Act No. 44

Public Acts of 2013

Approved by the Governor

June 5, 2013

Filed with the Secretary of State

June 6, 2013

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 6, 2013

STATE OF MICHIGAN

97TH LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2013

Introduced by Senators Green and Booher

ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 55

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 section 7dd (MCL 211.7dd), as amended by 2012 PA 324.

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.

(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.

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect June 1, 2013.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Secretary of the Senate

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Approved

Governor