Section 1. Clerk to Certify to Assessor for Collection: All sums ordered in the annual appropriation bill in any year to be raised for the several general funds, or for other lawful purposes, and all sums ordered in said appropriation ordinance to be levied or assessed as special assessments (if any) as well as any and all special assessments authorized and directed, shall forthwith, upon adoption and confirmation, be certified by the City Clerk to the Assessor and shall be levied and collected upon the assessed valuation of all taxable property within the City, or within said special assessment district as the case may be.
Section 2. Assessment Annually, What Property Subject to: An assessment of all property in the City shall be made annually by the City Assessor, and the property subject to taxation for Municipal purposes shall be the same as for the State, County and school purposes under the general tax law.
Section 3. When Assessment Roll Made: On or before the first Monday in May of each year the City Assessor shall make and complete an assessment roll of the City upon which he shall set down the names of every person liable to be taxed in the City, and a description of all the real property and the aggregate amount of all personal property liable under the laws of the State to taxation in the City, and the name of the owner, agent, or person liable to pay taxes thereon. If known, and shall set down in such roll the valuation of such property at its true cash value, on such basis as may hereafter be provided by general law, placing the value of the real and personal property in separate columns; provided that the description of personal property on said roll may be made by using the word “Personal” except in cases where the general law requires the kind of personal property assessed to be designated upon the roll. Upon making said assessment roll the Assessor shall be governed by all the provisions of the general law for the assessment of property in townships. All personal property found in the City may be assessed therein, whether the owner thereof resides in the City or elsewhere.
Section 4. Board of Review, Composition and Quorum: The Board of Review shall consist of the Mayor, the City Assessor and the two elected members of the Board. They shall review the assessment roll of the City and a majority of said Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
Section 5. Board of Review, When Meet, Powers of: The said Board of Review shall meet on the third Monday in May of each year at the Council chamber at nine o’clock in the forenoon and shall continue in session at least two days successively and at least eight hours each day, during which time any person or persons desiring so to do, may examine said assessment roll and may show cause if any exists, why the valuation thereof should be changed, and the Board shall forthwith consider and act upon said petition or request and their decision shall be final. A decision of the majority of all members of said Board upon all questions shall govern.
They may examine on oath any person or persons touching on the matter of his, her or their assessment, or petition, or request, and the chairman or any member may administer oaths. They shall keep a record of their proceedings and of all changes made in said roll, and the amount added to or deducted from the total valuation shall be entered upon said record, which shall be deposited with the City Clerk.
The City Clerk shall act as Clerk of the Board of Review. The Board shall select one of their number as Chairman.
Notice of Time of Meeting: The City Clerk shall give notice of the time of meeting of said Board of Review and of the place of holding the same, at least one week prior to the time of meeting, by publishing a notice thereof in a newspaper of general circulation in said City and also by posting the same in three public places in said City.
Assessment Roll Confirmed: The roll as prepared by the Assessor shall stand as approved and adopted as the act of the Board of Review when and as changed as herein provided.
After said Board shall have completed the revision of said roll the City Clerk shall endorse and sign a statement upon the roll to the effect that the same is the general assessment roll for the City for the year in which it has been prepared, as approved by said Board. Such statement may be made in the following form, viz:
(Form of Certificate)
STATE OF MICHIGAN
County of Genesee, ss.
I hereby certify that the Board of Review of the City of Grand Blanc has reviewed, equalized and corrected the within assessment roll and has deducted from (or added to, as the case may be) dollars from (or to, as the case be) the valuation of the real estate and personal property made by the Assessor, and has determined the aggregate value of such real estate to be $ and the aggregate value of the personal estate to be $ for the year A.D. .
Dated .
City Clerk
Upon the completion of such roll and its endorsement in manner aforesaid, it shall be returned to the Assessor and shall be conclusively presumed by all courts and tribunals to be valid and shall not be set aside except for causes mentioned in the general laws of the State relating to the assessment of property and the levy and collection of taxes thereon. The omission of such endorsement, however, shall not affect the validity of any such roll.
