HOUSE BILL No. 5936 September 26, 2000, Introduced by Rep. Bovin and referred to the Committee on Tax Policy. A bill to amend 1893 PA 206, entitled "The general property tax act," by amending section 34d (MCL 211.34d), as amended by 1996 PA 476. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 34d. (1) As used in this section or section 27a, or 2 section 3 or 31 of article IX of the state constitution of 1963: 3 (a) For taxes levied before 1995, "additions" means all 4 increases in value caused by new construction or a physical addi- 5 tion of equipment or furnishings, and the value of property that 6 was exempt from taxes or not included on the assessment unit's 7 immediately preceding year's assessment roll. 8 (b) For taxes levied after 1994, "additions" means, except 9 as provided in subdivision (c), all of the following: 06547'00 FDD 2 1 (i) Omitted real property. As used in this subparagraph, 2 "omitted real property" means previously existing tangible real 3 property not included in the assessment. Omitted real property 4 shall not increase taxable value as an addition unless the 5 assessing jurisdiction has a property record card or other docu- 6 mentation showing that the omitted real property was not previ- 7 ously included in the assessment. The assessing jurisdiction has 8 the burden of proof in establishing whether the omitted real 9 property is included in the assessment. Omitted real property 10 for the current and the 2 immediately preceding years, discovered 11 after the assessment roll has been completed, shall be added to 12 the tax roll pursuant to the procedures established in section 13 154. For purposes of determining the taxable value of real prop- 14 erty under section 27a, the value of omitted real property is 15 based on the value and the ratio of taxable value to true cash 16 value the omitted real property would have had if the property 17 had not been omitted. 18 (ii) Omitted personal property. As used in this subpara- 19 graph, "omitted personal property" means previously existing tan- 20 gible personal property not included in the assessment. Omitted 21 personal property shall be added to the tax roll pursuant to sec- 22 tion 154. 23 (iii) New construction. As used in this subparagraph AND 24 SUBDIVISION (C)(iv), "new construction" means property not in 25 existence on the immediately preceding tax day and not replace- 26 ment construction. New construction includes the physical 27 addition of equipment or furnishings, subject to the provisions 06547'00 3 1 set forth in section 27(2)(a) to (o). For purposes of 2 determining the taxable value of property under section 27a, the 3 value of new construction is the true cash value of the new con- 4 struction multiplied by 0.50. 5 (iv) Previously exempt property. As used in this subpara- 6 graph, "previously exempt property" means property that was 7 exempt from ad valorem taxation under this act on the immediately 8 preceding tax day but is subject to ad valorem taxation on the 9 current tax day under this act. For purposes of determining the 10 taxable value of real property under section 27a: 11 (A) The value of property previously exempt under section 7u 12 is the taxable value the entire parcel of property would have had 13 if that property had not been exempt, minus the product of the 14 entire parcel's taxable value in the immediately preceding year 15 and the lesser of 1.05 or the inflation rate. 16 (B) The taxable value of property that is a facility as that 17 term is defined in section 2 ofAct No. 198 of the Public Acts18of 1974, being section 207.552 of the Michigan Compiled Laws19 1974 PA 198, MCL 207.552, that was previously exempt under 20 section 7k is the taxable value that property would have had 21 under this act if it had not been exempt. 22 (C) The value of property previously exempt under any other 23 section of law is the true cash value of the previously exempt 24 property multiplied by 0.50. 25 (v) Replacement construction. As used in this subparagraph, 26 "replacement construction" means construction that replaced 27 property damaged or destroyed by accident or act of God and that 06547'00 4 1 occurred after the immediately preceding tax day to the extent 2 the construction's true cash value does not exceed the true cash 3 value of property that was damaged or destroyed by accident or 4 act of God in the immediately preceding 3 years. For purposes of 5 determining the taxable value of property under section 27a, the 6 value of the replacement construction is the true cash value of 7 the replacement construction multiplied by a fraction the numera- 8 tor of which is the taxable value of the property to which the 9 