The City shall have the power to assess, levy and collect taxes, rents, tolls and excises. The subjects of ad valorem taxation shall be the same as for State, County and School purposes under the general law. Except as otherwise provided by this Charter, City taxes shall be levied, collected and returned in the manner provided by State statute.
Exclusive of any levy for the payment of principal of and interest on outstanding general obligation bonds and exclusive of any other levies authorized by law to be made beyond Charter tax rate limitations, the levy of ad valorem taxes for general municipal purposes shall not exceed 2% of (20 mills on) the assessed value of all real and personal property in the City.
No exemptions from taxation shall be allowed except as expressly required or permitted by State statutes.
Subject to the exceptions provided or permitted by statute, the taxable status of persons and property shall be determined as of the first day of January, which shall be deemed the Tax Day.
On or before the first Monday in March in each year the Assessor shall prepare and certify an assessment roll of all property in the City liable to taxation. Such roll shall be prepared in accordance with statute and this Charter. The roll shall show separate figures for the value of the land and of the building improvements. On or before the first Monday in March the Assessor shall give either by first class mail or personally, a notice of any increase in the assessed value of any property or of the addition of any property to the roll to the owner as shown by such assessment roll. The failure to give any such notice or of the owner to receive it shall not invalidate any assessment roll or assessment thereon.
The Board of Review shall consist of three qualified freeholders who are electors of the City but not City officers or employees and are to be appointed annually by the City Council. The Assessor is to be Clerk of the Board of Review and nonvoting. The Board shall be entitled to such remuneration as shall be determined by the Council.
For the purpose of revising and correcting assessments, the Board of Review shall have the same powers and perform like duties in all respects as are conferred by law upon and required of Boards of Review in Townships, except as otherwise provided in this Charter. It shall hear the complaints of all persons considering themselves aggrieved by assessments, and, if it shall appear that any person or property has been wrongfully assessed or omitted from the roll, the Board shall correct the roll in such manner as it deems just. In all cases, the roll shall be reviewed according to the facts existing on tax day and no change in the status of any property after that day shall be considered by the Board in making its decisions. Except as otherwise provided by law, no person, other than the Board of Review, shall make or authorize any change upon, or addition or corrections, to the assessment roll. It shall be the duty of the Assessor to keep a permanent record of all proceedings of the Board and to enter therein all resolutions and decisions of the Board. Such proceedings shall be filed in the office of the Clerk not later than the first day of September following the meeting of the Board of Review.
The Board of Review shall convene on the third Monday in March of each year to review and correct the assessment roll and shall remain in session for not less than two days. It shall choose its own chairman and a majority of its members shall constitute a quorum. On or before the first Monday in April the Board of Review shall endorse the assessment roll as provided hereafter.
Notice of the time and place of the sessions of the Board of Review shall be published by the City Clerk at least 10 days prior to the third Monday in March.
After the Board of Review has completed its review of the assessment roll, its members shall endorse thereon and sign a statement to the effect that the same is the assessment roll of the City for the year in which it has been prepared. The omission of such endorsement shall not affect the validity of such roll.
Upon the completion of the assessment roll, and from and after midnight ending the last day of the meeting of the Board of Review, it shall be the assessment roll of the City for County, School and City taxes, and for other taxes on real and personal property that may be authorized by law. It shall be presumed by all Courts and Tribunals to be valid, and shall not be set aside, except for cause set forth by law.
Within three days after the Council has adopted the budget for the ensuing year, the Clerk shall certify to the Assessor the total amount which the Council determines shall be raised by general ad valorem tax. He shall also certify all amounts of current or delinquent special assessments and all other amounts which the Council requires or orders to be assessed, reassessed, or charged upon the said roll against any property or any person in accordance with the provisions of this Charter or any ordinance of the City.
After the Board of Review has completed its review of the assessment roll, the Assessor shall prepare a copy of the assessment roll, to be known as the "City Tax Roll". Upon receiving the certification of the several amounts to be raised, as provided in Section 9.12, the Assessor shall spread upon said tax roll the several amounts determined by the Council to be charged, assessed, or reassessed against persons or property. He shall also spread thereon the amounts of the general ad valorem City tax, County tax, and School tax, according to and in proportion to the several valuations set forth in said assessment roll. To avoid fractions in computation of any tax roll, the Assessor may add to the amount of the several taxes to be raised not more than the amount prescribed by law. Any excess created thereby on any tax roll shall belong to the City.
