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Michigan Property Tax Updates

UPDATED june 2023

Detroit’s Split-Rate Property Tax Proposal

City of Detroit Mayor Michael Duggan has proposed legislative changes to permit a “split-rate” property tax system.   Under the proposal, land would be taxed at a significantly higher rate than buildings and other land improvements.  The Mayor believes that this new scheme would foster faster development of under-utilized property in the City.

The Mayor and his staff are still working on the plan’s details and the Legislature would have to amend Michigan law.  Any plan also will need the approval of City voters, and this may even require the state’s voters to approve an amendment to the Michigan Constitution.

The plan could still take many forms, but it seems like no matter what version is enacted, the property tax incidence in Detroit (and other cities that may adopt this scheme) will be shifted.  Owners of vacant lots, parking lots, scrap yards, parcels with low value buildings and parcels with high land to building ratios would likely see tax increases and they might be significant.  Owners of parcels with high value buildings and parcels with low land to building ratios will likely would see tax reductions.  

We expect that a plan will be announced this fall and that whatever is announced will have important support in the Legislature.  As a result of Michigan’s Blue Wave in last year’s election, the Mayor, the Michigan Legislature and the Governor are all members of the same political party.

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Mark Hilpert and Stewart Mandell
Honigman LLP
American Property Tax Counsel (APTC)

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American Property Tax Counsel

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