HOUSE BILL NO. 4208

A bill to amend 1893 PA 206, entitled

"The general property tax act,"

(MCL 211.1 to 211.155) by adding section 9q.

the people of the state of michigan enact:

Sec. 9q. (1) Beginning December 31, 2023, both of the following are exempt from the collection of taxes under this act:

(a) Eligible broadband equipment that resolves lack of broadband service provided by a qualified business that has been selected to receive, provisionally or otherwise, funding to support the expansion of broadband networks from the Federal Communications Commission, the United States Department of Agriculture, or this state.

(b) Eligible broadband equipment that resolves lack of broadband service by delivering high-speed internet access at speeds of at least 100 megabits per second downstream and 10 megabits per second upstream.

(2) To claim the exemption under this section, a qualified business must file a statement from an officer of the qualified business, or otherwise provide similar certification in a form and manner prescribed by the Michigan high-speed internet office, specifically describing the equipment for which the exemption is claimed and certifying that all of the requirements for the exemption under this section are met as to that equipment. The statement or other similar certification must be filed with the Michigan high-speed internet office by not later than February 20 of each year that the exemption is claimed. The Michigan high-speed internet office shall promptly forward copies of all documentation pertaining to a claim of exemption under this section, together with its written instruction as to whether the exemption must be granted or denied, to the department of treasury.

(3) The state treasurer shall estimate on January 1 each year the revenue lost as a result of exemptions granted under this section by the state school aid fund and deposit that amount into the state school aid fund from the general fund.

(4) As used in this section:

(a) "Eligible broadband equipment" means any personal property acquired by a qualified business, such as, but not limited to, fiber optic and coaxial cable, conduit, pole attachment hardware, cabinets, pedestals, amplifiers, routers, servers, multiplexers, antennas, and related equipment, that meets both of the following:

(i) Is used in the transmission or receipt of data in at least 1 direction.

(ii) Was first installed by the qualified business after December 31, 2023 and before December 31, 2028, and has been used by the qualified business for not more than 10 years.

(b) "Lack of broadband service" means either no terrestrial internet access or access to terrestrial internet delivered at speeds of less than 25 megabits per second downstream and 3 megabits per second upstream. For purposes of this definition, a person may experience lack of broadband service regardless of any access the person may have to satellite internet.

(c) "Michigan high-speed internet office" means the Michigan high-speed internet office created by the department of labor and economic opportunity pursuant to Executive Directive 2021-2.

(d) "Person" means an individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, association, limited liability company, or any other legal entity.

(e) "Qualified business" means a person who provides terrestrial broadband service, including terrestrial wireless broadband service.

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days after the date it is enacted into law.

Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take effect unless Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 4207 (request no. 01697'23) of the 102nd Legislature is enacted into law.