STATE OF MICHIGAN

92ND LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2004

Introduced by Reps. Caswell, Gillard, Emmons, Nitz, Julian, Brandenburg, Nofs, Milosch, Hummel, Garfield, Drolet and Ward

ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 4702

AN ACT to amend 1893 PA 206, entitled "An act to provide for the assessment of rights and interests, including leasehold interests, in property and the levy and collection of taxes on property, and for the collection of taxes levied; making those taxes a lien on the property taxed, establishing and continuing the lien, providing for the sale or forfeiture and conveyance of property delinquent for taxes, and for the inspection and disposition of lands bid off to the state and not redeemed or purchased; to provide for the establishment of a delinquent tax revolving fund and the borrowing of money by counties and the issuance of notes; to define and limit the jurisdiction of the courts in proceedings in connection with property delinquent for taxes; to limit the time within which actions may be brought; to prescribe certain limitations with respect to rates of taxation; to prescribe certain powers and duties of certain officers, departments, agencies, and political subdivisions of this state; to provide for certain reimbursements of certain expenses incurred by units of local government; to provide penalties for the violation of this act; and to repeal acts and parts of acts," by amending sections 8 and 27 (MCL 211.8 and 211.27), section 8 as amended by 2002 PA 620 and section 27 as amended by 2003 PA 274.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 8. For the purposes of taxation, personal property includes all of the following:

(a) All goods, chattels, and effects within this state.

(b) All goods, chattels, and effects belonging to inhabitants of this state, located outside of this state, except that property actually and permanently invested in business in another state shall not be included.

(c) All interests owned by individuals in real property, the fee title to which is in this state or the United States, except as otherwise provided in this act.

(d) For taxes levied before January 1, 2003, buildings and improvements located upon leased real property, except if the value of the real property is also assessed to the lessee or owner of those buildings and improvements. For taxes levied after December 31, 2002, buildings and improvements located upon leased real property, except buildings and improvements exempt under section 9f or improvements assessable under section 8(h), shall be assessed as real property under section 2 to the owner of the buildings or improvements in the local tax collecting unit in which the buildings or improvements are located if the value of the buildings or improvements is not otherwise included in the assessment of the real property. For taxes levied after December 31, 2001, buildings and improvements exempt under section 9f or improvements assessable under section 8(h) and located on leased real property shall be assessed as personal property.

(e) Tombs or vaults built within any burial grounds and kept for hire or rent, in whole or in part, and the stock of a corporation or association owning the tombs, vaults, or burial grounds.

(f) All other personal property not enumerated in this section and not especially exempted by law.

(g) The personal property of gas and coke companies, natural gas companies, electric light companies, waterworks companies, hydraulic companies, and pipe line companies transporting oil or gas as public or common carriers, to be assessed in the local tax collecting unit in which the personal property is located. The mains, pipes, supports, and wires of these companies, including the supports and wire or other line used for communication purposes in the operation of those facilities, and the rights of way and the easements or other interests in real property by virtue of which the mains, pipes, supports, and wires are erected and maintained, shall be assessed as personal property in the local tax collecting unit where laid, placed, or located. Interests in underground rock strata used for gas storage purposes, whether by lease or ownership separate from the surface of real property, shall be separately valued and assessed as personal property in the local tax collecting unit in which it is located to the person who holds the interest. Interests in underground rock strata shall be reported as personal property to the appropriate assessing officer for all property descriptions included in the storage field in the local tax collecting unit and a separate valuation shall be assessed for each school district. The personal property of street railroad, plank road, cable or electric railroad or transportation companies, bridge companies, and all other companies not required to pay a specific tax to this state in lieu of all other taxes, shall, except as otherwise provided in this section, be assessed in the local tax collecting unit in which the property is located, used, or laid, and the track, road, or bridge of a company is considered personal property. None of the property assessable as personal property under this subdivision shall be affected by any assessment or tax levied on the real property through or over which the personal property is laid, placed, or located, nor shall any right of way, easement, or other interest in real property, assessable as personal property under this subdivision, be extinguished or otherwise affected in case the real property subject to assessment is sold in the exercise of the taxing power.

