HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.
![handle is hein.sag/sagmi0141 and id is 1 raw text is:
STATE OF MICHIGAN
BILL SCHUETTE, ATTORNEY GENERAL
OPEN MEETINGS ACT: Audit of a local assessing district is not
subject to Open Meetings Act.
The audit of a local assessing district's assessment roll on behalf of the State Tax Commission (STC) under MCL 211.10f(1) of
the General Property Tax Act, MCL 211.1 et seq., is not subject to the Open Meetings Act (OMA) MCL 15.261 et seq.
However, the STC, as a public body, is subject to the OMA when it deliberates or decides to assume jurisdiction over a local
assessing district's assessment roll under MCL 211.10f(1).
Opinion No. 7288
March 4, 2016
The Honorable Edward McBroom
State Representative
The Capitol
Lansing, MI 48909
You ask whether an Audit of Minimum Assessing Requirements (AMAR) is subject to the Open Meetings Act
(OMA), 1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 et seq.
An AMAR is an audit of a local assessing district that takes place under the authority of the State Tax
Commission (STC). The STC has general supervision of the administration of the tax laws of the state.
MCL 209.104. The STC has the duty to exercise general supervision over the supervisors and other
assessing officers of this state, and to take such measures as will secure the enforcement of the provisions of
the General Property Tax Act (GPTA), 1893 PA 206, MCL 211.1 et seq. MCL 211.150(1). Consistent with
that duty, the STC shall render such assistance and give such advice and counsel to the assessing officers of
the state as they may deem necessary and essential to the proper administration of the laws governing
assessments and the levying of taxes in this state. MCL 209.104. All assessing officers and other public
officers have a duty to comply with the STC's requests for information and to provide assistance to the STC in
carrying out its duties. Id. In addition, the STC or its authorized representatives shall have.., access to all
books, papers, documents, statements and accounts on file or of record in counties, townships and
municipalities, and shall have authority to take possession of any assessment roll for use in carrying out the
provisions of [the GPTA] .... MCL 211.148.
The STC has jurisdiction to determine whether a local assessing district's assessment roll, certified assessor,
and board of review are in substantial compliance with the requirements of the GPTA. Subsection l0f(1),
provides:
If a local assessing district does not have an assessment roll that has been certified by a
qualified certified assessing officer, or if a certified assessor or a board of review for a local tax
collecting unit is not in substantial compliance with the provisions of this act, the state tax
commission shall assume jurisdiction over the assessment roll and provide for the preparation of
a certified roll. [MCL 211.10f(1).]
If the STC assumes jurisdiction it may order the county tax or equalization department to prepare the roll;
provide for the use of state employees to prepare the roll; or order the local assessing unit to contract with a
commercial appraisal firm to conduct an appraisal of the property in the assessing unit. Id. Before ordering a
local assessing unit to contract for an appraisal, the STC must consider the quality of the tax maps and
appraisal records required by section l0e as part of its investigation of the facts .... Id. And after](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.sag/sagmi0141&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)