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SCOTTVILLE – Recent changes in personal property tax laws will mean an anticipated loss of $6,700 for Scottville, starting in 2014. Gov. Rick Snyder recently signed the Personal Property Tax Elimination bill which means businesses with a taxable value of less than $40,000 will be exempt from paying personal property taxes.
The bill also means personal property tax for manufacturing will be phased out beginning in 2016 and all personal property taxes will be eliminated by 2023.
“There are provisions in the law to reimburse local communities based on essential services like police, ambulance, fire,” City Manager Amy Williams stated in her notes pre-city commission meeting report. “However, there are still no hard facts around exactly what this means. There is a part of the legislation that states units whose exempt personal property taxable value is less than 2.5% will not be reimbursed. At this time if the calculations we have are correct our taxable value percentage is 1.63% meaning we would not be eligible for reimbursement on essential services.
“It is my understanding that the $6,700 loss starting in 2014 is not eligible for reimbursement anyway; it is the larger amounts starting in 2016 that would be eligible for reimbursement if you meet the criteria. For Scottville the larger phase out amount would be a loss of $25,665 over the period of time and we likely won’t be eligible for reimbursement unless changes are made to the law.”
The Michigan Municipal League is still working on the issue with the governor’s office, Williams said. “So there is still time for changes to be made, but we will need to wait and see.”
The Scottville city commission will hold its first meeting of 2013 on Monday, Jan. 7 at 5:30 p.m.
At that time, the commission is expected to appoint two new members of the planning commission. Jonathon Hill and Scott Gordon, both residents of Reinberg Avenue, have applied to be on the planning commission. If they are appointed by the city commission, the planning commission will still be one member short. The remaining vacancy can be filled by a non-resident. Anyone interested in the appointment should contact Williams at city hall: 231-757-4729, 105 N. Main St. or citymanager@cityofscottville.org.
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