Late last week, the State Treasurer met with Michigan Municipal League, other local government organizations, and local tax officials to discuss a proposed reform initiative centered around the property tax assessing process. Following years of tax law changes, the creation of new exemptions, and state court and tax tribunal decisions, the Treasurer has identified the administration of Michigan’s property tax law as one area where he believes appropriate reform could be beneficial to the State and local governments.
The Treasurer is proposing a baseline set of “best practice” standards for assessing property that local units may already meet or could meet by teaming up with other surrounding units, or the county. The stated goal of this proposal is more consistent assessing practices across the state and fewer instances where similar properties are treated differently. The Department is asking for feedback on this proposal by the end of this week (5/11/2018) so that they can compile feedback and finalize bill language before evaluating next steps.
A summary of the proposal can be found here – Assessing Standards.Treasury Summary.
The League is reviewing the proposal and members are encouraged to contact us with any feedback or suggestions on the proposal by Friday, May 11th. Yes, that’s THIS FRIDAY!
Chris Hackbarth is the League’s director of state & federal affairs. He can be reached at 517-908-0304 and [email protected].