Posted: 13 Feb 2011 12:58 AM PST

Property Tax Appeal Seminar: Conducted by Kelly Sweeney, CEO of Coldwell Banker Weir Manuel, Wed. 6:30-9:30 p.m. at the Birmingham Community House, 380 S. Bates. RSVP to events@cbweirmanuel.com.

Finance seminar: Learn how to finance your purchase and rehab projects in and around Detroit. Hear from an expert in the lending business, Trent Dalrymple, who has more than 25 years of experience. Real estate and investment professionals are welcome. Seating is limited so please call 248-547-3006, or sign up at www.metro-mi.com. These free one-hour seminars will be held on the first and third Thursday of the month at the office of Metro Mortgage Investments, 26711 Woodward Ave., Suite 301, Huntington Woods, from 6-7 p.m.

Real estate investments: Real Estate Investor Association of Wayne County meets monthly on the first Tuesday at the Holiday Inn, 17201 Northline Road, Southgate. $20 entrance fee for nonmembers to be applied toward annual membership. For more information, call 313-819-0919 or visit us at www.reiawaynecounty.org .

Understanding foreclosure and your alternatives: This weekly seminar outlines alternatives to a foreclosure/sheriff's sale and explains what a short sale is and what it means to you. 7-8 p.m. Thursdays. Keller Williams Realty, 31525 Twenty-three Mile Road, Chesterfield Township. Free. Call Kim Hammonds at 586-421-1598.

Buying/refinance seminars: Discuss options available to those looking to purchase a home or refinance their existing home. Receive $500 off closing costs. Contact Jeff Catullo, Amerisave Mortgage, at 586-214-4339 or e-mailcatullo@comcast.net.

Home selling: Learn about selling your home even if you owe more than its current market value, 6 p.m. Thursdays at 50429 Independence, Canton. Sponsored by Remerica Hometown One. Free. Call Terrance Green at 734-395-8346.

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Reverse-mortgage seminar: 6 p.m. Tuesdays at Colonial Mortgage, 33919 Plymouth in Livonia. Free. Call 800-260-5484.

Stop foreclosure: Avoid a sheriff's sale date and get your property sold. 6:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesdays at RE/MAX Acclaim, 31581 Gratiot in Roseville. Free. Call before you have missed three payments. 586-873-2431.

Careers in real estate

Free Career Seminars: Provided by Real Estate One.Seminars every Tuesday and Thursday at various times and locations throughout metro Detroit. For more information about the career seminars and pre-licensing class times, contact Carolyn Rico at crico@realestateone.com or 248-208-2950. Or complete a free interactive business plan to see whether a career in real estate is right for you. Go to www.michigancareerinrealestate.com .

Attend a free 59-minute career seminar 6:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month at Keller Williams Realty, 36642 Five Mile, Livonia. 734-266-9000.

KATHRYN PATTERSON COMPILES THIS LIST. CONTACT HER AT 313-222-6610 OR HOMECALENDAR@FREEPRESS.COM.

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Green: Keep PP tax on wind turbines

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 10:52 AM PST

UPPER THUMB — In regard to the elimination of the personal property tax, Sen. Mike Green says no matter what's proposed at the state level, he does not want to see the area lose tax revenue from wind turbines.

"That's going to be foremost on my mind during deliberations," he told the Tribune Thursday.

Green, who represents the 31st District, which includes Huron, Tuscola, Sanilac, Bay and Arenac counties, said he does not believe wind companies will get away with not paying taxes.

"There is discussion about different ways of getting local revenue for wind mills if the personal property tax gets written off," he said.

Green's comments came after Huron County commissioners on Tuesday expressed concerns about Senate Bill 34 (SB 34), which eliminates all personal property taxes. The concerns are two-fold. First, the county receives roughly $479,000 in personal property taxes businesses pay on equipment. That figure does not include the amount all levels of government — including schools, cities, villages and townships — collect in personal property taxes. That figure also does not include the $230,000 the county receives in personal property taxes from the area's wind farms.

Second, the only taxes from alternative energy systems (including wind turbines) that the county, local governments and schools receive is personal property tax.

If SB 34 becomes law, it means the area would lose all tax benefits it would receive from future wind developments, and benefits from the area's two existing wind developments will be no more once their respective Industrial Facilities Tax exemptions (IFTs) expire, Huron County Commissioner David Peruski, who chairs the Finance Committee, said earlier this week.

Currently, the county receives about $230,000 in personal property taxes from the area's two wind farms. That's not including the amount local units receive. Last year, wind turbines in just Bingham Township paid more than $514,000 to local units, Huron County Treasurer Sherry Learman told the Tribune earlier this week.

If SB 34 were approved, the only ones to benefit from wind developments in Huron County would be landowners with wind leases.

Senator: Entire area should benefit from turbines

Green told the Tribune wind developments should benefit the whole community because "they have to look at the turbines."

"I will not support SB 34 in its form as it is right now," he said, noting he's spoken with the bill's sponsor, Mike Noffs (R-Calhoun), to keep abreast of the bill's progress. As of now, there have been some hearings, and it's still in the Senate Committee on Finance.

" ... This is a prime example of a revenue stream that needs to look at," Green said. "Most people don't like to look at the wind mills — to some people, it's money in their pocket, to others, it's just an eye sore. But we're able to temper the eyesore with revenue to the county that will help the whole county. I understand that, and I know that we are going to look at that. And I can't tell you for sure, but we're going to deliberate very carefully before we make any decision on (the) personal property tax."

