Consent Hearing To Be Held On Tax Tribunal Appointment

The Michigan Senate Finance Committee will hold a consent hearing tomorrow on Governor Rick Snyder’s appointment to the Michigan Tax Tribunal.

State Representative Scott Dianda has been among those raising concerns over the appointment of former Tax Tribunal Judge Marcus Abood.

Dianda says that’s because he has previously ruled in favor of big box stores on so-called “Dark Store” cases.

The argument by the companies is that their store should pay lower property taxes since the property would not be worth much if the store were to close, so the taxes should be calculated accordingly.

If the tax tribunal agrees, and it has been agreeing, then the big box store ends up paying less in property taxes to the local unit of government.

The loss of tax revenue to local communities in the Upper Peninsula is said to hurt their ability to fund services such as law enforcement, libraries and local road maintenance.