construction was added in the immediately preceding year and the 10 denominator of which is the true cash value of the property to 11 which the construction was added in the immediately preceding 12 year, and then multiplied by the lesser of 1.05 or the inflation 13 rate. 14 (vi) An increase in taxable value attributable to the com- 15 plete or partial remediation of environmental contamination 16 existing on the immediately preceding tax day. The department of 17 environmental quality shall determine the degree of remediation 18 based on information available in existing department of environ- 19 mental quality records or information made available to the 20 department of environmental quality if the appropriate assessing 21 officer for a local tax collecting unit requests that 22 determination. The increase in taxable value attributable to the 23 remediation is the increase in true cash value attributable to 24 the remediation multiplied by a fraction the numerator of which 25 is the taxable value of the property had it not been contaminated 26 and the denominator of which is the true cash value of the 27 property had it not been contaminated. 06547'00 5 1 (vii) An increase in the value attributable to the 2 property's occupancy rate if either a loss, as that term is 3 defined in this section, had been previously allowed because of a 4 decrease in the property's occupancy rate or if the value of new 5 construction was reduced because of a below-market occupancy 6 rate. For purposes of determining the taxable value of property 7 under section 27a, the value of an addition for the increased 8 occupancy rate is the product of the increase in the true cash 9 value of the property attributable to the increased occupancy 10 rate multiplied by a fraction the numerator of which is the tax- 11 able value of the property in the immediately preceding year and 12 the denominator of which is the true cash value of the property 13 in the immediately preceding year, and then multiplied by the 14 lesser of 1.05 or the inflation rate. 15 (viii) Public services. As used in this subparagraph, 16 "public services" means water service, sewer service, a primary 17 access road, natural gas service, electrical service, telephone 18 service, sidewalks, or street lighting. For purposes of deter- 19 mining the taxable value of real property under section 27a, the 20 value of public services is the amount of increase in true cash 21 value of the property attributable to the available public serv- 22 ices multiplied by 0.50 and shall be added in the calendar year 23 following the calendar year when those public services are ini- 24 tially available. 25 (c) For taxes levied after 1994, additions do not include 26 increased value attributable to any of the following: 06547'00 6 1 (i) Platting, splits, or combinations of property. 2 (ii) A change in the zoning of property. 3 (iii) For the purposes of the calculation of the millage 4 reduction fraction under subsection (7) only, increased taxable 5 value under section 27a(3) after a transfer of ownership of 6 property. 7 (iv) NEW CONSTRUCTION IF IT IS OCCUPIED OR WILL BE OCCUPIED 8 BY, OR IS USED OR WILL BE USED TO ASSIST IN THE CARE OF, A FAMILY 9 MEMBER WHO IS 62 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER OR WHO IS TOTALLY AND PER- 10 MANENTLY DISABLED. AS USED IN THIS SUBPARAGRAPH, "TOTALLY AND 11 PERMANENTLY DISABLED" MEANS DISABILITY AS DEFINED IN TITLE II OF 12 THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT, CHAPTER 531, 49 STAT. 620, 42 13 U.S.C. 416. 14 (d) "Assessed valuation of property as finally equalized" 15 means taxable value under section 27a. 16 (e) "Financial officer" means the officer responsible for 17 preparing the budget of a unit of local government. 18 (f) "General price level" means the annual average of the 12 19 monthly values for the United States consumer price index for all 20 urban consumers as defined and officially reported by the United 21 States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics. 22 (g) For taxes levied before 1995, "losses" means a decrease 23 in value caused by the removal or destruction of real or personal 24 property and the value of property taxed in the immediately pre- 25 ceding year that has been exempted or removed from the assessment 26 unit's assessment roll. 06547'00 7 1 (h) For taxes levied after 1994, "losses" means, except as 2 provided in subdivision (i), all of the following: 3 (i) Property that has been destroyed or removed. For pur- 4 poses of determining the taxable value of property under section 5 27a, the value of property destroyed or removed is the product of 6 the true cash value of that property multiplied by a fraction the 7 numerator of which is the taxable value of that property in the 8 immediately preceding year and the denominator of which is the 9 true cash value of that property in the immediately preceding 10 year. 11 (ii) Property that was subject to ad valorem taxation under 12 this act in the immediately preceding year that is now exempt 13 from ad valorem taxation under this act. For purposes of deter- 14 mining the taxable value of property under section 27a, the value 15 of property exempted from ad valorem taxation under this act is 16 the amount exempted. 