Bill Text: MI SB0425 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Property tax; principal residence exemption; exemption for trust-owned property; revise. Amends sec. 7dd of 1893 PA 206 (MCL 211.7dd).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 12-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-12-16 - Placed On Third Reading [SB0425 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2013-SB0425-Engrossed.html
SB-0425, As Passed Senate, November 6, 2013
SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 425
A bill to amend 1893 PA 206, entitled
"The general property tax act,"
by amending section 7dd (MCL 211.7dd), as amended by 2013 PA 44.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 7dd. As used in sections 7cc and 7ee:
(a) "Owner" means any of the following:
(i) A person who owns property or who is purchasing property
under a land contract.
(ii) A person who is a partial owner of property.
(iii) A person who owns property as a result of being a
beneficiary of a will or trust or as a result of intestate
succession.
(iv) A person who owns or is purchasing a dwelling on leased
land.
(v) A person holding a life lease in property previously sold
or transferred to another.
(vi) A grantor who has placed the property in a revocable trust
or a qualified personal residence trust.
(vii) The sole present beneficiary of a trust if the trust
purchased or acquired the property as a principal residence for the
sole present beneficiary of the trust, and the sole present
beneficiary of the trust is totally and permanently disabled. As
used in this subparagraph, "totally and permanently disabled" means
disability as defined in section 216 of title II of the social
security act, 42 USC 416, without regard as to whether the sole
present beneficiary of the trust has reached the age of retirement.
(viii) A cooperative housing corporation.
(ix) A facility registered under the living care disclosure
act, 1976 PA 440, MCL 554.801 to 554.844.
(x) A present beneficiary of a trust if all of the following
conditions are satisfied:
(A) The property is the principal residence of the present
beneficiary.
(B) Before claiming an exemption under section 7cc, the
present beneficiary of the trust files an affidavit with the
assessor of the local tax collecting unit notifying the assessor
that the present beneficiary is claiming an exemption under section
7cc for property owned by the trust. The affidavit shall be in a
form prescribed by the department of treasury. The affidavit shall
include the present beneficiary's name, the address of the property
for which an exemption under section 7cc is claimed, and a
statement that the present beneficiary has met all requirements for
an exemption under section 7cc.
(b) "Person", for purposes of defining owner as used in
section 7cc, means an individual and for purposes of defining owner
as used in section 7ee means an individual, partnership,
corporation, limited liability company, association, or other legal
entity.
(c) "Principal residence" means the 1 place where an owner of
the property has his or her true, fixed, and permanent home to
which, whenever absent, he or she intends to return and that shall
continue as a principal residence until another principal residence
is established. Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision,
principal residence includes only that portion of a dwelling or
unit in a multiple-unit dwelling that is subject to ad valorem
taxes and that is owned and occupied by an owner of the dwelling or
unit. Principal residence also includes all of an owner's
unoccupied property classified as residential that is adjoining or
contiguous to the dwelling subject to ad valorem taxes and that is
owned and occupied by the owner. Beginning December 31, 2007,
principal residence also includes all of an owner's unoccupied
property classified as timber-cutover real property under section
34c that is adjoining or contiguous to the dwelling subject to ad
valorem taxes and that is owned and occupied by the owner.
Contiguity is not broken by boundary between local tax collecting
units, a road, a right-of-way, or property purchased or taken under
condemnation proceedings by a public utility for power transmission
lines if the 2 parcels separated by the purchased or condemned
property were a single parcel prior to the sale or condemnation.
Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, principal
residence also includes any portion of a dwelling or unit of an
owner that is rented or leased to another person as a residence as
long as that portion of the dwelling or unit that is rented or
leased is less than 50% of the total square footage of living space
in that dwelling or unit. Principal residence also includes a life
care facility registered under the living care disclosure act, 1976
PA 440, MCL 554.801 to 554.844. Principal residence also includes
property owned by a cooperative housing corporation and occupied by
tenant stockholders. Property that qualified as a principal
residence shall continue to qualify as a principal residence for 3
years after all or any portion of the dwelling or unit included in
or constituting the principal residence is rented or leased to
another person as a residence if all of the following conditions
are satisfied:
(i) The owner of the dwelling or unit is absent while on active
duty in the armed forces of the United States.
