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Michigan legislators are taking another stab at pushing through legislation to address the so-called “dark store” tax loophole during the brief lame duck session.
Bipartisan legislation introduced last summer would attempt to wipe out the method that’s been used both in our region, and across the state, to have property taxes lowered on buildings owned by big box retailers. 110th District Republican Greg Markkanen is a co-sponsor…
Markkanen addressed the issue on our September 24th Copper Country Today program, which you’ll find at KeweenawReport.com.
Lawmakers and local community leaders want the buildings to be valued at their “highest and best use.” In other words, if Target were to close a store, the price that an eager buyer such as Walmart would pay to take it over, move in, and use it for the same purpose.
Business leaders say such transactions are unlikely – if Target can’t make it work, why would Walmart even want it? They’re lobbying for their buildings to be assessed based on the recent sales of similar buildings in the region, which often are much lower than “highest and best use” valuation.
For more than a decade, challenges in court and at the Michigan Tax Tribunal have resulted in a number of tax rollbacks for corporate owners, and even forced some municipalities to pay back taxes collected during preceding years.
The new bills attempt to define what the Tax Tribunal can – and cannot – consider in rendering judgements.
