LANSING, Mich. — Sen. Mark Huizenga on Wednesday supported legislation to implement expanded personal property tax (PPT) relief for small businesses and help reimburse local governments for lost revenue.
“I sponsored this bill last session to provide more relief from personal property taxes, which punish job providers for investing in their Michigan business,” said Huizenga, R-Walker. “Our small businesses — from new manufacturers to longtime family restaurants — are the heartbeat of our economy, and this expansion will help support their continued growth while also protecting the ability of our local governments to provide vital services, like public safety.”
In December 2021, Michigan enacted legislation to increase the number of businesses that could qualify for the small taxpayer PPT exemption by increasing the exemption amount from $80,000 to $180,000. However, the legislation did not include a mechanism and process to administer the exemption.
Senate Bill 331 would create a filing process to allow small businesses to use a PPT exemption when the total true cash value of industrial and commercial property is between $80,000 and $180,000 and set a deadline for local governments to provide exemption information to the Michigan Department of Treasury for reimbursement.
The bill is the same as Huizenga’s 2022 measure, Senate Bill 1060, which was approved unanimously by the Senate last year but was not taken up by the House.
SB 331 is connected to House Bills 4553 and 4554, which are pending before the House. HB 4553 would create the Local Government Reimbursement Fund and set a deadline by which the state must reimburse local governments for exemptions granted the previous year. HB 4554 would require $75 million in use tax revenue to be deposited into the Local Government Reimbursement Fund each fiscal year beginning with the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2024.
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