<div dir="ltr">

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Has
your library issued refund checks due to a “dark store” ruling from the
Michigan Tax Tribunal? PWPL must refund about $9,350 due to a Tribunal ruling
on the Lowes store in Marquette Township, one of our contracted townships. The
store opened in 2008, and continues to operate today. The assessment was
reduced by 63%, going back three years.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The
library could be on the hook for tens of thousands in further refunds, along
with decreased revenues going forward at the new assessed values, as more
stores win appeals. Every millage-funded entity also has to issue refunds. Of
course, it’s worse for the Township, because they are hit directly. The recent <i style>Detroit Free Press</i> article “Big Box Stores
Ringing up Property Tax Discounts” from April 11, 2015 gave a good summary of
the situation.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2015/04/11/big-box-stores-reduced-property-assessments/25649545/"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">http://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2015/04/11/big-box-stores-reduced-property-assessments/25649545/</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2015/04/11/big-box-stores-reduced-property-assessments/25649545/"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""></span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The
Michigan Supreme Court refused to hear the case involving the local Lowes, and
Home Depot in Breitung Township. Township officials were told it’s not a
state-wide issue, though it certainly is one. The precedent for this
interpretation of tax law actually started with a case in Novi, Michigan in
2010, involving the assessment of a Target store. You can search the Michigan
Tax Tribunal docket at the link below for open cases in your area.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://taxdocketlookup.lara.state.mi.us/Search.aspx"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">http://taxdocketlookup.lara.state.mi.us/Search.aspx</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Settled cases will not appear in the results, nor will the massive backlog of cases that aren’t on the docket yet.
Also, from my understanding, rather than spend tens of thousands of dollars in legal
fees, many municipalities are now settling with property owners without going to
the Tribunal.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">These
cases not only affect various types of local funding. The State, which is
already facing a budget crisis, has to make up education dollars lost in these reassessments.
This is a decrease in revenues, based on an interpretation of the Michigan
Constitution, made by a small group of unelected people. They base their
property reassessments on closed stores, hundreds of miles away, which could
have deed restrictions on them that make them unusable to many potential buyers,
and thus are not comparable facilities.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The
PWPL hosted an informational session about the dark store issue on April 9^th
2015. The capacity crowd of around 150 included all the local media. One of the
topics was legislation to close the dark store loophole. Legislation was
introduced last year that would have closed the loophole, but it died in the
House. It has been re-worked, constitutionally vetted, and should be
reintroduced within the next month by our legislators; Representative John
Kivela (D), and Senator Tom Casperson (R).</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">I’m
only scratching the surface of this issue. More info…</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/about/search.aspx?q=michigan+tax+tribunal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/about/search.aspx?q=michigan+tax+tribunal</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.briancabell.com/dark-stores-lansing-hopes-wisconsin-bullies-and-secret-funding/"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">http://www.briancabell.com/dark-stores-lansing-hopes-wisconsin-bullies-and-secret-funding/</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://thrunlaw.com/news/%E2%80%9Cbig-box%E2%80%9D-tax-appeals-have-big-impact-school-district-finances"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">http://thrunlaw.com/news/%E2%80%9Cbig-box%E2%80%9D-tax-appeals-have-big-impact-school-district-finances</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.heraldpalladium.com/news/local/big-box-stores-win-big-tinier-tax-bills/article_b704f97b-8455-56fd-8464-f97adbcc625a.html"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">http://www.heraldpalladium.com/news/local/big-box-stores-win-big-tinier-tax-bills/article_b704f97b-8455-56fd-8464-f97adbcc625a.html</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""></span></p>

<br><br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">Bruce A. MacDonald<br>Assistant Director / Head of Circulation<br>Peter White Public Library<br>Marquette, Michigan<br></div></div></div></div></div>
</div>