Green favors conditionally eliminating PPT

"I guess you can say any tax is unfair, but this tax seems to be more hurtful," Green told the Tribune.

He noted the personal property tax is hurtful to small business and larger companies, and it's more hurtful than the Single Business Tax or Michigan Business Tax.

"I knew it would be an issue when I came," said Green, who added he didn't campaign supporting eliminating the personal property tax, "but it's always been my thought that it's one of the most unfair taxes."

Green said he sees both sides of the issue, from the business side and from the government side, as government lives on the revenue and business pays the revenue.

He said he sees local communities that will have a windfall of personal property tax from windmills and solar energy farms, and he's "very concerned about them losing that revenue."

So Green favors eliminating the personal property tax for businesses that have 25 or fewer employees, he said.

"And I also say that we need to find a place to replace the revenue," Green added.

Other bills proposed to eliminate PPT

Since Tuesday's discussion of SB 34, Commissioner John Bodis told the Tribune he's found another proposed bill, House Bill 4102 (HB 4102), that's been introduced in efforts to eliminate personal property tax.

That bill, which was introduced by Rep. Mark Meadows (D-East Lansing), was accompanied by a separate bill, House Bill 4103 (HB 4103), titled, "The Personal Property Specific Tax Act." The proposed act has certain provisions that give local schools and governments the ability to not exempt alternative energy personal property from paying personal property taxes.

Local units of government and schools would have to adopt a resolution to not exempt the alternative energy personal property from the taxes collected in the respective local tax collecting unit within 60 days after receipt of the certification of alternative energy personal property, according to the proposed act.

Bodis, who chairs the Huron County Board of Commissioners Legislative Committee, said earlier this week that just because a bill has been introduced, does not mean it will become law. He noted, however, he is keeping a close eye on things as they are proposed in Lansing.

Green told the Tribune there are a lot of bill flying around Lansing, and a number of them will make people ask, "What's going down there?" But the legislators will get their cue from what Gov. Rick Snyder is proposing in his budget, which he will release Thursday.

As a result, Green said, he wouldn't get too alarmed over some bills trickling in Lansing because what Snyder does on Thursday will take precedence over everything.

Kate Hessling • (989) 269-6461 • khessling@hearstnp.com

The Huron Daily Tribune reserves the right to reject any comment for any reason, including, but not limited to, language that is abusive, accusatory, threatening or unnecessarily offensive; comments containing rumors and other gross deviations from the truth; comments that are off topic; and, multiple posting from the same IP address that are attributed to different screen names. .

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Seniors face another year without property tax exemption

Posted: 11 Feb 2011 05:18 PM PST

Once again, 75-year-old Beverly Roby and about 20,000 other local seniors aren't getting a break on their property taxes.

"The discount helps out a lot, especially when you're on a fixed income. It would have helped me pay my utility bills this winter. But now, I have to pay that extra $400," Roby, a 47-year Colorado Springs resident, said last week, while taking a break from playing cards at the Colorado Springs Senior Center.

State lawmakers suspended the voter-approved Senior Property Tax Homestead Exemption program for the 2010 assessment year, due to state budget problems. The Legislature also did not approve the appropriation, which amounts to about $100 million annually, for the 2009 tax cycle.

The El Paso County Assessor's office has fielded more than 2,550 calls in recent weeks, as homeowners received their 2010 property tax bills and realized the tax break was not there, said Assessor Mark Lowderman.

If paid in two installments, property taxes are due Feb. 28 and June 15. If the full amount is paid, the due date is April 30.

The program essentially cuts property taxes in half for seniors who qualify. Specifically, it reduces the assessed value of the property by 50 percent, up to $100,000. The state pays the tax on the exempted value. So if a home is valued at $100,000, the senior would pay taxes on a $50,000 valuation.

To qualify, seniors must be 65 years old as of Jan. 1 of the tax year, have lived in the home as a primary residence for 10 consecutive years and occupy the home as a primary residence. Surviving spouses of qualified seniors also can take advantage of the program.

About 20,000 El Paso County residents are signed up to participate, Lowderman said, collectively qualifying for about $9 million in tax relief.

Seniors who have participated in previous years remain enrolled and don't need to reapply, he said. And his office continues to take applications for seniors who want to join the program.

"It's a high dollar reimbursement by the state, and we all know the state has budget woes." Lowderman said. "But at the same time, they need to make our seniors a priority again. People are upset, and I don't blame them; their tax bill was $500 and now it's $1,000."

"It's extremely important," said 85-year-old Gwen Schnackenberg. "I don't know if I can afford my taxes this year."

The exemption program began in 2001. It was available to qualified seniors in 2001 and 2002, suspended from 2003 to 2005, and available again from 2006 through 2008.

As a constitutional amendment, the program cannot be abolished, but the General Assembly reviews the funding each year during the state budgeting process and has the authority to temporarily halt it.

State Sen. John Morse of Colorado Springs said lawmakers, dealing with millions of dollars in cuts to the state budget, can't afford to reinstate the tax exemption.

"Our property taxes are among the lowest in the country," he said. "I know it stinks to have to pay property taxes until the day you die, but the reality is we all have to pay taxes until the day we die. Because we continue to use services until the day we die. I wish there was something different we could do, but we don't have $93 million to bring that program back."

Gazette reporter John Schroyer contributed to this report.

Property Tax

Sunday, February 13, 2011

“Real estate group seminar teaches how to reduce property tax bills” plus 2 more

“Real estate group seminar teaches how to reduce property tax bills” plus 2 more

Careers in real estate

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