(h) During the tenancy of a lessee, leasehold improvements and structures installed and constructed on real property by the lessee, provided and to the extent the improvements or structures add to the true cash taxable value of the real property notwithstanding that the real property is encumbered by a lease agreement, and the value added by the improvements or structures is not otherwise included in the assessment of the real property or not otherwise assessable under subdivision (j). The cost of leasehold improvements and structures on real property shall not be the sole indicator of value. Leasehold improvements and structures assessed under this subdivision shall be assessed to the lessee.

(i) A leasehold estate received by a sublessor from which the sublessor receives net rentals in excess of net rentals required to be paid by the sublessor except to the extent that the excess rentals are attributable to the installation and construction of improvements and structures assessed under subdivision (h) or (j) or included in the assessment of the real property. For purposes of this act, a leasehold estate is considered to be owned by the lessee receiving additional net rentals. A lessee in possession is required to provide the assessor with the name and address of its lessor. Taxes collected under this act on leasehold estates shall become a lien against the rentals paid by the sublessee to the sublessor.

(j) To the extent not assessed as real property, a leasehold estate of a lessee created by the difference between the income that would be received by the lessor from the lessee on the basis of the present economic income of the property as defined and allowed by section 27(5), minus the actual value to the lessor under the lease. This subdivision does not apply to property if subject to a lease entered into before January 1, 1984 for which the terms of the lease governing the rental rate or the tax liability have not been renegotiated after December 31, 1983. This subdivision does not apply to a nonprofit housing cooperative. As used in this subdivision, "nonprofit cooperative housing corporation" means a nonprofit cooperative housing corporation that is engaged in providing housing services to its stockholders and members and that does not pay dividends or interest upon stock or membership investment but that does distribute all earnings to its stockholders or members.

(k) For taxes levied after December 31, 2002, a trade fixture.

Sec. 27. (1) As used in this act, "true cash value" means the usual selling price at the place where the property to which the term is applied is at the time of assessment, being the price that could be obtained for the property at private sale, and not at auction sale except as otherwise provided in this section, or at forced sale. The usual selling price may include sales at public auction held by a nongovernmental agency or person if those sales have become a common method of acquisition in the jurisdiction for the class of property being valued. The usual selling price does not include sales at public auction if the sale is part of a liquidation of the seller's assets in a bankruptcy proceeding or if the seller is unable to use common marketing techniques to obtain the usual selling price for the property. A sale or other disposition by this state or an agency or political subdivision of this state of land acquired for delinquent taxes or an appraisal made in connection with the sale or other disposition or the value attributed to the property of regulated public utilities by a governmental regulatory agency for rate-making purposes is not controlling evidence of true cash value for assessment purposes. In determining the true cash value, the assessor shall also consider the advantages and disadvantages of location; quality of soil; zoning; existing use; present economic income of structures, including farm structures; present economic income of land if the land is being farmed or otherwise put to income producing use; quantity and value of standing timber; water power and privileges; and mines, minerals, quarries, or other valuable deposits known to be available in the land and their value. In determining the true cash value of personal property owned by an electric utility cooperative, the assessor shall consider the number of kilowatt hours of electricity sold per mile of distribution line compared to the average number of kilowatt hours of electricity sold per mile of distribution line for all electric utilities.

(2) The assessor shall not consider the increase in true cash value that is a result of expenditures for normal repairs, replacement, and maintenance in determining the true cash value of property for assessment purposes until the property is sold. For the purpose of implementing this subsection, the assessor shall not increase the construction quality classification or reduce the effective age for depreciation purposes, except if the appraisal of the property was erroneous before nonconsideration of the normal repair, replacement, or maintenance, and shall not assign an economic condition factor to the property that differs from the economic condition factor assigned to similar properties as defined by appraisal procedures applied in the jurisdiction. The increase in value attributable to the items included in subdivisions (a) to (o) that is known to the assessor and excluded from true cash value shall be indicated on the assessment roll. This subsection applies only to residential property. The following repairs are considered normal maintenance if they are not part of a structural addition or completion:

(a) Outside painting.

