October 6, 2005, Introduced by Senators ALLEN, BARCIA, BIRKHOLZ and GOSCHKA and referred to the Committee on Technology and Energy.
A bill to amend 1893 PA 206, entitled
"The general property tax act,"
by amending section 8 (MCL 211.8), as amended by 2002 PA 620.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 8. For the purposes of taxation, personal property
includes all of the following:
(a) All goods, chattels, and effects within this state.
(b) All goods, chattels, and effects belonging to inhabitants
of this state, located without this state, except that property
actually and permanently invested in business in another state
shall not be included.
(c) All interests owned by individuals in real property, the
fee title to which is in this state or the United States, except as
otherwise provided in this act.
(d) For taxes levied before January 1, 2003, buildings and
improvements located upon leased real property, except if the value
of the real property is also assessed to the lessee or owner of
those buildings and improvements. For taxes levied after December
31, 2002, buildings and improvements located upon leased real
property, except buildings and improvements exempt under section 9f
or
improvements assessable under section 8(h) subdivision (h),
shall be assessed as real property under section 2 to the owner of
the buildings or improvements in the local tax collecting unit in
which the buildings or improvements are located if the value of the
buildings or improvements is not otherwise included in the
assessment of the real property. For taxes levied after December
31, 2001, buildings and improvements exempt under section 9f or
improvements
assessable under section 8(h) subdivision (h) and
located on leased real property shall be assessed as personal
property.
(e) Tombs or vaults built within any burial grounds and kept
for hire or rent, in whole or in part, and the stock of a
corporation or association owning the tombs, vaults, or burial
grounds.
(f) All other personal property not enumerated in this section
and not especially exempted by law.
(g) The personal property of gas and coke companies, natural
gas companies, electric light companies, waterworks companies,
hydraulic companies, and pipe line companies transporting oil or
gas as public or common carriers, to be assessed in the local tax
collecting unit in which the personal property is located. The
mains, pipes, supports, and wires of these companies, including the
supports and wire or other line used for communication purposes in
the operation of those facilities, and the rights of way and the
easements or other interests in real property by virtue of which
the mains, pipes, supports, and wires are erected and maintained,
shall be assessed as personal property in the local tax collecting
unit where laid, placed, or located. Interests in underground rock
strata used for gas storage purposes, whether by lease or ownership
separate from the surface of real property, shall be separately
valued and assessed as personal property in the local tax
collecting unit in which it is located to the person who holds the
interest. Interests in underground rock strata shall be reported as
personal property to the appropriate assessing officer for all
property descriptions included in the storage field in the local
tax collecting unit and a separate valuation shall be assessed for
each school district. The personal property of street railroad,
plank road, cable or electric railroad or transportation companies,
bridge companies, and all other companies not required to pay a
specific tax to this state in lieu of all other taxes, shall,
except as otherwise provided in this section, be assessed in the
local tax collecting unit in which the property is located, used,
or laid, and the track, road, or bridge of a company is considered
personal property. None of the property assessable as personal
property under this subdivision shall be affected by any assessment
or tax levied on the real property through or over which the
personal property is laid, placed, or located, nor shall any right
of way, easement, or other interest in real property, assessable as
personal property under this subdivision, be extinguished or
otherwise affected in case the real property subject to assessment
is sold in the exercise of the taxing power.
(h) During the tenancy of a lessee, leasehold improvements and
structures installed and constructed on real property by the
lessee, provided and to the extent the improvements or structures
add to the true cash taxable value of the real property
notwithstanding that the real property is encumbered by a lease
agreement, and the value added by the improvements or structures is
not otherwise included in the assessment of the real property or
not otherwise assessable under subdivision (j). The cost of
leasehold improvements and structures on real property shall not be
the sole indicator of value. Leasehold improvements and structures
assessed under this subdivision shall be assessed to the lessee.
(i) A leasehold estate received by a sublessor from which the
sublessor receives net rentals in excess of net rentals required to
be paid by the sublessor except to the extent that the excess
rentals are attributable to the installation and construction of
improvements and structures assessed under subdivision (h) or (j)
or included in the assessment of the real property. For purposes of
this act, a leasehold estate is considered to be owned by the
lessee receiving additional net rentals. A lessee in possession is
required to provide the assessor with the name and address of its
lessor. Taxes collected under this act on leasehold estates shall
become a lien against the rentals paid by the sublessee to the
sublessor.
(j) To the extent not assessed as real property, a leasehold
estate of a lessee created by the difference between the income
that would be received by the lessor from the lessee on the basis
of the present economic income of the property as defined and
allowed by section 27(4), minus the actual value to the lessor
under the lease. This subdivision does not apply to property if
subject to a lease entered into before January 1, 1984 for which
the terms of the lease governing the rental rate or the tax
liability have not been renegotiated after December 31, 1983. This
subdivision does not apply to a nonprofit housing cooperative. As
used in this subdivision, "nonprofit cooperative housing
corporation" means a nonprofit cooperative housing corporation that
is engaged in providing housing services to its stockholders and
members and that does not pay dividends or interest upon stock or
membership investment but that does distribute all earnings to its
stockholders or members.
(k) For taxes levied after December 31, 2002, a trade fixture.
(l) For taxes levied after December 31, 2005, a fuel cell
energy system, photovoltaic energy system, and wind energy system.
As used in this subdivision:
(i) "Fuel cell energy system" means 1 or more fuel cells or
fuel cell stacks and an inverter or other power conditioning unit.
A fuel cell energy system may also include a fuel processor. As
used in this subparagraph:
(A) "Fuel cell" means an electrochemical device that uses an
external fuel and continuously converts the energy released from
the oxidation of fuel by oxygen directly into electricity without
combustion and consists of an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte.
(B) "Fuel cell stack" means an assembly of fuel cells.
(C) "Fuel processor" means a device that converts a fuel,
including, but not limited to, methanol, natural gas, or gasoline,
into a hydrogen rich gas, without combustion for use in a fuel
cell.
(ii) "Photovoltaic energy system" means a solar energy device
composed of 1 or more photovoltaic cells or photovoltaic modules
and an inverter or other power conditioning unit. A photovoltaic
system may also include batteries for power storage or an
electricity storage device. As used in this subparagraph:
(A) "Photovoltaic cell" means an integrated device consisting
of layers of semiconductor materials and electrical contacts
capable of converting incident light directly into electricity.
(B) "Photovoltaic module" means an assembly of photovoltaic
cells.
(iii) "Wind energy system" means an integrated unit consisting
of a wind turbine composed of a rotor, an electrical generator, a
control system, an inverter or other power conditioning unit, and a
tower, which uses moving air to produce power.