The city shall have the power to assess taxes and levy and collect
rents, tolls, and excises. The annual ad valorem tax levy shall not
exceed that percentage allowed by statute of the assessed value of
all real and personal property subject to taxation in the city.
The subject of ad valorem taxation for municipal purposes 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 statute.
No exemptions from taxation shall be allowed except as expressly
required or permitted by statute.
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 subject to taxation. Such roll shall be prepared in accordance
with statute and this charter. Values shall be estimated according
to recognized methods of systematic assessment. The records of the
Assessor shall show separate figures for the value of the land, of
the building improvements and of personal property; and the method
of estimating all such values shall be as nearly uniform as possible.
The Board of Review shall be composed of three freeholders of the city who shall meet the eligibility requirements for elective officers contained in §
C-5.1 and who during their term of office shall not be city officers or employees or be nominees or candidates for elective city office. The filing by a member of the Board of Review of his nomination petition for an elective office or the filing of a consent thereto shall constitute a resignation from the Board of Review. On the first January after the adoption of this charter, the Commission shall appoint the Board of Review. The term of each member of such Board shall be for three years, provided however, that the first term of the first member appointed shall be for one year, the first term for the second member appointed shall be for two years, and the first term for the third member appointed shall be for two years, and the first term for the third member appointed shall be for three years, so that one member of such Board is appointed in each January thereafter.
The appointment of members of such Board shall be based upon
their knowledge and experience in property valuation. The Commission
shall fix the compensation of the members of the Board of Review.
The Board shall annually in February select its own chairman for the
ensuing year, and the Assessor shall be clerk of the Board and shall
be entitled to be heard at its sessions, but shall have no right to
vote.
The Board of Review shall convene in its first session on the
second Monday in March from 9:00 in the forenoon until 4:00 in the
afternoon for the purpose of examining the assessment roll and to
correct any errors or deficiencies found therein. On the following
day and for three days thereafter the assessment roll shall be available
for public inspection, and shall be advertised as such, from 9:00
in the forenoon until 4:00 in the afternoon at the City Hall. The
Board of Review shall convene in its second session on the third Monday
in March of each year from 9:00 in the forenoon until 4:00 in the
afternoon to review the assessment roll, and shall continue in session
at least two days successively and as much longer as may be necessary
to complete the review. At the second session, the Board may not increase
any assessments or add any property to the rolls, except in those
cases in which the Board resolved at its first session to consider
such increases or addition at its second session.
Notice of the time and place of the second session of the Board
of Review shall be published prior to such session of the Board.
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 by statute conferred 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
the tax day and no change in the status of any property after said
day shall be considered by the Board in making its decisions. Except
as otherwise provided by statute, no person other than the Board of
Review shall make or authorize any change upon, or additions or corrections
to, the assessment roll. It shall be the duty of the Assessor to keep
a permanent record of all proceedings and to enter therein all resolutions
and decisions of the Board.
After the Board of Review has completed its review of the assessment
roll, and not later than the thirty-first of March, the majority of
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 effect
the validity of such roll.
Within three days after the Commission has adopted the budget
for the ensuing year, the Clerk shall deliver to the Assessor a certified
copy of the Commission resolution determining the total amount to
be raised by general ad valorem tax together with certified copies
of such resolution regarding amounts which the Commission requires
to be assessed, reassessed, or charged upon any property or against
any person.
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," and upon receiving the certification of the several amounts to be raised, as provided in §§
C-9.11 and 9.19, the Assessor shall spread upon said tax roll the several amounts determined by the Commission to be charged, assessed or reassessed against persons or property. He shall also spread 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 on any tax roll, the Assessor may add to the amount of the several taxes to be raised not more than the amount prescribed by statute. Any excess created thereby on any tax roll shall belong to the city.
After spreading the taxes and on or before the first Monday
in June the Assessor shall deliver a certified copy of the tax roll
to the City Treasurer to which roll shall be annexed a warrant signed
by the City Assessor and directed to the Treasurer, and in all other
respects as near as may be to warrants to township treasurers for
the collection of state, county, school, and township taxes.
On July first the taxes thus assessed shall become a debt due
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 charges thereon,
and all personal taxes shall become a 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
statute and shall continue until such taxes, interest, and charges
are paid.
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 case of multiple
ownership 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 the thirty-first day of July shall be collected by the Treasurer without interest. On August first he shall add to all taxes paid thereafter 4% of the amount of said taxes and on the first day of October and of each succeeding month he shall add an additional 1/2 of 1% of said taxes that remain unpaid. Such interest shall not exceed 6% and shall belong to the City and 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. It is provided, however, that if the delivery of the tax roll to the Treasurer, as provided in §
C-9.13, is delayed for any reason by more than 30 days after June first, the application of the interest charge provided herein shall be postponed 30 days for the first 30 days of such delay and shall be postponed an additional 30 days for each additional 30 days or major fraction thereof, such delay.
If any person, firm or corporation shall neglect or refuse to
pay any personal property tax assessed to him or them by October first,
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 make a jeopardy assessment of any personal property
and collect said tax in accordance with statutory provisions. The
Treasurer may, if otherwise unable to collect a tax on personal property,
sue, in accordance with statute, the person, firm, or corporation
to whom it is assessed.
All city taxes on real property remaining uncollected by the
Treasurer on the first day of March following the date when said roll
was received by him shall be returned to the County Treasurer in the
manner and with like effect as provided by statute for returns by
township treasurers of township, school, and county taxes. Such returns
shall include all the additional assessments, charges, and fees hereinbefore
provided, which shall be added to the amount assessed in said tax
roll against each property and person. The taxes thus returned shall
be collected in the same manner as other taxes returned to the County
Treasurer are collected, in accordance with statute, and shall be
and remain a lien upon the property against which they are assessed
until paid. If by change in statute or otherwise, the Treasurer of
the County of Lapeer is no longer charged with the collection of delinquent
real property taxes, such delinquent taxes shall be collected in the
manner then provided by statute for the collection of delinquent township,
school and county taxes.
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 statute relative to the collection
of and accounting for such taxes shall apply. For these purposes the
Treasurer shall perform the same duties and have the same powers as
township treasurers under statute.