Bill
HB 4443
Imposes a new disabled veteran’s homestead specific tax starting 2026, reducing tax by VA disability percentage on exempt homesteads and mirroring general tax collection rules.
Status & procedural timeline
- Introduced March 11, 2025; House introduced/first read May 6, 2025.
- Passed the House (read 3rd time, amended, engrossed) May 15, 2025.
- Bill includes a tie-bar: it does not take effect unless HB 4444 of the 103rd Legislature is also enacted.
- If enacted, the new specific tax would begin January 1, 2026.
Purpose / intent
- Establish a new annual specific tax on certain homestead property owned and used by disabled veterans or their surviving spouses that are otherwise exempt from general ad valorem property taxes under section 7b of the Michigan General Property Tax Act.
- Provide mechanisms for assessment, collection, disbursement, reporting and delinquency treatment of that specific tax.
Key provisions
- Definitions: adopts existing statutory definitions for “disabled veteran,” “principal residence,” “surviving spouse of a disabled veteran,” “taxable value,” and “commission” (State Tax Commission).
- Assessor duties: local assessors shall continue to determine the value and taxable value of exempt homestead property annually as of December 31.
- Levy: beginning Jan 1, 2026, a “disabled veteran’s homestead specific tax” is levied on properties qualifying for the disabled-veteran homestead exemption.
- Tax calculation:
- Multiply the mills that would be assessed if the property were subject to general ad valorem taxes by the property’s taxable value.
- For principal residences, the owner may claim an exemption for the portion attributable to school operating millage if they have claimed the section 7cc exemption (i.e., school operating portion may be excluded).
- Discount the calculated amount by one of:
- 100% (no tax) if the exemption is based on certain statutory categories of disability (section 7b(5)(a)(ii) or (iii));
- 100% if the veteran qualified under section 7b(5)(a)(i) and the VA disability rating is 100%;
- otherwise, by the VA disability severity rating (expressed as a percentage) for veterans under section 7b(5)(a)(i) with ratings less than 100%.
- Payment and disbursement:
- The tax is payable on the same schedule and to the same collecting officers as other property taxes.
- Collections are disbursed to the state and local taxing units at the same times and in the same proportions as general property tax collections.
- Collecting officers must report disbursements to the State Tax Commission on a commission-provided form.
- Delinquency: unpaid specific taxes are subject to forfeiture, foreclosure and sale in the same manner as delinquent general property taxes.
- Proration: calculation is subject to proration rules found in section 7b(3)–(4) of the General Property Tax Act.
Who is affected
- Disabled veterans and surviving spouses who currently qualify for the homestead exemption under section 7b: their exempt homesteads would be subject to this new specific tax (reduced according to VA disability rating or statutory categories).
- Local school districts, counties, municipalities and other taxing units: would receive disbursements from the specific tax in the same relative shares as general property tax revenues, potentially changing revenue flows.
- Local assessors and tax collecting officers: new reporting and collection duties.
Notes / fiscal implication
- The bill reintroduces a tax liability tied to taxable value for homesteads that were otherwise exempt—revenue to taxing units will vary by local millage, property taxable value, and the veteran’s VA disability rating.
- Effectiveness is contingent on enactment of HB 4444 (tie-bar).
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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