at addressing what officials call a persistent childcare crisis. Under the proposal, residents could save for childcare costs through a new account with state income tax benefits. The accounts would allow people to start saving before they have children.
The recommendations come as Kent County faces a shortage of more than 20,000 licensed childcare slots for children ages 0-5. County data shows there are only 31,863 licensed slots for an estimated 52,323 young children…