17 (iii) An adjustment in value, if any, because of a decrease 18 in the property's occupancy rate, to the extent provided by law. 19 For purposes of determining the taxable value of real property 20 under section 27a, the value of a loss for a decrease in the 21 property's occupancy rate is the product of the decrease in the 22 true cash value of the property attributable to the decreased 23 occupancy rate multiplied by a fraction the numerator of which is 24 the taxable value of the property in the immediately preceding 25 year and the denominator of which is the true cash value of the 26 property in the immediately preceding year. 06547'00 8 1 (iv) A decrease in taxable value attributable to 2 environmental contamination existing on the immediately preceding 3 tax day. The department of environmental quality shall determine 4 the degree to which environmental contamination limits the use of 5 property based on information available in existing department of 6 environmental quality records or information made available to 7 the department of environmental quality if the appropriate 8 assessing officer for a local tax collecting unit requests that 9 determination. The department of environmental quality's deter- 10 mination of the degree to which environmental contamination 11 limits the use of property shall be based on the criteria estab- 12 lished for theclassificationsCATEGORIES set forth in section 13 20120a(1) of part 201(environmental remediation)of the natu- 14 ral resources and environmental protection act,Act No. 451 of15the Public Acts of 1994, being section 324.20120a of the Michigan16Compiled Laws1994 PA 451, MCL 324.20120A. The decrease in tax- 17 able value attributable to the contamination is the decrease in 18 true cash value attributable to the contamination multiplied by a 19 fraction the numerator of which is the taxable value of the prop- 20 erty had it not been contaminated and the denominator of which is 21 the true cash value of the property had it not been 22 contaminated. 23 (i) For taxes levied after 1994, losses do not include 24 decreased value attributable to either of the following: 25 (i) Platting, splits, or combinations of property. 26 (ii) A change in the zoning of property. 06547'00 9 1 (j) "New construction and improvements" means additions less 2 losses. 3 (k) "Current year" means the year for which the millage lim- 4 itation is being calculated. 5 (l) "Inflation rate" means the ratio of the general price 6 level for the state fiscal year ending in the calendar year imme- 7 diately preceding the current year divided by the general price 8 level for the state fiscal year ending in the calendar year 9 before the year immediately preceding the current year. 10 (2) On or before the first Monday in May of each year, the 11 assessing officer of each township or city shall tabulate the 12 tentative taxable value as approved by the local board of review 13 and as modified by county equalization for each classification of 14 property that is separately equalized for each unit of local gov- 15 ernment and provide the tabulated tentative taxable values to the 16 county equalization director. The tabulation by the assessing 17 officer shall contain additions and losses for each classifica- 18 tion of property that is separately equalized for each unit of 19 local government or part of a unit of local government in the 20 township or city. If as a result of state equalization the tax- 21 able value of property changes, the assessing officer of each 22 township or city shall revise the calculations required by this 23 subsection on or before the Friday following the fourth Monday in 24 May. The county equalization director shall compute these 25 amounts and the current and immediately preceding year's taxable 26 values for each classification of property that is separately 27 equalized for each unit of local government that levies taxes 06547'00 10 1 under this act within the boundary of the county. The county 2 equalization director shall cooperate with equalization directors 3 of neighboring counties, as