Katz 3.pdf

Scott M Katz Petitioner V Township Of Fredonia Respondent · 26-003902-TT

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GRETCHEN WHITMER 

GOVERNOR 

STATE OF MICHIGAN 

DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS 

LANSING 

N 

RECEIVEDY) 

AUG 18 205 X 

MICHIGAN Tax TRIBUNAL 

MARLON I. BROWN, DPA 

DIRECTOR 

TranInfo:4606 

261453491 

08/19, 

Chik: 

261 

Ant: $125.00 

PROPERTY TAX APPEAL PETITION FQRM:TT KATZ 

VALUATION / UNCAPPING 

Do not use this form to appeal Classification, Principal Residence Exemption, Qualified Agricultural Exemption, Other 

Exemptions, Special Assessments, or Non-Property tax disputes. 

Pursuant to Tax Tribunal Rule (TTR) 279, you MUST submit a copy of the notice giving rise to the appeal (i.e., Board of 

Review Decision or other notice) with this petition, if applicable. 

If you do not submit this document, you may be held in 

default. 

Section 1: Petitioner’s Contact Information 

First Name 

M.I. 

Last Name/Company Name 

Scott 

M 

Katz 

Mailing Address (No., Street, P.O. Box or Rural Route) 

8371 15 1/2 Mile Road 

City or Town 

State 

ZIP Code 

Marshall 

Mi 

49068 

Telephone Number 269-275-4477 

Email Address (do not enter unless you want MTT to send all correspondence via email) 

Section 2: Petitioner’s Attorney/Authorized Representative’s Contact Information 

First Name 

ML 

Last Name 

Firm Name (if any) 

Mailing Address (No., Street, P.O. Box or Rural Route) 

City or Town 

State 

ZIP Code 

Telephone Number 

Email Address (do not enter unless you want MTT to send all correspondence via email) 

Section 3: Subject Property Information use the multiple parcel form for additional, contiguous parcels. 

How many parcels are you 

If you are appealing more than one parcel, are they contiguous or adjoining? 

appealing? 

[J ves* 

No** 

1 

**1f No, you must file separate appeals for each parcel 

Property Address (No., Street) 

No Physical Address / Vacant Land 

City or Town 

State 

ZIP Code 

eu Calhoun 

49068 

2%

STATE OF MICHIGAN 

GRETCHEN WHITMER 

DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS 

MARLON I. BROWN, DPA 

GOVERNOR 

LANSING 

DIRECTOR 

Section 4: Check which of the following you are appealing (check all that apply) 

True Cash and Taxable Value 

[J Taxable Value Only (calculation) 

[J uncapping of Taxable Value 

Section 5: Explain the Reason for this Appeal 

Petitioner invokes the appellate jurisdiction of the Tribunal under MCL 205.735a and 

MCL 211.53b to review and correct a Qualified Error of objective physical omission. 

Fredonia Township’s active tax roll logs an incorrect entry of 'ZERQO' (0.00) feet of road 

frontage for this parcel. This is not a subjective appraisal, valuation judgment, or local 

zoning dispute. 

It is a mechanical error of omission under MCL 211.53b(6)(d) and (e). 

This 5.3-acre tract possesses direct, physical linear frontage along 15 1/2 Mile Road, 

Marshall, MI. The Assessor stated during the JBOR that inputting road frontage is his 

personal prerogative in violation of the State Tax Commission Assessor's Manual 

enforced under MCL 211.10e, which requires the uniform, non-discretionary recording 

of physical land characteristics. Petitioner timely submitted Form L-4035 to the JBOR, 

which executed a bad-faith adminstrative lockout and Open Meetings Act violations 

(MCL 15.263), declaring citizen petitions "will not be presented to the board" unless pre- 

vetted by the Assessor. Administrative exhaustion is entirely futile due to this systemic 

municipal gatekeeping. See Attached Section 5 Addendum for legal grounding, factual 

details, and relief sought. 

