Power to Tax: Tax Limit:
Section 11.1. The City shall have the power to assess taxes and levy and collect rents, tolls and excises. Exclusive of any levies authorized by statute to be made beyond Charter tax rate limitations, the annual ad valorem tax levy shall not exceed one and four-fifths percent of the assessed value of all real and personal property subject to taxation in the City.
Subject of Taxation:
Exemptions:
Tax Day:
Preparation of the Assessment Roll:
Section 11.5. On or before the first Monday in March in each year the Assessor shall prepare and certify an assessment roll of all property in the city subject to taxation. Such roll shall be prepared in accordance with statute and this Charter. Values shall be estimated according to recognized methods of systematic assessment. The records of the Assessor shall show separate figures for the value of the land, of the building improvements and of personal property; and the method of estimating all such values shall be as nearly uniform as possible.
On or before the first Monday in March the Assessor shall give by first class mail, a notice of any increase over the previous year in the assessed value of any property or of the addition of any property to the roll to the owner as shown by such assessment roll. The failure to give any notice or of the owner to receive it shall not invalidate any assessment roll or assessment thereon.
Board of Review:
Section 11.6. The Board of Review shall be composed of three freeholders of the city who shall meet the eligibility requirements for elective officers contained in Section 6.1 and who during their term of office shall not be city officers or employees. The appointment to a city office or the election to a city office by a member of the Board of Review shall constitute resignation from the Board of Review. The appointment of members of such Board shall be based upon their knowledge and experience in property valuation. Three members of the Board shall be appointed by the Commission in January, 1959, one of said members to serve for one year, another to serve for two years and another to serve for three years, and in each January thereafter one person shall be appointed to the Board of Review to fill the vacancy of the member whose term expires that year. The Commission shall fix the compensation of the members of the Board. The Board of Review shall annually in February select its own chairman for the ensuing year, and the Assessor shall be Clerk of the Board and shall be entitled to be heard at its sessions, but shall have no vote.
Meetings of the Board of Review:
Section 11.7. The Board of Review shall convene in its first session on the second Monday in March of each year at such time of day and place as shall be designated by the Commission and shall remain in session for at least eight hours for the purpose of considering and correcting the roll. In each case in which the assessed value of any property is increased over the amount shown on the assessment roll as prepared by the Assessor or any property is added to such roll by the Board, or the Board has resolved to consider at its second session such increasing of an assessment or the adding of any property to such roll, the Assessor shall give notice thereof to the owners as shown by such roll by first class letter mailed not later than the second day following the end of the first session of the Board. Such notice shall state the date, time, place and purpose of the second session of the Board. The failure to give any such notice or of the owner to receive it shall not invalidate any assessment roll or assessment thereon.
The Board of Review shall convene in its second session on the fourth Monday in March of each year at such time of day and place as shall be designated by the Commission and shall continue in session until all interested persons have had an opportunity to be heard, but in no case for less than six hours. At the second session, the Board may not increase any assessment or add any property to the rolls except in those cases which the Board resolved at its first session to consider such increase or addition at its second session.
Notice of Meetings:
Duties and Functions of Board of Review:
Section 11.9. For the purpose of revising and correcting assessments the Board of Review shall have the same powers and perform like duties in all respects as are by statute conferred upon and required of Boards of Review in townships, except as otherwise provided in this Charter. It shall hear the complaints of all persons considering themselves aggrieved by assessments, and if it shall appear that any person or properly has been wrongfully assessed or omitted from the roll, the Board shall correct the roll in such manner as it deems just. In all cases the roll shall be reviewed according to the facts existing on the tax day and no change in the status of any properly after said day shall be considered by the Board in making its decisions. Except as otherwise provided by statute, no person other than the Board of Review shall make or authorize any change upon, or additions or corrections to the assessment roll. It shall be the duty of the Assessor to keep a permanent record of all proceedings and to enter therein all resolutions and decisions of the Board.
Endorsement of Roll:
Section 11.10. After the Board of Review has completed its review of the assessment roll, and not later than the first Monday in April, the majority of its members shall endorse thereon and sign a statement to the effect that the same is the assessment roll of the city for the year in which it has been prepared. The omission of such endorsement shall not affect the validity of such roll.
Clerk to Certify Levy:
Section 11.11. Within three days after the Commission has adopted the budget for the ensuing year, the Clerk shall certify to the Assessor the total amount which the Commission determines shall be raised by general ad valorem tax. He shall also certify all amounts of current or delinquent special assessments and all other amounts which the Commission requires to be assessed, reassessed or charged upon any property or against any person.
