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Upper Peninsula lawmakers want to close a loophole they say is costing their communities hundreds of thousands of dollars.
State Representative John Kivela and State Senator Tom Casperson are introducing bills targeting the “Dark Store” theory used to lower property taxes.
Kivela says big box stores are going before the Michigan Tax Tribunal and arguing their stores are uniquely laid out and wouldn’t be worth much if they had to close up shop and sell.
The stores are essentially saying they should be taxed as an empty building, hence the reference to a “Dark Store.”
If the tribunal agrees to set a lower property tax amount it forces communities to refund years’ worth of what are now tax overpayments.
Kivela says that can break the bank for some smaller governments.
The lawmakers are also introducing a second bill to give locals more control over negative deed restrictions, which allow a business to limit what can move in to an abandoned building to keep competition out.
Kivela says that’s why you tend to see indoor skating rinks or churches inside what used to be Walmart, instead of a similar store.
He and Casperson are introducing both bills when lawmakers return to Lansing in September.