(b) Repairing or replacing siding, roof, porches, steps, sidewalks, or drives.

(c) Repainting, repairing, or replacing existing masonry.

(d) Replacing awnings.

(e) Adding or replacing gutters and downspouts.

(f) Replacing storm windows or doors.

(g) Insulating or weatherstripping.

(h) Complete rewiring.

(i) Replacing plumbing and light fixtures.

(j) Replacing a furnace with a new furnace of the same type or replacing an oil or gas burner.

(k) Repairing plaster, inside painting, or other redecorating.

(l) New ceiling, wall, or floor surfacing.

(m) Removing partitions to enlarge rooms.

(n) Replacing an automatic hot water heater.

(o) Replacing dated interior woodwork.

(3) A city or township assessor, a county equalization department, or the state tax commission before utilizing realestate sales data on real property purchases, including purchases by land contract, to determine assessments or inmaking sales ratio studies to assess property or equalize assessments shall exclude from the sales data the followingamounts allowed by subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) to the extent that the amounts are included in the real property purchase price and are so identified in the real estate sales data or certified to the assessor as provided in subdivision(d):

(a) Amounts paid for obtaining financing of the purchase price of the property or the last conveyance of the property.

(b) Amounts attributable to personal property that were included in the purchase price of the property in the last conveyance of the property.

(c) Amounts paid for surveying the property pursuant to the last conveyance of the property. The legislature may require local units of government, including school districts, to submit reports of revenue lost under subdivisions (a) and(b) and this subdivision so that the state may reimburse those units for that lost revenue.

(d) The purchaser of real property, including a purchaser by land contract, may file with the assessor of the city or township in which the property is located 2 copies of the purchase agreement or of an affidavit that identifies the amount, if any, for each item listed in subdivisions (a) to (c). One copy shall be forwarded by the assessor to the county equalization department. The affidavit shall be prescribed by the state tax commission.

(4) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, before utilizing sales data on real property purchases, including purchases by land contract, in making sales ratio studies and appraisals to assess real property classified as agricultural real property under section 34c, a city or township assessor, a county equalization department, and the state tax commission shall exclude from the sales data all sales of real property classified as agricultural real property under section 34c for which an affidavit has not been filed under section 27a(7)(n) and the sale is not representative of the class.

(5) As used in subsection (1), "present economic income" means for leased or rented property the ordinary, general, and usual economic return realized from the lease or rental of property negotiated under current, contemporary conditions between parties equally knowledgeable and familiar with real estate values. The actual income generated by the lease or rental of property is not the controlling indicator of its true cash value in all cases. This subsection does not apply to property subject to a lease entered into before January 1, 1984 for which the terms of the lease governing the rental rate or tax liability have not been renegotiated after December 31, 1983. This subsection does not apply to a nonprofit housing cooperative subject to regulatory agreements between the state or federal government entered into before January 1, 1984. As used in this subsection, "nonprofit cooperative housing corporation" means a nonprofit cooperative housing corporation that is engaged in providing housing services to its stockholders and members and that does not pay dividends or interest upon stock or membership investment but that does distribute all earnings to its stockholders or members.

(6) Beginning December 31, 1994, the purchase price paid in a transfer of property is not the presumptive true cash value of the property transferred. In determining the true cash value of transferred property, an assessing officer shall assess that property using the same valuation method used to value all other property of that same classification in the assessing jurisdiction. As used in this subsection, "purchase price" means the total consideration agreed to in an arms-length transaction and not at a forced sale paid by the purchaser of the property, stated in dollars, whether or not paid in dollars.

(7) For purposes of a statement submitted under section 19, the true cash value of a standard tool is the net book value of that standard tool as of December 31 in each tax year as determined using generally accepted accounting principles in a manner consistent with the established depreciation method used by the person submitting that statement. The net book value of a standard tool for federal income tax purposes is not the presumptive true cash value of that standard tool. As used in this subsection, "standard tool" means that term as defined in section 9b.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Secretary of the Senate

Approved

Governor