City Tax Roll:
Section 11.12. After the Board of Review has completed its review of the assessment roll, the Assessor shall prepare a copy of assessment roll to be known as the “City Tax Roll”, and upon receiving the certification of the several amounts to be raised, as provided in Section 11.11, the Assessor shall spread upon said tax roll the several amounts determined by the Commission to be charged, assessed or reassessed against persons or property. He shall also spread the amounts of the general ad valorem city lax and school tax according to and in proportion to the several valuations set forth in said assessment roll. To avoid fractions in computation on any tax roll, the assessor may add to the amount of the several taxes to be raised not more than the amount prescribed by statute. Any excess created thereby on any tax roll shall belong to the city.
Tax Roll Certified for Collection:
Section 11.13. After spreading the taxes, the Assessor shall certify the tax roll and the Mayor shall annex his warrant thereto directing and requiring the Treasurer to collect prior to March 1st of the following year from the several persons named on said roll the several sums mentioned therein opposite their respective names as a tax or assessment and granting to him for the purpose of collecting the tax assessments and charges on said roll such powers and immunities necessary to collect same. On or before June 1st the roll shall be delivered to the Treasurer for collection.
Tax Lien on Property:
Section 11.14. On July first the taxes thus assessed shall become a debt due to the city from the persons to whom they are assessed, and the amounts assessed on any interest in real property shall become a lien upon such real property, for such amounts and for all interest and charges thereon, and all personal taxes shall become a first lien on all personal property of such persons so assessed. Such lien shall take precedence over all other claims, encumbrances and liens to the extent provided by statute and shall continue until such taxes, interest and charges are paid.
Taxes Due: Notification Thereof:
Section 11.15. City taxes shall be due on July first of each year. The Treasurer shall not be required to call upon the persons named in the city tax roll, nor to make personal demand for the payments of taxes, but he shall (a) publish, between June fifteenth and July first, notice of the time when said taxes will be due for collection and the penalties and fees for late payment of same, and (b) mail a bill to each person named in said roll, but in case of multiple ownership of property only one bill need be mailed.
Failure on the part of the Treasurer to publish said notice or mail such bills shall not invalidate the taxes on said tax roll nor release the person or property assessed from the penalties and fees provided in this chapter in case of late payment or non-payment of the same.
Interest on Late Payment of Taxes:
Section 11.16. All taxes paid on or before the thirty-first day of August shall be collected by the Treasurer without additional charge. On September first he shall add to all taxes paid thereafter four percent of the amount of said taxes and on the first day of October and of each succeeding month he shall add an additional one-half of one percent of said taxes that remain unpaid. Such interest shall not exceed six percent and shall belong to the city and constitute a charge and shall be a lien against the property to which the taxes themselves apply, collectable in the same manner as the taxes to which they are added. It is provided, however, that if delivery of the tax roll to the Treasurer, as provided in Section 11.13 is delayed for any reason by more than thirty days after June first, the application of the interest charge provided herein shall be postponed thirty days for the first thirty days of such delay and shall be postponed an additional thirty days for each additional thirty days, or major fraction thereof, of such delay.
Failure or Refusal to Pay Personal Property Tax:
Section 11.17. If any person, firm or corporation shall neglect or refuse to pay any personal property tax assessed to him or them by October first, the Treasurer shall collect the same by seizing the personal property of such person, firm or corporation to an amount sufficient to pay for such tax, fees and charges for subsequent sale, wherever the same may be found in the state, and from which seizure no property shall be exempt. He may sell the property seized to an amount sufficient to pay the taxes and all charges in accordance with statutory provisions. The Treasurer may, if otherwise unable to collect a tax on personal property, sue, in accordance with statute, the person, firm or corporation to whom it is assessed.
Delinquent Tax Roll to County Treasurer:
Section 11.18. All city taxes on real property remaining uncollected by the Treasurer on the first day of March following the date for returns by township treasurers of township, school and county Treasurer in the manner and with like effect as provided by statute for returns by township treasurers of township, school and County taxes. Such returns shall include all the additional assessments, charges and fees hereinbefore provided, which shall be added to the amount assessed in said tax roll against each property or person. The taxes thus returned shall be collected in the same manner as other taxes returned to the County Treasurer are collected, in accordance with statute, and shall be and remain a lien upon the property against which they are assessed until paid. If by change in statute or otherwise, the Treasurer of the County of Mason, is no longer charged with the collection of delinquent real property taxes, such delinquent taxes shall be collected in the manner then provided by statute for the collection of delinquent township, school and county taxes.
State, County and School Taxes:
Section 11.19. For the purpose of assessing and collecting taxes for state, county and school purposes, the city shall be considered the same as a township, and all provisions of statute relative to the collection of and accounting for such taxes shall apply. For these purposes the Treasurer shall perform the same duties and have the same powers as township treasurers under statute; Provided that nothing in this section shall deter the City Commission’s power to determine the Treasurer’s salary.