Bill Text: MI SB0006 | 2015-2016 | 98th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Property tax; exemptions; exemption for disabled veterans; include joint tenancy. Amends sec. 7b of 1893 PA 206 (MCL 211.7b).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-12-16 - Referred To Committee On Tax Policy [SB0006 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2015-SB0006-Engrossed.html
SB-0006, As Passed Senate, December 15, 2015
SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 6
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 Subject to
subsections (2) to (4),
residential real property or agricultural real property used and
owned
as a homestead by a any of
the following individuals is
exempt from the collection of taxes under this act:
(a) 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) is exempt from the
collection
of taxes under this act. To obtain the exemption,
(b) For as long as he or she remains unremarried, the
unremarried surviving spouse of a disabled veteran who, immediately
before death, was eligible for the exemption under this section.
(c) For as long as he or she remains unremarried, the
unremarried surviving spouse of a deceased Michigan veteran who
died from service-connected causes while on active duty in the
armed forces of the United States.
(2) To claim an exemption under this section, an individual
described in subsection (1)(a), (b), or (c), or his or her legal
designee, shall annually file with the local tax collecting unit in
which
the property is located an affidavit showing
on a form
prescribed by the state tax commission describing the real property
for which the exemption is claimed and attesting to 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. subsection (1)
as of the date that the affidavit is signed. The affidavit shall be
filed on or before June 1 to claim the exemption for the
immediately succeeding summer and winter tax levies or on or before
November 1 to claim the exemption for the immediately succeeding
winter tax levy. Notwithstanding the tax day provided in section 2,
the status of property as exempt under this section shall be
determined on the date the affidavit claiming an exemption is
filed.
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 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) After the affidavit is filed, the assessor for the local
tax collecting unit shall determine whether the requirements of
this section are met. If the requirements are met, the assessor
shall grant the exemption. If granted, the exemption applies until
December 31 of the year that the affidavit was filed.
(4) The exemption provided under this section applies only to
taxes collected under this act and not to any special assessment
unless the act providing for the special assessment provides
otherwise.
(5) If the total amount of all taxes collected by a local tax
collecting unit is reduced in excess of 5% by exemptions granted
under this section, the state shall, upon appropriation, provide
reimbursement in an amount equal to that excess.
(6) (3)
As used in this section: ,
"disabled
(a) "Agricultural real property" means that term as defined in
section 34c.
(b) "Armed forces of the United States" means the armed forces
of the United States and their reserve components.
(c) "Deceased Michigan veteran" means an individual who,
immediately before death, served in the armed forces of the United
States and was a legal resident of this state.
(d) "Disabled veteran" means a person who is a legal 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,
Veterans Administration, or its successors,
certifying that he or she 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.
(e) "Homestead" means the 1 place owned and occupied by a
legal resident of this state as his or her true, fixed, and
permanent home to which, whenever absent, he or she intends to
return and that shall continue as a primary residence until another
primary residence is established. Except as otherwise provided in
this subdivision, homestead includes only that portion of a
dwelling or unit in a multiple-unit dwelling that would be subject
to ad valorem taxes absent the exemption under this section and
that is owned and occupied by an owner of the dwelling or unit.
Homestead also includes all of an owner's unoccupied property
classified as residential real property or agricultural real
property that is adjoining or contiguous to the dwelling, that
would be subject to ad valorem taxes absent the exemption under
this section, 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, homestead 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. For purposes of this subdivision, property
previously occupied as a homestead by an individual who now resides
in a nursing home or assisted living facility remains that
individual's homestead if he or she manifests an intent to return
to that property by satisfying all of the following conditions:
(i) He or she continues to own that property while residing in
the nursing home or assisted living facility.
(ii) He or she has not established a new homestead.
(iii) He or she maintains or provides for the maintenance of
that property while residing in the nursing home or assisted living
facility.
(iv) That property is not occupied, is not leased, and is not
used for any business or commercial purpose.
(f) "Own" means any of the following:
(i) Sole ownership by a disabled veteran.
(ii) Joint ownership or co-ownership by a disabled veteran and
1 or more of the following individuals:
(A) His or her spouse, including as tenants by the entirety.
(B) His or her son, daughter, adopted son, or adopted
daughter.
(iii) Sole ownership by an unremarried surviving spouse of a
deceased disabled veteran or a deceased Michigan veteran who died
from service-connected causes while on active duty in the armed
forces of the United States.
(g) "Residential real property" means that term as defined in
section 34c.
(h) "Unremarried surviving spouse" means either of the
following:
(i) An individual who was married to a disabled veteran when
that veteran died and who, since the time of that spouse's death,
has never been remarried.
(ii) An individual who was married to a deceased Michigan
veteran when that veteran died from service-connected causes while
on active duty in the armed forces of the United States and who,
since the time of that spouse's death, has never been remarried.
