Bill Text: MI HB5055 | 2023-2024 | 102nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Property tax: exemptions; exemption for the surviving spouse of a disabled veteran; modify. Amends sec. 7b of 1893 PA 206 (MCL 211.7b).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2023-09-28 - Bill Electronically Reproduced 09/27/2023 [HB5055 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2023-HB5055-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL NO. 5055
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 of the United States under honorable conditions or by an individual described in subsection (2) either of the following individuals is exempt from the collection of taxes under this act: .
(a) A disabled veteran.
(b) A surviving spouse of a disabled veteran who, immediately before death, was eligible for the exemption under this section. An exemption under this subdivision continues as long as the surviving spouse does not remarry.
(2) To obtain the exemption, an individual described in subsection (1)(a) or (b), or the individual's legal designee, must 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 is open to inspection. The county treasurer shall cancel taxes subject to collection under this act for any year in which a disabled veteran an individual described in subsection (1)(a) or (b) who is eligible for the exemption under this section has acquired title to real property exempt under this section. Upon granting the exemption under this section, 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 available to or shall continue 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 as long as the surviving spouse remains unremarried.
(3) Within 5 business days after an assessing officer receives an exemption application filed pursuant to subsection (2) by or on behalf of a surviving spouse described in subsection (1)(b), the officer shall provide the applicant with a written notice explaining the following consequences that may result from the decision of the Michigan court of appeals in Lockhart v Ontonagon Twp, No. 356883 (May 19, 2022):
(a) That the surviving spouse's eligibility for the exemption under this section may be denied if the surviving spouse is claiming the exemption on property that the deceased disabled veteran did not previously use and own as a homestead.
(b) That, in the future, the surviving spouse's eligibility for the exemption under this section may be lost if the surviving spouse moves from property previously used and owned as a homestead by the deceased disabled veteran to property that the deceased disabled veteran did not previously use and own as a homestead.
(4) (3) As used in this section: , "disabled
(a) "Disabled veteran" means a person veteran who is a resident of this state and who meets 1 of the following criteria:
(i) (a) Has been determined by the United States department of veterans affairs Department of Veterans Affairs to be permanently and totally disabled as a result of military service and entitled to veterans' benefits at the 100% rate.
(ii) (b) Has a certificate from the United States veterans' administration, or its successors, Department of Veterans Affairs certifying that he or she the veteran is receiving or has received pecuniary assistance due to disability for specially adapted housing.
(iii) (c) Has been rated by the United States department of veterans affairs Department of Veterans Affairs as individually unemployable.
(b) "Veteran" means an individual who served in the United States Armed Forces and was discharged under honorable conditions.
