LANSING, MI-- Two Upper Peninsula lawmakers are introducing legislation to address a loophole in the amount of property tax large retailers are paying.
Representative John Kivela and Senator Tom Casperson say “big box” stores are currently taxed at the value they’d have if they were out of business and vacant, unlike the rate homeowners pay. Bills they’ve introduced would address the loophole, which Kivela says is stripping dollars away from schools and causing economic problems for communities.
They say the law’s statutory language is ambiguous, which has allowed tribunals to rule in favor of large corporations. In Marquette Township that’s reduced the amount of taxes the stores are paying by 63 percent.
Kivela and Casperson’s bills would adjust the way tax
assessments are completed on large commercial properties and clarify the law’s language.
