Michigan property owners were hoping for some tax relief due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | Shutterstock
Michigan property owners were hoping for some tax relief due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | Shutterstock
Michigan businesses and homeowners will receive their property tax bills as usual this summer, but this year has been anything but business as usual because of the COVID-19 shutdown.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed a bill passed by the Legislature that would have extended the deadline on summer property tax bills.
“The summer property tax bill is a significant expense for businesses and individuals all across Michigan; sometimes it’s the largest annual expense they pay,” Dan Papineau, the Michigan Chamber’s director of tax policy and regulatory affairs, told the Steve Gruber Show on July 13. “So to give them a little more time to make this obligation just makes sense.”
Many businesses were forced to close for several months because of COVID-19.
“It’s not surprising to think that you won't have the money to pay this huge bill,” he said. “So to spread that bill out over six months -- the legislation would have provided up to 11 months of relief -- would have helped these businesses keep their doors open, recover quicker, which would in turn would've helped our economy bounce back," Papineau told Gruber.
Whitmer’s veto “left all these people with this huge bill staring them in the face,” Papineau said on the podcast. “It’s really frustrating and it’s incredibly disappointing.”
Michigan’s business community is facing “unprecedented challenges” according to Papineau.
“Cash flow, liquidity are among the most pressing,” he told Gruber. “When you are looking at a $50,000 tax bill, No. 1, you probably don’t have the money to pay it because you haven’t made any money because you've been closed due to the governor’s shutdown orders. But also, that $50,000 can go to costs to reopen, that can go to hiring people, that can go to safety measures. It can go to so many things that we need right now."
The legislation vetoed by Whitmer passed the House unanimously and had only four opposing votes in the Senate, Papineau pointed out.
“The Legislature recognized that the summer property tax bill was going to be a big problem for both businesses and individuals,” Papineau said on the podcast. “For the governor to come in and veto it, I am just shocked.”
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