Bill Text: MI HB6024 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Property tax; exemptions; exemption for disabled veterans; modify. Amends sec. 7b of 1893 PA 206 (MCL 211.7b).

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-12-13 - Referred To Committee On Finance [HB6024 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2017-HB6024-Engrossed.html

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HB-6024, As Passed House, December 13, 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUBSTITUTE FOR

 

HOUSE BILL NO. 6024

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1893 PA 206, entitled

 

"The general property tax act,"

 

by amending section 7b (MCL 211.7b), as amended by 2013 PA 161.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 7b. (1) Real property used and owned as a homestead by a

 

disabled veteran who was discharged from the armed forces Armed

 

Forces of the United States under honorable conditions or, by an

 

individual described in subject to subsection (2), a disabled

 

veteran's unremarried surviving spouse is exempt from the

 

collection of taxes under this act. To obtain the exemption, the

 

property owner or his or her legal designee shall file an affidavit

 

showing the facts required by this section and a description of the

 

real property shall be filed by the property owner or his or her

 

legal designee with the supervisor or other assessing officer

 

during the period beginning with the tax day for each year and

ending at the time of the final adjournment of the local board of

 

review. The affidavit when filed shall be open to inspection. The

 

county treasurer shall cancel taxes subject to collection under

 

this act for any year in which a disabled veteran eligible for the

 

exemption under this section has acquired title to real property

 

exempt under this section. Upon granting the If an exemption is

 

granted under this section, all of the following apply:

 

     (a) Taxes exempt from collection in a calendar year for which

 

the exemption is in effect shall be determined in proportion to the

 

number of months that the property qualified for the exemption

 

under this section during that calendar year.

 

     (b) The exemption remains in effect until 1 of the following

 

dates, as applicable:

 

     (i) If the exempt status of the property is based on a

 

disability described in subsection (3)(a) or (b), the date on which

 

the property no longer qualifies for the exemption under this

 

section. The beneficiary of an exemption that terminates under this

 

subparagraph shall, pursuant to a form and procedures prescribed by

 

the state tax commission, notify the supervisor or other assessing

 

officer of the loss of exempt status.

 

     (ii) If the exempt status of the property is based on a

 

disability described in subsection (3)(c), December 30 of the tax

 

year in which the exemption claimant applied for the exemption or

 

the date on which the property no longer qualifies for the

 

exemption under this section, whichever is earlier. The beneficiary

 

of an exemption that terminates under this subparagraph before

 

December 30 shall, pursuant to a form and procedures prescribed by

the state tax commission, notify the supervisor or other assessing

 

officer of the loss of exempt status.

 

     (c) While the exemption is in effect, each local taxing unit

 

shall bear the loss of its portion of the taxes upon which the

 

exemption has been granted.

 

     (2) If a disabled veteran who is otherwise eligible for the

 

exemption under this section dies, either before or after the

 

exemption under this section is granted, the exemption shall remain

 

remains available to or shall continue continues for his or her

 

unremarried surviving spouse. The surviving spouse shall comply

 

with the requirements of subsection (1) and shall indicate on the

 

affidavit that he or she is the surviving spouse of a disabled

 

veteran entitled to the exemption under this section. The exemption

 

shall continue is available to a surviving spouse who meets the

 

requirements of subsection (1) as to real property that he or she

 

owns and uses as a homestead whether or not the disabled veteran to

 

whom the surviving spouse had been married owned or used that

 

property as his or her homestead. An exemption granted under this

 

subsection continues as long as the surviving spouse remains

 

unremarried.

 

     (3) As used in this section, "disabled veteran" means a person

 

an individual who is a resident of this state and who meets 1 of

 

the following criteria:

 

     (a) Has been determined by the United States department

 

Department of veterans affairs Veterans Affairs to be permanently

 

and totally disabled as a result of military service and entitled

 

to veterans' benefits at the 100% rate.

     (b) Has a certificate from the United States veterans'

 

administration, or its successors, Department of Veterans Affairs

 

certifying that he or she is receiving or has received pecuniary

 

assistance due to disability for specially adapted housing.

 

     (c) Has been rated by the United States department Department

 

of veterans affairs Veterans Affairs as individually unemployable.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act is curative insofar as

 

it clarifies the scope of the exemption available to a disabled

 

veteran's surviving spouse under section 7b(2) of the general

 

property tax act, 1893 PA 206, MCL 211.7b, and, to that extent, is

 

intended to correct any misinterpretation of legislative intent in

 

the final opinion and judgment of the Michigan tax tribunal, MTT

 

Docket No. 16-004780, issued March 15, 2017.