After spreading the taxes the Assessor shall certify the tax roll, and shall annex his warrant thereto directing and requiring the Treasurer to collect, prior to March first of the following year, from the several persons named in said roll the several sums mentioned therein opposite their respective names as a tax, charge, or assessment, and granting to him, for the purpose of collecting the taxes, assessments and charges on such roll, all the statutory powers and immunities possessed by Township Treasurers for the collection of taxes. On or before June fifteenth, the roll shall be delivered to the Treasurer for collection.
On July first the taxes thus assessed shall become a debt due to the City from the persons to whom they are assessed, and the amounts assessed on any interest in real property shall become a lien upon such real property for such amounts and for all interest and charges thereon, and all personal taxes shall become a debt of, and first lien on all personal property of, such persons so assessed. Such lien shall take precedence over all other claims, encumbrances and liens to the extent provided by law and shall continue until such taxes, interest and charges are paid.
If the Treasurer finds or reasonably believes that any person who is, or may be, liable for taxes upon personal property, the taxable situs of which was in the City on Tax Day, intends to depart from the City; or to remove therefrom personal property, which is, or may be, liable for taxation; or to conceal himself or his property; or to do any other act tending to prejudice, or to render wholly or partly ineffectual the proceeding to collect such tax, unless proceedings therefor be brought without delay, he shall proceed to collect the same as a jeopardy assessment in the manner provided by law.
City taxes shall be due on July first of each year. The Treasurer shall not be required to call upon the persons named in the City Tax Roll, nor to make personal demand for the payment of taxes, but he shall (a) publish, between June fifteenth and July first, notice of the time when said taxes will be due for collection and the penalties and fees for late payment of same, and (b) mail a bill to each person named in said roll, but in cases of multiple ownership of property only one bill need be mailed.
Failure on the part of the Treasurer to publish said notice or mail such bills shall not invalidate the taxes on said Tax Roll nor release the person or property assessed from the penalties and fees provided in this chapter in case of late payment or nonpayment of the same.
All taxes paid on or before October first of each year shall be collected by the Treasurer without additional charge. On October first he shall add to all the taxes paid thereafter a collection fee equal to 1/2 of 1% of the amount of said taxes, and on the first of each succeeding month he shall add an additional 1/2 of 1% of said taxes as a collection fee. Such collection fees shall belong to the City and shall constitute a charge and shall be a lien against the property to which the taxes themselves apply, collectible in the same manner as the taxes to which they are added.
If any person, firm or corporation shall neglect or refuse to pay any tax assessed to him or them, the Treasurer shall collect the same by seizing the personal property of such person, firm or corporation, to an amount sufficient to pay such tax, fees and charges for subsequent sale, wherever the same may be found in the State, and from which seizure no property shall be exempt. He may sell the property seized to an amount sufficient to pay the taxes and all charges in accordance with statutory provisions. The Treasurer may, if otherwise unable to collect a tax on personal property, sue the person, firm or corporation to whom it is assessed in accordance with statute.
All taxes and charges, together with fees, penalties and interest upon real property on the tax roll, remaining uncollected by the Treasurer on the first day of March following the date when the roll was received by him shall be returned to the County Treasurer, to the extent and in the same manner and with like effect as provided by law for returns by Township Treasurers of Township and County taxes. Such returns shall include all the additional assessments, charges, fees, penalties and interest hereinbefore provided, which shall be added to the amount assessed in said tax roll against each property or person. The taxes, assessments and charges thus returned shall be collected in the same manner as other taxes returned to the County Treasurer are collected in accordance with law, and shall be and remain a lien upon the property against which they are assessed until paid.
For the purpose of assessing and collecting taxes for State, County and School purposes, the City shall be considered the same as a Township, and all provisions of law relative to the collection of an accounting for such taxes shall apply. For these purposes the Treasurer shall perform the same duties and have the same powers as are granted and imposed upon Township Treasurers by law.
The City shall have power to acquire, by purchase, any premises within the City at any tax or other public sale, or by direct purchase from the State of Michigan or the fee owner, when such purchase is necessary to protect the lien of the City for taxes, or special assessments, or both, on said premises and the lien for other charges, collection charges and interest, and may hold, lease, or sell the same for purpose of securing therefrom the amount of such taxes, special assessments, charges, collection charges and interest, together with any incidental expense incurred in connection with the exercise of this power. Any such procedure exercised by the City in the protection of such liens shall be deemed to be for public purpose.