Section 6. Blanket Authority of Board of Review: Said Board of Equalization and Review shall have the same power and perform the same duties in all respects as boards of review in townships in reviewing and correcting assessments made by the supervisors of townships, except as in this Charter otherwise provided.
Section 7. Assessor to Spread Tax: After confirmation of that assessment roll and after passage of the annual appropriation ordinance, and certification thereof to the assessor, as in Section 7 of Chapter 19 and Section 5 of this chapter provided, and before the second Monday in June, the City Assessor shall apportion the several taxes to be raised in said City, except school taxes, according and in proportion to the equalized valuation entered by the Board of Review and Equalization in the assessment roll of the City. Such taxes shall be entered in separate columns with appropriate headings. The total of all taxes assessed against any one valuation or parcel of property shall be added and carried out in the last column under the right hand of such roll. The City Assessor shall carefully foot the several columns of valuation and taxes and make a detailed statement thereof to the City Clerk, and said Clerk shall immediately charge the amount of taxes to the City Treasurer.
Section 8. Tax Roll Certified to Treasurer: The City Assessor shall thereupon prepare a copy of said assessment roll with the taxes assessed as hereinbefore provided, and annex thereto a warrant signed by the City Clerk commanding the City Treasurer to collect the several sums mentioned in the last column of such roll not less than thirty nor more than sixty days from the date of such warrant, and deliver said tax roll and warrant to the City Treasurer on or before the second Monday in June. The said warrant shall authorize and command the Treasurer, in case any person named in the assessment roll shall neglect or refuse to pay his tax, to levy the same by distress and sale of goods and chattels of such person, and the said Treasurer shall have the same power and authority to enforce the collection of said taxes by seizure and sale of personal property, or by suit, as is conferred upon township treasurers by the general tax law. This roll shall be known as the “City Tax Roll” and shall be a duplicate copy of the assessment roll prepared for school, State and County taxation after the same has been reviewed, but before the taxes have been spread thereon. Said warrant may be renewed from time to time by order of the Council, and for such time as the Council may direct; provided, that the time shall not be extended later than October 31 of any year.
Section 9. Office Hours of the Treasurer: Upon receiving such tax roll and warrant, the City Treasurer shall proceed to collect such taxes; and to receive the payment of taxes, he shall remain in his office at least one day in each week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. throughout the tax collection period, and at such other time as the Council may prescribe, and shall give notice of such days by publication in a newspaper published and circulating in the City.
Section 10. When Taxes Due and Collection Fee: Taxes so assessed on the City tax roll shall become due and payable on July 1 in each year, except as conditionally authorized by Section 8 of Chapter 21 hereof. Taxes paid before August 31 shall be paid with one percent fee or penalty: taxes paid thereafter may be paid with a two percent fee or penalty: taxes remaining unpaid after October 31, shall be returned as delinquent. Said fee shall belong to the City and shall be paid into the general or contingent fund.
Section 11. Treasurer to Give Notice Taxes Due: The City Treasurer shall give six days notice to the taxpayers of the City that such roll has been delivered to him, by publication of such notice in a newspaper published in said City at least six days before July 1, which notice shall be sufficient demand for the payment of all taxes on said roll; and that payment therein specified may be made to him at any time up to and including August 31 with one percent therefor. Provided, that the failure to give the notice specified in this section for the payment of such tax shall not invalidate the said tax nor release the persons assessed from the penalty herein specified.
Section 12. The taxes thus assessed shall, on July 1, and on such other date as provided under Section 8, Chapter 21, become at once a debt to the City from the person to whom they are assessed, and the amounts assessed on any interest in real estate shall on the said day become a lien upon such real property, and the lien for such amount, and for all interest and charges thereon, shall continue until payment thereof; and all personal taxes shall also be a lien on all personal property of such person so assessed from and after the said day in each year and shall take precedence of any sale, assessment, chattel mortgage, levy or other lien on such personal property executed or made after said day, except where such property is actually sold in the regular course of trade.
Section 13. General Tax Law Adopted: All such taxes shall be collected on or before October 31 in each year, and all provisions of the general tax law in relation to the making of the assessment roll and the levying, collection and payment of such taxes, are hereby adopted so far as the same are applicable.
