Robert Thall | Bauckman, Sparks, Lohrstorfer, Thall, & Seeber, P.C. | 458 West South Street | Kalamazoo, MI 49007-4621 | [email protected]

1. Michigan Townships Association (MTA)
2. Michigan Association of Counties (MAC)
3. Michigan Assessors Association (MAA)

Proper resolution of this case is of major importance to municipal property tax administration, property tax levying entities, and jurisprudence in the state. The General Property Tax Act (GPTA) provides a comprehensive system for the assessment of real and personal property for ad valorem tax purposes, for the exemption of certain types of properties, for the collection of property taxes and for administration of such laws. Within this system, each township and city assessor is charged with annually establishing the assessment of all parcels of property in the municipality and, in doing so, must determine the taxable status. In determining the taxable status of real and personal property, assessors annually consider numerous claims for property tax exemption including those from purported charitable, educational, and scientific institutions. Any determination that for-profit educational entities can avail themselves of the property tax exemptions under MCL 211.9(1)(a) will negatively impact those interests of the local governments. Such ruling will undoubtedly create a slippery slope of property tax exemption claims under MCL 211.9(1)(a) by for-profit charitable, educational, and scientific institutions and spill over into other exemption provisions long thought of as exclusively preserved for nonprofit entities (i.e. MCL 211.7n). Such a ruling would also certainly cause harm to the continued formation of nonprofit entities in this State that exist for the betterment of society.