HOUSE BILL No. 6145 November 14, 2000, Introduced by Rep. Mortimer and referred to the Committee on Local Government and Urban Policy. A bill to amend 1905 PA 282, entitled "An act to provide for the assessment of the property, by whomso- ever owned, operated or conducted, of railroad companies, union station and depot companies, telegraph companies, telephone com- panies, sleeping car companies, express companies, car loaning companies, stock car companies, refrigerator car companies, and fast freight companies, and all other companies owning, leasing, running or operating any freight, stock, refrigerator, or any other cars, not being exclusively the property of any railroad company paying taxes upon its rolling stock under the provisions of this act, over or upon the line or lines of any railroad or railroads in this state, and for the levy of taxes thereon by a state board of assessors, and for the collection of such taxes, and to repeal all acts or parts of acts contravening any of the provisions of this act," by amending sections 12 and 13 (MCL 207.12 and 207.13), as amended by 1995 PA 257. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 12. Thecounty clerkDIRECTOR OF THE TAX OR EQUALI- 2 ZATION DEPARTMENT in each county in this state, as soon as 3 possible after the equalization of the board ofsupervisors06151'00 a * KDD 2 1 COMMISSIONERS ofhis or herTHE county of the assessment rolls 2 of the municipalities in that county, and not later than December 3 1 in each year, shall make a report, duly certified, to the state 4 board of assessors,uponON a form to be provided by the state 5 board of assessors, of the amount of ad valorem taxes to be 6 raised in the municipalities in that county for state, county, 7 municipal, township, school, and other purposes, INCLUDING a 8 statement of the aggregate valuation of the property in each of 9 the municipalities in that county, as taken from the assessment 10 rolls of the municipalities for the year in which the equaliza- 11 tion is made, and, for taxes levied before January 1, 1995, the 12 state equalized valuation of each municipality and, for taxes 13 levied after December 31, 1994, the taxable value of each 14 municipality. The supervisor or other assessing officer of each 15 township, city, and village in this state shall make, within the 16 time provided in this section, a report to the state board of 17 assessors,uponON a form to be provided by the state board of 18 assessors, of all ad valorem taxes raised in his or her assessing 19 district for the current year, and, for taxes levied before 20 January 1, 1995, of the state equalized valuation of real and 21 personal property upon which the taxes are levied and, for taxes 22 levied after December 31, 1994, of the taxable value of real and 23 personal property upon which the taxes are levied. If any 24county clerkDIRECTOR OF A COUNTY TAX OR EQUALIZATION 25 DEPARTMENT or any supervisor or assessing officer neglects or 26 fails to make the report required by this section within the time 27 provided in this section, the state board of assessors shall 06151'00 a * 3 1 inspect and examine or cause an inspection and examination of the 2 records of the board ofsupervisorsCOMMISSIONERS or of the 3 proper township, city, or village officers, to procure the infor- 4 mation required to arrive at the average rate of taxation in this 5 state. Anycounty clerkDIRECTOR OF A COUNTY TAX OR EQUALIZA- 6 TION DEPARTMENT, supervisor, or assessing officer,who fails 7 to make the report required by this section is subject to a pen- 8 alty of $100.00, to be recovered in an action in the name of the 9 people ofthe state of MichiganTHIS STATE in any court of com- 10 petent jurisdiction. 11 Sec. 13. (1) The state board of assessors, from the infor- 12 mation contained in the reports provided for in section 12, shall 13 determine for the year in which the reports are required to be 14 made the average rate of taxation levieduponON other commer- 15 cial, industrial, and utility propertyuponON which ad valorem 16 taxes are assessed for state, county, township, school, and 17 municipal purposes, and enter the determinationuponIN its 18 records, together with the method by which the average rate of 19 taxation was determined. In determining the average rate of tax- 20 ation for taxes levied under this act before January 1, 1996, the 21 state board of assessors shall divide the state equalized value 22 as set by the state board of equalization for the previous year 23 into the total ad valorem taxes as reported by eachcounty24clerkDIRECTOR OF A COUNTY TAX OR EQUALIZATION DEPARTMENT as 25 provided in section 12. In determining the average rate of taxa- 26 tion for taxes levied under this act after December 31, 1995, the 27 state board of assessors shall divide the state taxable value for 06151'00 a * 4 1 the previous year into the total ad valorem taxes as reported by 2 eachcounty clerkDIRECTOR OF A COUNTY TAX OR EQUALIZATION 3 DEPARTMENT as provided in section 12. In determining the average 4 rate of taxation for 1994, ad valorem taxes levied for the year 5 in which the reports are required by a local school district for 6 school operating purposesunderAS DEFINED IN section 1211 of 7 the REVISED school code,of 1976, Act No. 451 of the Public Acts8of 1976, being