Section 6: Jurisdictional Issues 

Did you protest the assessment at a Board of Review (BOR)? [] Yes 

No 

If Yes, check which BOR you attended: [| March 

[] July 

[J December 

If No, please check the applicable reason(s): 

Oa Not required to attend 

Appealing a purported Clerical Error or Mutual Mistake of Fact (if yes, include explanation in Section 5) 

Appealing within 35 days of State Tax Commission Order 

in| Appealing within 35 days of receipt of Notice of Uncapping 

[J other 

If you checked “other” above, explain:

STATE OF MICHIGAN 

GRETCHEN WHITMER 

DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS 

MARLON I. BROWN, DPA 

GOVERNOR 

LANSING 

DIRECTOR 

Section 7: Valuation Information suse the muttiple parcel form for additional, contiguous parcels. 

P: 

| 

Number: 

oreeTHer 11-122-008-03 

Classification of Property: 

~~ Real 

Personal [J (check one) 

Agricultural [1 

~~ Commercial J 

Industrial 

J 

~~ Residential J 

~~ Timber-Cutover [1 

Developmental [J 

Utility (1 (check one) 

Assessed Value (also known as State Equalized Value) established 

| Taxable Value established by the Board of Review: 

by the Board of Review: 

{15500 

5738 

What do you believe is the fair market value (also known as true cash value)? 

33000 

What do you believe is the assessed value? (multiply true cash 

What do you believe is the taxable value? (cannot exceed 

value by .5) 

16500 

assessed value) 

5738 

Fee Information 

Does the property have a Principal Residence Exemption of at least 50% as of the date of the filing of this petition for all tax years at 

issue? 

[J Yes 

If you answered yes to the above question, you are not required to pay any filing fees. 

If the property does not have a Principal Residence Exemption of at least 50% as of the date of the filing of this petition for all tax years at 

issue, the filing fee is based on the greater of the State Equalized Value or Taxable Value in dispute. 

If you are appealing more than one 

parcel, the parcel with the highest State Equalized Value or Taxable Value in dispute will be used to determine your filing fee, plus $25.00 

will be added for each additional parcel being appealed, not to exceed a total filing fee of $1,000.00 

If your property is residential property (see MCL 205.762) and 

the State Equalized Value or Taxable Value in contention is: 

Filing Fee 

$100,000.00 and under 

$125.00 

$100,000.01 to $500,000.00 

$200.00 

$Over $500,000.00 

$300.00 

If the property is NOT residential property (see MCL 205.762) and 

the State Equalized Value or Taxable Value in contention is: 

Filing Fee is: 

$100,000.00 and under 

$250.00 

* Plus $25.00 for each additional parcel, as indicated above. 

If the property is NOT residential property and the State Equalized Value or Taxable Value in dispute is $100,000.01 or greater the 

appeal does not qualify for Small Claims. Therefore, an Entire Tribunal petition must be filed. 

Signature *required 

Petitioner or Attorney/Authorized Representative’s Signature: 

Is! 

Seals 

I &L 

L4

STATE OF MICHIGAN 

MICHIGAN TAX TRIBUNAL 

SMALL CLAIMS DIVISION 

Scott M. Katz, Petitioner 

V. 

Fredonia Township, Respondent 

Parcel ID: 11-122-003-03 

DOCKET NO: 

PETITIONER'S SECTION 5 ADDENDUM: APPELLATE JURISDICTION AND 

STRUCTURAL LAND COMPONENT ERROR OF OMISSION 

STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION AND DUE PROCESS VIOLATION 

Petitioner invokes the appellate jurisdiction of the Tribunal pursuant to MCL 205.735a to 

review a final constructive denial by the Fredonia Township July Board of Review 

(JBOR) on July 21, 2026. Petitioner timely submitted to the Township Clerk and hand- 

carried and delivered Form L-4035 to the JBOR panel to rectify a clear clerical error. 

The morning of the public meeting, the local Assessor unilaterally barred the petition via 

an official email statement claiming the JBOR lacked jurisdiction. At the public meeting, 

the Township actively denied the petitioner due process. The Township Supervisor 

improperly chaired the JBOR proceedings, and the Assessor monopolized the meeting, 

suppressing independent participation of the appointed board panel members and 

petitioner. 

