JOSEPH KASBERG V YPSILANTI TWP
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
JOSEPH KASBERG,
FOR PUBLICATION
Petitioner-Appellant,
and
NATIONAL CHURCH RESIDENCES OF WIN
YPSILANTI,
Appellant,
v
No. 287682
Michigan Tax Tribunal
LC No. 00-338289
YPSILANTI TOWNSHIP,
Respondent-Appellee.
Advance Sheets Version
Before: MARKEY, P.J., and BANDSTRA and MURRAY, JJ.
BANDSTRA, J.
Appellants, the National Church Residences of Win Ypsilanti, MI (National), a nonprofit
housing concern, and one of its officers, Joseph Kasberg, appeal as of right the August 29, 2008,
order of the Michigan Tax Tribunal (MTT) dismissing an appeal of appellee Ypsilanti
Township’s tax assessment of certain real property. Appellants assert that appellee wrongfully
determined the property was not exempt from taxation under MCL 125.1415a. The hearing
officer granted appellee’s motion for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(4) on the
ground that the MTT lacked jurisdiction because the claimed exemption is a creature of the
state’s police power under the State Housing Development Authority Act, MCL 125.1401 et
seq., not of the General Property Tax Act, MCL 211.1 et seq. We reverse.
Appellants filed this appeal with the MTT, arguing appellee wrongfully denied a property
tax exemption known as a “payment in lieu of taxes” (PILOT) pursuant to the State Housing
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Development Authority (SHDA) Act. MCL 125.1415a.1 Appellants assert that National is “a
non-profit charitable corporation, which makes it PILOT eligible.” Appellee moved in the MTT
for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(4) on the ground that the MTT lacked
jurisdiction and asserting that the PILOT exemption is a creature of the state’s police power, not
of the General Property Tax Act, MCL 211.1 et seq. The hearing officer agreed with appellee,
so he granted summary disposition and dismissed the case.
Whether the MTT has jurisdiction2 is a question of law that we review de novo. W A
Foote Mem Hosp v Dep’t of Pub Health, 210 Mich App 516, 522; 534 NW2d 206 (1995). We
note that a court must be vigilant in respecting the limits of its jurisdiction. Fox v Univ of Mich
Bd of Regents, 375 Mich 238, 242; 134 NW2d 146 (1965). This is because any actions of a court
regarding a matter over which it lacks jurisdiction are void. Id.
The Legislature has granted the MTT “exclusive and original jurisdiction” over certain
proceedings, including the following:
(a) A proceeding for direct review of a final decision, finding, ruling,
determination, or order of an agency relating to assessment, valuation, rates,
special assessments, allocation, or equalization, under the property tax laws of
this state.
1
If a housing project owned by a nonprofit housing corporation, consumer
housing cooperative, limited dividend housing corporation, mobile home park
corporation, or mobile home park association is financed with a federally-aided or
authority-aided mortgage or advance or grant from the authority, then, except as
provided in this section, the housing project is exempt from all ad valorem
property taxes imposed by this state or by any political subdivision, public body,
or taxing district in which the project is located. The owner of a housing project
eligible for the exemption shall file with the local assessing officer a notification
of the exemption, which shall be in an affidavit form as provided by the authority.
The completed affidavit form first shall be submitted to the [SHDA] for
certification by the [SHDA] that the project is eligible for the exemption. The
owner then shall file the certified notification of the exemption with the local
assessing officer before November 1 of the year preceding the tax year in which
the exemption is to begin. [MCL 125.1415a(1).]
2
This is the only issue before us. We note that much of our dissenting colleague’s discussion
has to do with the merits of appellant’s arguments, not with the jurisdiction of the MTT to review
the appeal. We express no opinion whether appellants were entitled to and should have been
granted certification of exemption from taxation under the PILOT program by SHDA nor the
merits of appellants’ MTT appeal in light of the absence of such PILOT certification.
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(b) A proceeding for a refund or redetermination of a tax levied under the
property tax laws of this state. [MCL 205.731(a) and (b) (emphases added).]
In other words, the MTT has “exclusive and original jurisdiction” over any “proceeding for
direct review of a final decision . . . relating to assessment . . . under the property tax laws of this
state.” MCL 205.731(a). Obviously, this case involves an assessment imposed under the
property tax laws of Michigan and, applying the straightforward statutory language, the MTT has
exclusive and original jurisdiction.
Arguing otherwise, appellee relies on dictum from Wikman v City of Novi, 413 Mich 617;
322 NW2d 103 (1982), as well as Beattie v East China Charter Twp, 157 Mich App 27; 403
NW2d 490 (1987). Wikman actually determined that the MTT had jurisdiction over the matter at
issue, special assessments imposed for a road paving project in the city of Novi. Wikman, 413
Mich at 626, 630-631. The Court reasoned that, because the city was granted power and
authority to levy the special assessments by the Legislature through the property tax laws, the
MTT had jurisdiction to review them. Id. at 636. The dispositive question under Wikman is
whether the assessment at issue here was imposed “under the property tax laws” in the sense that
appellee’s power to impose the tax was granted by the property tax laws. That is clearly the
case, and, therefore, the MTT has jurisdiction.
Further, we note that the Wikman Court contrasted the case before it and those involving
“special assessments [that] are clearly not related to property taxes” like assessments “exacted
through the state’s police power as part of the government’s efforts to protect society’s health
and welfare” or “special assessments . . . collected in connection with a regulatory program to
defray the cost of such regulation . . . .” Id. at 635. The assessment at issue here was imposed
under the property tax laws, not some other authority; it is not within the category of cases
declared to be outside the jurisdictional rule established by Wikman.
While noting that Beattie is not binding upon us, MCR 7.215(J), appellee nonetheless
argues that its reasoning is persuasive. Appellee reads Beattie as meaning that, even though a tax
assessment has been imposed under the authority of the property tax laws, the MTT is divested
of jurisdiction if the propriety of that imposition depends on the availability of an exemption
created by some other law, like the SHDA Act here.
As appellants point out, however, this Beattie reasoning cannot prevail over either
Wikman or the clear and unambiguous language of the statute. The statute does not limit the
MTT’s jurisdiction to cases where provisions of the property tax laws are to be exclusively or
primarily interpreted. Instead, as Wikman concluded, the MTT has exclusive and original
jurisdiction as to the imposition of taxes by agencies operating under the authority of the
property tax laws. There is no “except” clause for cases where other laws might limit that
authority or exempt taxpayers from tax liability. See In re Petition of Wayne Co Treasurer for
Foreclosure, 286 Mich App 108, 111; 777 NW2d 108 (2009) (“The Tax Tribunal has
jurisdiction under MCL 205.731(a) to determine whether a taxpayer is entitled to a property tax
exemption because the determination relates to an assessment.”); MCL 205.735a(3) (The MTT
has jurisdiction regarding the “exemption of property” from an assessment as long as a protest
has been filed before the Board of Review.) As this panel has recently noted, the MTT has been
granted exclusive jurisdiction to decide all sorts of statutory and constitutional questions that
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might impact the propriety of taxation imposed under the authority of the property tax laws.
Michigan’s Adventure, Inc v Dalton Twp, 287 Mich App 151; 782 NW2d 806 (2010).
We reverse and remand for further proceedings in the MTT. No costs should be taxed, a
public question being at issue. We do not retain jurisdiction.
/s/ Richard A. Bandstra
/s/ Christopher M. Murray
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