State Treasurer Nick Khouri issued a press release yesterday regarding the two property tax reform bills, HB 6049 and SB 1025. These bills on the assessing proposal are likely to have a hearing in June and discussion with all interest groups, including the League, throughout the Summer. Please reach out to Chris Hackbarth with any questions or concerns. ([email protected] or 517-485-1314).
You can read the full press release below:
— PRESS RELEASE —For Immediate Release |
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May 23, 2018 Contact: Ron Leix, Treasury, 517-335-2167 Gov. Rick Snyder and State Treasurer Nick Khouri Applaud Legislative Action to Improve the Way Michigan Administers Property TaxesMore than $14 Billion in Property Taxes Collected AnnuallyLANSING, Mich. – Gov. Rick Snyder and State Treasurer Nick Khouri today commended state Rep. James Lower and state Sen. Jim Stamas for introducing legislation that would dramatically improve the way Michigan assesses and collects the state’s $14 billion in property taxes. “I thank Representative Lower and Senator Stamas for their leadership in introducing this legislation and look forward to working with my legislative and local government partners throughout the summer as we develop a solution to this emerging issue,” Gov. Snyder said. The two property tax reform bills—House Bill 6049 and Senate Bill 1025—would update property assessing laws to specify minimum quality standards that every city, township or county assessing office must meet. The change is intended to improve taxpayer and local government fairness by providing transparent and consistent assessments. In addition, the goal is to provide dollars for training and start-up to bolster the state’s shrinking assessor and board of review talent pools. In Michigan, more than 1,500 local units of government are responsible for uniformly assessing property statewide and more than 1,500 local boards of review are responsible for quality control. Currently, there are approximately 150 master-level assessors equipped to handle complex assessments for the state’s local entities, with about half of these type of assessors nearing retirement in the coming years. “I applaud the Michigan Legislature for taking up this highly complex but important topic,” Khouri said. “We must develop a framework that creates accurate property tax assessments statewide. Restoring taxpayer faith in the property tax system continues Michigan’s comeback in an increasingly competitive marketplace.” # # # # |