Last week the House Local Government Committee heard testimony on HB 5102, a bill that would eliminate the requirement that county treasurers make a printed copy of the tax rolls available for inspection, if the tax roll is maintained on a computerized database.

Now under the law, the State Tax Commission must authorize the use of a computerized

data base system as the tax roll if the local tax collecting unit or the county treasurer

demonstrates that the proposed system has the capacity to enable compliance with nine state requirements. House Bill 5102 would eliminate in their entirety the four requirements for printed copies to be available of (1) the “original pre-collection tax roll,” (2) a separate printout of “all parcel splits and combinations,” (3) a separate computer printout of all corrections and adjustments to the pre-collection tax roll authorized the by the board of review,” and (4) the requirement to make available “a posted computer printed tax roll.”

The committee did not vote on the legislation, and we anticipate another committee hearing on the bill.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at [email protected]