(ii) The dwelling or unit would otherwise qualify as the
owner's principal residence.
(iii) Except as otherwise provided in this subparagraph, the
owner files an affidavit with the assessor of the local tax
collecting unit on or before May 1 attesting that it is his or her
intent to occupy the dwelling or unit as a principal residence upon
completion of active duty in the armed forces of the United States.
In 2008 only, the owner may file an affidavit under this
subparagraph on or before December 31. A copy of an affidavit filed
under this subparagraph shall be forwarded to the department of
treasury pursuant to a schedule prescribed by the department of
treasury.
(d) "Qualified agricultural property" means unoccupied
property and related buildings classified as agricultural, or other
unoccupied property and related buildings located on that property
devoted primarily to agricultural use as defined in section 36101
of the natural resources and environmental protection act, 1994 PA
451, MCL 324.36101. Related buildings include a residence occupied
by a person employed in or actively involved in the agricultural
use and who has not claimed a principal residence exemption on
other property. For taxes levied after December 31, 2008, property
shall not lose its status as qualified agricultural property as a
result of an owner or lessee of that property implementing a
wildlife risk mitigation action plan. Notwithstanding any other
provision of this act to the contrary, if after December 31, 2008
the classification of property was changed as a result of the
implementation of a wildlife risk mitigation action plan, the owner
of that property may appeal that change in classification to the
board of review under section 30 in the year in which the
amendatory act that added this sentence takes effect or in the 3
immediately succeeding years. Within 30 days of the effective date
of the amendatory act that added the immediately preceding
sentence, the department of treasury shall update its publication
entitled "Qualified Agricultural Property Exemption Guidelines" and
shall post that updated publication on the department of treasury
website. Property used for commercial storage, commercial
processing, commercial distribution, commercial marketing, or
commercial shipping operations or other commercial or industrial
purposes is not qualified agricultural property. A parcel of
property is devoted primarily to agricultural use only if more than
50% of the parcel's acreage is devoted to agricultural use or if
more than 50% of the parcel's acreage is devoted to a combination
of agricultural use and is exempt under section 7jj[1] as qualified
forest property. An owner shall not receive an exemption for that
portion of the total state equalized valuation of the property that
is used for a commercial or industrial purpose or that is a
residence that is not a related building. As used in this
subdivision:
(i) "Project" means certain risk mitigating measures, which may
include, but are not limited to, the following:
(A) Making it difficult for wildlife to access feed by storing
livestock feed securely, restricting wildlife access to feeding and
watering areas, and deterring or reducing wildlife presence around
livestock feed by storing feed in an enclosed barn, wrapping bales
or covering stacks with tarps, closing ends of bags, storing grains
in animal-proof containers or bins, maintaining fences, practicing
small mammal and rodent control, or feeding away from wildlife
cover.
(B) Minimizing wildlife access to livestock feed and water by
feeding livestock in an enclosed area, feeding in open areas near
buildings and human activity, removing extra or waste feed when
livestock are moved, using hay feeders to reduce waste, using
artificial water systems to help keep livestock from sharing water
sources with wildlife, fencing off stagnant ponds, wetlands, or
areas of wildlife habitats that pose a disease risk, and keeping
mineral feeders near buildings and human activity or using devices
that restrict wildlife usage.
(ii) "Wildlife risk mitigation action plan" means a written
plan consisting of 1 or more projects to help reduce the risks of a
communicable disease spreading between wildlife and livestock that
is approved by the department of agriculture under the animal
industry act, 1988 PA 466, MCL 287.701 to 287.746.