Section 14. Treasurer to Certify Delinquents: If the City Treasurer shall be unable to collect any of the taxes upon such roll assessed on real property before October 31 in each year, he shall make a statement of the same, with a full and perfect description of such property with the taxes upon each parcel thereof, which statement shall be verified by his affidavit that such taxes remain unpaid, and that he has not upon diligent inquiry been able to secure any goods or chattels liable to pay such sum whereon he could levy the same; and he shall also make a statement showing the taxes upon personal property remaining unpaid, and the names of the persons against whom they are assessed, and the amount against each, which statement he shall verify by his affidavit that the amount so mentioned as uncollected remains unpaid and that he has not been able after diligent inquiry, to discover any goods or chattels belonging to the persons liable to pay such sum wherein he could levy the same. He shall also make a statement showing the amount of all moneys collected by him on account of taxes on said roll, which statement shall be filed with the City Clerk. The Council shall direct the City Clerk to assess the annual roll for the State, County and school taxes with all such delinquent taxes so returned, with a penalty of six cents of each dollar of the sum total of taxes assessed and returned delinquent on each particular description of land or other property, and which penalty shall be carried out opposite to each particular description of land or other property in a column provided for that purpose, placing the aggregate sum of general taxes in the column headed “Delinquent City Taxes” and all unpaid special district assessments shall be placed in a column headed “Delinquent Special Assessment,” and the aggregate sum thereof, including the six percent penalty tax, shall be placed in the column headed “Total Delinquent City Taxes.”
Section 15. Roll to Board of Supervisors: The City Clerk shall keep the original assessment roll in his office until the annual meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Genesee County and he shall then present such rolls to said Board, which roll shall be the assessment roll of the City for all taxation purposes whatever, except the levying of taxes to be collected in the months of July, August, September and October, as herein provided.
Section 16. School, State and County Tax Spread: On November 1, the City Assessor shall apportion and spread upon the tax roll all school, State and County Taxes, certified to him by the Board of Supervisors, delinquent City taxes, and such other taxes as are legally required to be spread upon the roll.
Section 17. Fall Tax Roll Certified to Treasurer: Within thirty days after November 1, the City Assessor shall deliver a certified copy of the above mentioned assessment roll to the City Treasurer to be filed in his office to which roll shall be annexed a warrant signed by the City Clerk and directed to the Treasurer, in all respects as near as may be as warrants to township treasurers for the collection of State, County and township taxes.
Section 18. Notice of Fall Tax: Upon receiving said tax roll as herein provided, the City Treasurer shall give notice to the tax payers of the City that such roll has been delivered to him, and that the taxes therein levied may be paid to him at his office at any time after December 1, up to and including January 9 next ensuing with a charge for collection of one percent, but that four percent collection fee will be charged and collected upon all taxes remaining unpaid on January 10. Said notice shall be given by publishing the same in a newspaper published in said City ten days before December 1. But any defect in said notice, or omission to comply with the provisions of this section, shall not invalidate said tax roll, or any measure thereafter to be taken to enforce collection of the taxes thereon.
Section 19. City Treasurer has Authority of Township Treasurer: For collection of all taxes remaining unpaid on the general tax roll on January 10, the City Treasurer shall proceed in the same manner as township treasurers are required by law to do for the collection of taxes in townships, and shall for that purpose have all the power and authority conferred by law upon township treasurers for such purposes. And it is hereby made mandatory upon the City Treasurer to exhaust all legal remedies for the collection of unpaid personal taxes before the return thereon.
Section 20. Pay County Funds to County Treasurer-General Authority: The said City Treasurer shall pay to the County Treasurer all moneys payable to him at the same time and in the same manner as is required of township treasurers by the general tax law, and he shall make return of delinquent taxes to the County Treasurer according to the general law of the State relating to township treasurers, and said general law shall govern all things relating to the levy and collection of taxes not herein otherwise provided for.
Section 21. Delinquents Returned to County Treasurer. If the City Treasurer shall be unable to collect any taxes on his roll as assessed on real property, he shall make return thereof to the County Treasurer, and shall also make statements showing the taxes upon personal property remaining unpaid in the same manner as is required of township treasurers by the general tax law.