HOUSE BILL NO. 5810

May 27, 2020, Introduced by Rep. Lower and referred to the Committee on Local Government and Municipal Finance.

"The general property tax act,"

by amending section 78a (MCL 211.78a), as amended by 2014 PA 499, and by adding section 44e.

the people of the state of michigan enact:

Sec. 44e. Notwithstanding any provision of this act to the contrary, all of the following apply to all taxes and assessments collected under this act that are levied on property in the summer of 2020:

(a) A local tax collecting unit shall accept as timely a payment of those taxes or assessments made on or before September 30, 2020.

(b) A local tax collecting unit shall not impose any interest, penalty, or other late charge or fee of any kind on any amount timely paid under subdivision (a), including, but not limited to, any interest, penalty, or late charge or fee that may have otherwise been authorized under section 44a(6).

(c) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, property for which summer 2020 taxes or assessments remain unpaid after September 30, 2020 must be returned as delinquent to the county treasurer on October 1, 2020 as provided in section 78a(6). This subdivision does not apply to a portion of an unpaid summer 2020 property tax bill for which the local tax collecting unit has agreed to accept payment on or before the last day that 2020 winter taxes must be paid before being returned as delinquent under section 78a, if that partial payment plan applies to at least $50.00 of the summer 2020 tax bill. A local tax collecting unit shall allow taxpayers the opportunity to enter into such partial payment plans.

Sec. 78a. (1) For taxes levied after December 31, 1998, all property returned for delinquent taxes, and upon which taxes, interest, penalties, and fees remain unpaid after the property is returned as delinquent to the county treasurers of this state under this act, is subject to forfeiture, foreclosure, and sale for the enforcement and collection of the delinquent taxes as provided in section 78, this section, and sections 78b to 79a. As used in section 78, this section, and sections 78b to 79a, "taxes" includes interest, penalties, and fees imposed before the taxes become delinquent and unpaid special assessments or other assessments that are due and payable up to and including the date of the foreclosure hearing under section 78k.

(2) On Subject to subsection (6), on March 1 in each year, taxes levied in the immediately preceding year that remain unpaid shall be returned as delinquent for collection. However, if the last day in a year that taxes are due and payable before being returned as delinquent is on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the last day taxes are due and payable before being returned as delinquent is on the next business day and taxes levied in the immediately preceding year that remain unpaid shall be returned as delinquent on the immediately succeeding business day. Except as otherwise provided in section 79 for certified abandoned property, property delinquent for taxes levied in the second year preceding the forfeiture under section 78g or in a prior year to which this section applies shall be forfeited to the county treasurer for the total of the unpaid taxes, interest, penalties, and fees for those years as provided under section 78g.

(3) A Subject to subsection (6), a county property tax administration fee of 4% and, except as provided in section 78g(3)(c), interest computed at a noncompounded rate of 1% per month or fraction of a month on the taxes that were originally returned as delinquent, computed from the date that the taxes originally became delinquent, shall be added to property returned as delinquent under this section. A county property tax administration fee provided for under this subsection shall not be less than $1.00.

(4) Any person with an unrecorded property interest or any other person who wishes at any time to receive notice of the return of delinquent taxes on a parcel of property may pay an annual fee not to exceed $5.00 by February 1 to the county treasurer and specify the parcel identification number, the address of the property, and the address to which the notice shall be sent. Holders of any undischarged mortgages wishing to receive notice of the return of delinquent taxes on a parcel or parcels of property may provide a list of such parcels in a form prescribed by the county treasurer and pay an annual fee not to exceed $1.00 per parcel to the county treasurer and specify for each parcel the parcel identification number, the address of the property, and the address to which the notice should be sent. The county treasurer shall notify the person or holders of undischarged mortgages if delinquent taxes on the property or properties are returned within that year.

(5) Notwithstanding any charter provision to the contrary, the governing body of a local governmental unit that collects delinquent taxes may establish for any property, by ordinance, procedures for the collection of delinquent taxes and the enforcement of tax liens and the schedule for the forfeiture or foreclosure of delinquent tax liens. The procedures and schedule established by ordinance shall conform at a minimum to those procedures and schedules established under sections 78a to 78l, except that those taxes subject to a payment plan approved by the treasurer of the local governmental unit as of July 1, 1999 shall not be considered delinquent if payments are not delinquent under that payment plan.

(6) Notwithstanding any provision of this act to the contrary, all of the following apply to the collection of taxes and assessments under this act that are levied on property in the summer of 2020 and remain unpaid after September 30, 2020, except for those summer 2020 taxes and assessments subject to partial payment plans as described in section 44e(c):

(a) Those unpaid summer 2020 taxes and assessments must be returned as delinquent to the county treasurer on October 1, 2020 and, beginning on October 1, 2020, are due and payable to the county on behalf of the taxing units in the county and this state, and are subject to payment from the delinquent tax revolving fund, including payment accomplished by issuance of revolving fund notes, for purposes of sections 87b to 87f. It is the intent of the legislature that sufficient funds be appropriated from the general fund to the department of treasury for payment to county treasurers to compensate for any additional costs of borrowing reasonably incurred to finance the delinquent tax revolving fund as a result of the early return of delinquent taxes under this subdivision.

(b) Subject to section 78t, the fees and interest charges described in subsection (3) apply to those delinquent summer 2020 taxes and assessments beginning October 1, 2020.

(c) For all other purposes relating to the forfeiture, foreclosure, and sale for the enforcement and collection of delinquent taxes under this act, those delinquent summer 2020 taxes and assessments shall be treated as having been returned at the time prescribed under subsection (2) for the return of unpaid taxes levied in December 2020.

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect unless House Bill No. 5761 of the 100th Legislature is enacted into law.