Summary — HB 4121 (adds Sec. 34f to Michigan’s General Property Tax Act, MCL 211.1–211.155)
Status: Introduced Feb. 25, 2025; read first time and referred to Committee on Government Operations.
Purpose
- Prohibits local units of government in Michigan from adopting or enforcing local property-tax “caps” on the gross dollar amount of revenue levied that operate by automatically reducing a fixed millage rate.
Key provisions
- New section 34f bars a local governmental unit from enacting or enforcing a local property tax cap on the gross dollar amount of revenue levied or raised annually if that cap "requires an automatic reduction on a fixed millage rate."
- If a local unit already has such a cap in effect on or after the bill’s effective date, that local cap is declared void and unenforceable; the local unit may not be required to reduce its millage rate because of that local cap.
- Definitions included in the provision:
- “Local governmental unit” = county, city, township, or village.
- “Local property tax” = ad valorem property tax levied by a local governmental unit under the General Property Tax Act.
- “Local property tax cap” = a fixed limitation on the gross dollar value of a local property tax levied or raised annually that the local unit imposes on its own taxing authority (by charter, ordinance, policy, rule, etc.). The definition expressly excludes limitations imposed by the Michigan Constitution or other state law.
Who/what would be affected
- Directly affects counties, cities, townships, and villages that have adopted or might adopt local revenue caps tied to automatic millage reductions.
- Indirectly affects taxpayers and local budgets: by prohibiting local rollback-style caps, local governments would retain the ability to levy the same millage rate without an automatic reduction when assessed values or taxable values change.
- Preserves state/constitutional caps: the bill does not alter limits imposed by the Michigan Constitution or existing state law.
Potential impacts and considerations
- Restores/maintains local taxing capacity by removing a mechanism (automatic millage reductions tied to a dollar cap) that could reduce gross property tax revenue.
- May limit a local government’s ability to self-impose stricter taxpayer protections via charter or ordinance and could prompt legal or political disputes over local control versus state preemption.
- The text does not state an effective date beyond “the effective date of the amendatory act”; it also does not provide implementation or transition mechanics beyond voiding existing local caps as described.
Procedural and sponsor information
- Introduced Feb. 25, 2025; read first time and referred to Committee on Government Operations.
- Introduced by Representative Amos O’Neal (bill text also lists multiple co-sponsors in the introduced version).