necessary, to make the computation 4 for units of local government located in more than 1 county. The 5 county equalization director shall calculate the millage reduc- 6 tion fraction for each unit of local government in the county for 7 the current year. The financial officer for each taxing juris- 8 diction shall calculate the compounded millage reduction frac- 9 tions beginning in 1980 resulting from the multiplication of suc- 10 cessive millage reduction fractions and shall recognize a local 11 voter action to increase the compounded millage reduction frac- 12 tion to a maximum of 1 as a new beginning fraction. Upon request 13 of the superintendent of the intermediate school district, the 14 county equalization director shall transmit the complete computa- 15 tions of the taxable values to the superintendent of the interme- 16 diate school district within that county. At the request of the 17 presidents of community colleges, the county equalization direc- 18 tor shall transmit the complete computations of the taxable 19 values to the presidents of community colleges within the 20 county. 21 (3) On or before the first Monday in June of each year, the 22 county equalization director shall deliver the statement of the 23 computations signed by the county equalization director to the 24 county treasurer. 25 (4) On or before the second Monday in June of each year, the 26 treasurer of each county shall certify the immediately preceding 27 year's taxable values, the current year's taxable values, the 06547'00 11 1 amount of additions and losses for the current year, and the 2 current year's millage reduction fraction for each unit of local 3 government that levies a property tax in the county. 4 (5) The financial officer of each unit of local government 5 shall make the computation of the tax rate using the data certi- 6 fied by the county treasurer and the state tax commission. At 7 the annual session in October, the county board of commissioners 8 shall not authorize the levy of a tax unless the governing body 9 of the taxing jurisdiction has certified that the requested mill- 10 age has been reduced, if necessary, in compliance with section 31 11 of article IX of the state constitution of 1963. 12 (6) The number of mills permitted to be levied in a tax year 13 is limited as provided in this section pursuant to section 31 of 14 article IX of the state constitution of 1963. A unit of local 15 government shall not levy a tax rate greater than the rate deter- 16 mined by reducing its maximum rate or rates authorized by law or 17 charter by a millage reduction fraction as provided in this sec- 18 tion without voter approval. 19 (7) A millage reduction fraction shall be determined for 20 each year for each local unit of government. For ad valorem 21 property taxes that became a lien before January 1, 1983, the 22 numerator of the fraction shall be the total state equalized val- 23 uation for the immediately preceding year multiplied by the 24 inflation rate and the denominator of the fraction shall be the 25 total state equalized valuation for the current year minus new 26 construction and improvements. For ad valorem property taxes 27 that become a lien after December 31, 1982 and through 06547'00 12 1 December 31, 1994, the numerator of the fraction shall be the 2 product of the difference between the total state equalized valu- 3 ation for the immediately preceding year minus losses multiplied 4 by the inflation rate and the denominator of the fraction shall 5 be the total state equalized valuation for the current year minus 6 additions. For ad valorem property taxes that are levied after 7 December 31, 1994, the numerator of the fraction shall be the 8 product of the difference between the total taxable value for the 9 immediately preceding year minus losses multiplied by the infla- 10 tion rate and the denominator of the fraction shall be the total 11 taxable value for the current year minus additions. For each 12 year after 1993, a millage reduction fraction shall not exceed 13 1. 14 (8) The compounded millage reduction fraction for each year 15 after 1980 shall be calculated by multiplying the local unit's 16 previous year's compounded millage reduction fraction by the cur- 17 rent year's millage reduction fraction. Beginning with 1980 tax 18 levies, the compounded millage reduction fraction for the year 19 shall be multiplied by the maximum millage rate authorized by law 20 or charter for the unit of local government for the year, except 21 as provided by subsection (9). A compounded millage reduction 22 fraction shall not exceed 1. 