ON BALLOT PROPOSALS
House Bill 4177
Sponsor: Rep. Robert Gosselin
Committee: Constitutional Law and Ethics
Complete to 4-14-99
A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 4177 AS INTRODUCED 2-9-99
Currently, the General Property Tax Act requires that when a millage proposal is submitted, the ballot must state the amount of the proposed millage increase and an estimate of the revenue increase during the first calendar year that the taxing unit would collect if the increase were approved and levied.
The bill would amend the act to expand the information on ballots proposing a millage increase and to rewrite the current requirements. Under the bill, a ballot proposing a millage increase would have to include all of the following information:
(1) The millage rate to be levied;
(2) The amount of money that would be collected in the first year that the millage was levied;
(3) The duration of the millage in years;
(4) A clear statement of the purpose of the millage; and
(5) A clear statement indicating whether the proposed millage was a renewal of a previously authorized millage (and, if so, the amount of the previously authorized millage and the amount of the proposed new millage) or the authorization of a new, additional millage.
Currently, the act allows a taxing unit to submit the renewal of a millage and the authorization of a new additional millage as one ballot question if the millages together total 0.5 mills or less. The act also allows a taxing unit, in cases where a millage authorization has expired, to submit a single ballot question seeking authorization of millage greater than the millage that has expired, if the additional millage is 0.5 mills or less. The bill would delete these provisions, and require separate ballot questions for, in the first case, renewals and new millages and, in the second case, the authorization of the amount of expired mills and the authorization of additional mills.
MCL 211.24f Analyst: S. Ekstrom