section 380.1211 of the Michigan Compiled Laws9 1976 PA 451, MCL 380.1211, shall be excluded from the calculation 10 required by this section and the state board of assessors shall 11 add to the tax rate calculated under this section after the 12 exclusion required by this sentence, the number of mills levied 13 under the state education tax act,Act No. 331 of the Public14Acts of 1993, being sections 211.901 to 211.906 of the Michigan15Compiled Laws1993 PA 331, MCL 211.901 TO 211.906, plus the 16 statewide average number of mills levied in 1994 by local school 17 districts for school operating purposes underAct No. 451 of the18Public Acts of 1976, being sections 380.1 to 380.1852 of the19Michigan Compiled LawsTHE REVISED SCHOOL CODE, 1976 PA 451, MCL 20 380.1 TO 380.1852. If the state board of assessors is unable to 21 determine the average rate of taxation for 1994 before June 1, 22 1994, the state board of assessors shall determine a preliminary 23 average rate of taxation that shall be used to complete the 1994 24 tax roll under section 14. However, before June 1, 1995, the 25 state board of assessors shall determine and certify the average 26 rate of taxation for 1994 and prepare a supplemental 1994 tax 27 roll using the 1994 assessed valuations for the purpose of 06151'00 a * 5 1 levying a supplemental tax or making a refund. The supplemental 2 tax is due and payable and the refund, if any, is due July 1, 3 1995 without interest. If the supplemental tax is paid after 4 August 1, 1995, the tax is payable with interest due at the rate 5 of 1% per month or portion of a month calculated from January 15, 6 1995 to the date of payment. 7 (2) A railroad company is allowed a credit against the tax 8 imposed by this act for the tax year in an amount equal to 25% of 9 the amount expended for the maintenance or improvement of rights 10 of way, including those items, except depreciation, in the offi- 11 cial maintenance-of-way and capital track accounts of the rail- 12 road company in this state during the calendar year immediately 13 preceding the tax year but not to exceed the total liability for 14 the tax under this act. The manner of applying for the credit 15 and the proof of expenditures required shall be prescribed by the 16 state board of assessors. 17 (3) A railroad company that claims a credit under this sec- 18 tion is required to file an annual report with the state board of 19 assessors that shall include detailed data of right of way work 20 conducted in this state during the past calendar year. The state 21 board of assessors shall transmit a copy of the report to the 22 chairperson of the senate finance committee and the house taxa- 23 tion committee. This report submitted to the state board of 24 assessors shall include the number of notices of violation from 25 railway inspectors by railroad section, and shall include a 26 detailed account of the location and the nature of the work. The 27 location of the work shall be defined by the railroad section or 06151'00 a * 6 1 mile posts surrounding the work area plus the county, city, or 2 township in which the work was performed. This report shall 3 include a separation of costs by labor and materials on each 4 project. The report also shall include an itemized account of 5 what work was done. This account shall be itemized by the fol- 6 lowing categories: 7 (a) Miles of track laid. 8 (b) Tons of new ballast installed. 9 (c) Number of ties installed. 10 (d) Miles of tracks surfaced. 11 (e) Signals installed. 12 (f) Under drainage work done. 13 (4) The railroad companies, in order to qualify for the full 14 25% credit under this act, must demonstrate to the state board of 15 assessors that the highest priority of expenditures for the main- 16 tenance or improvement of rights of way has been given to rail 17 lines that handle hazardous materials, especially those that are 18 located in urban or residential areas. A railroad company that 19 claims a credit under this section is required to file an annual 20 report with the state board of assessors that shall include 21 detailed data on the tonnages of hazardous materials handled in 22 relation to tonnages of other traffic handled over the rail line 23 for which a tax credit is being applied. 24 (5) A railroad company utilizing the property tax credit 25 provisions of this act shall grant to another railroad company, 26 upon application by the latter, trackage rights over its line for 27 trains, providing that the train operations do not interfere with 06151'00 a * 7 1 the movement of Michigan freight using the same trackage, if 2 operations can be accomplished safely in the opinion of the 3 grantor and if trackage arrangements and train operations are 4 approved by the interstate commerce commission. The grantee 5 shall pay the grantor reasonable charges agreed to between the 2 6 parties if the charges and terms of the agreement between the 2 7 parties are not in violation of the antitrust provisions of fed- 8 eral laws as amended by the Staggers rail act of 1980, Public Law 9 96-448, 94 Stat. 1895. 10 Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take 11 effect unless Senate Bill No. _____ or House Bill No. 6144 12 (request no. 06151'00 *) of the 90th Legislature is enacted into 13 law. 06151'00 a * Final page. KDD