23 (9) The millage reduction shall be determined separately for 24 authorized millage approved by the voters. The limitation on 25 millage authorized by the voters on or before May 31 of a year 26 shall be calculated beginning with the millage reduction fraction 27 for that year. Millage authorized by the voters after May 31 06547'00 13 1 shall not be subject to a millage reduction until the year 2 following the voter authorization which shall be calculated 3 beginning with the millage reduction fraction for the year fol- 4 lowing the authorization. The first millage reduction fraction 5 used in calculating the limitation on millage approved by the 6 voters after January 1, 1979 shall not exceed 1. 7 (10) A millage reduction fraction shall be applied sepa- 8 rately to the aggregate maximum millage rate authorized by a 9 charter and to each maximum millage rate authorized by state law 10 for a specific purpose. 11 (11) A unit of local government may submit to the voters for 12 their approval the levy in that year of a tax rate in excess of 13 the limit set by this section. The ballot question shall ask the 14 voters to approve the levy of a specific number of mills in 15 excess of the limit. The provisions of this section do not allow 16 the levy of a millage rate in excess of the maximum rate autho- 17 rized by law or charter. If the authorization to levy millage 18 expires after 1993 and a local governmental unit is asking voters 19 to renew the authorization to levy the millage, the ballot ques- 20 tion shall ask for renewed authorization for the number of expir- 21 ing mills as reduced by the millage reduction required by this 22 section. If the election occurs before June 1 of a year, the 23 millage reduction is based on the immediately preceding year's 24 millage reduction applicable to that millage. If the election 25 occurs after May 31 of a year, the millage reduction shall be 26 based on that year's millage reduction applicable to that millage 27 had it not expired. 06547'00 14 1 (12) A reduction or limitation under this section shall not 2 be applied to taxes imposed for the payment of principal and 3 interest on bonds or other evidence of indebtedness or for the 4 payment of assessments or contract obligations in anticipation of 5 which bonds are issued that were authorized before December 23, 6 1978, as provided by former section 4 of chapter I of the munici- 7 pal finance act,Act No. 202 of the Public Acts of 19431943 8 PA 202, or to taxes imposed for the payment of principal and 9 interest on bonds or other evidence of indebtedness or for the 10 payment of assessments or contract obligations in anticipation of 11 which bonds are issued that are approved by the voters after 12 December 22, 1978. 13 (13) If it is determined subsequent to the levy of a tax 14 that an incorrect millage reduction fraction has been applied, 15 the amount of additional tax revenue or the shortage of tax reve- 16 nue shall be deducted from or added to the next regular tax levy 17 for that unit of local government after the determination of the 18 authorized rate pursuant to this section. 19 (14) If as a result of an appeal of county equalization or 20 state equalization the taxable value of a unit of local govern- 21 ment changes, the millage reduction fraction for the year shall 22 be recalculated. The financial officer shall effectuate an addi- 23 tion or reduction of tax revenue in the same manner as prescribed 24 in subsection (13). 25 (15) The fractions calculated pursuant to this section shall 26 be rounded to 4 decimal places, except that the inflation rate 27 shall be computed by the state tax commission and shall be 06547'00 15 1 rounded to 3 decimal places. The state tax commission shall 2 publish the inflation rate before March 1 of each year. 3 (16) Beginning with taxes levied in 1994, the millage reduc- 4 tion required by section 31 of article IX of the state constitu- 5 tion of 1963 shall permanently reduce the maximum rate or rates 6 authorized by law or charter. The reduced maximum authorized 7 rate or rates for 1994 shall equal the product of the maximum 8 rate or rates authorized by law or charter before application of 9 this section multiplied by thecompoundCOMPOUNDED millage 10 reduction applicable to that millage in 1994 pursuant to subsec- 11 tions (8) to (12). The reduced maximum authorized rate or rates 12 for 1995 and each year after 1995 shall equal the product of the 13 immediately preceding year's reduced maximum authorized rate or 14 rates multiplied by the current year's millage reduction fraction 15 and shall be adjusted for millage for which authorization has 16 expired and new authorized millage approved by the voters pursu- 17 ant to subsections (8) to (12). 06547'00 Final page. FDD