What do you do when layoffs, program cuts, and spending reductions don't add up to the state's budget shortfall of $1.4 billion?

In that case, said Leslee Fritz of the State Budget Office, you've got to increase some state fees to make up the difference.

"The governor's instructions were very clear, to look at everything," Fritz said.

If the governor's recommendations hold, it'll cost you $4 more dollars for a year pass to state parks.
Cigarettes may be safe, but cigars and other tobacco products could see a tax hike.

"The roll your own tobacco, those kinds of things," Fritz said, "those are taxed at a much lower rate and the Governor felt it made sense to make the tax on the two the same."

And on tap for bar owners? Liquor licenses could jump from $600 a year to $1,200 per license per year.

"It's not really surprising, but it's disappointing," Aaron Weiner said. "For them to raise fees and put a hurt on us like that, it's disappointing."

Weiner, the general manager at Buffalo Wild Wings in East Lansing, said a 100 percent increase could be the difference between open and closed for some smaller businesses.

"Six hundred dollars out of some body's pocket is going to hurt them," Weiner said.

A burden, no doubt, for some local businesses, but a necessary evil Fritz said in these tough economic times.