In last minute preparation for the public JBOR, the Township Supervisor directed the 

participants who had gathered in the main Township Hall meeting room and directed 

them to a small kitchen with a single table. The Township Supervisor stood close 

behind the Petitioner during the entire meeting and openly discouraged petitioner from 

speaking during the 3-minute public comment period stating the petitioner had “said 

enough already”. The Assessor also stood throughout the meeting forgoing his 

statutory JBOR duties and spoke at length standing in front of the seated and nearly 

silent board members and attendees the entire meeting and walked out twice during 

Petitioner's 3-minute public comments despite being requested by the Petitioner to 

remain in the room to hear him. 

At the conclusion of the meeting, Petitioner left his petition packet in front of the Board 

members who picked it up and declined Petitioner's request to review it. Board Member

Because the Assessor unilaterally barred the petition from meeting the JBOR panel, the 

Petitioner was denied the standard administrative opportunity to cure minor clerical 

omissions on the face of Form L-4035, cementing a total deprivation of statutory due 

process. This systemic subversion of due process establishes administrative futility at 

the local level, confirming immediate appellate jurisdiction before this Tribunal under 

MCL 205.735a. 

IMPROPER DENIAL OF OPEN PUBLIC MEETING RECORDS 

The Fredonia Township Clerk and Supervisor improperly required the Petitioner to 

submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the July 21, 2026, JBOR 

proposed meeting minutes. This was done despite the Clerk and Supervisor being 

advised of the statutory mandate under MCL 15.269(3), that proposed minutes shall be 

available for public inspection within eight (8) business days after the meeting, and that 

enforcing a FOIA request for attaining open public meeting minutes constituted an OMA 

violation. 

IDENTIFICATION OF STATUTORY QUALIFIED ERROR (MCL 211.53b) 

The active tax roll utilizes an incorrect layout that entirely omits a physical land 

dimension, which constitutes an explicit, "Qualified Error" under MCL 211.53b(6)(d) and 

(e) —defined specifically as an error regarding the measurement or calculation of the 

physical dimensions or components of the real property being assessed, or an error of 

omission or inclusion of a part of the real property. This is a matter of objective fact, not 

a subjective valuation judgment. 

The physical component profile under-reporting on the tax roll is broken down as 

follows: exactly 'ZERO' (0.00) feet of linear road frontage logged on the active tax roll; 

actual physical reality is that this 5.3-acre tract possesses extensive, direct, physical 

linear road frontage along 15 1/2 Mile Road, Marshall, Michigan. 

During the public JBOR meeting, the Assessor explicitly stated that inputting road 

frontage fields within the BS&A software was his personal prerogative. This represents 

a flagrant violation of the mandatory State Tax Commission Assessor's Manual which is 

enforced under MCL 211.10e, requiring the uniform, non-discretionary recording of all 

physical land characteristics. Because the tax roll relies on an erroneous total omission 

of this physical property component, the mathematical calculation of the property's 

assessment is arbitrary, unconstitutional, and non-uniform under MCL 211.10e and the 

State Tax Commission Assessor's Manual. 

PROPERTY VALUE

RELIEF SOUGHT 

Petitioner requests that the Small Claims Division of the Michigan Tax Tribunal enter an 

order within its statutory authority under MCL 205.731 that: 

1. Finds that Respondent's active 2026 assessment tax roll calculation for Parcel 

11-122-003-03 is non-compliant with the uniformity mandates of MCL 211.10e. 

2. Vacates the constructive denial of the Fredonia Township July Board of Review. 

3. Orders that the property’s true physical linear road frontage be formally integrated 

into the database fields of the property's tax assessment record card to eliminate the 

mathematically incorrect ‘zero’ entry, ensuring data uniformity and record 

accuracy as provided by law.

STATE OF MICHIGAN 

TAX TRIBUNAL 

SMALL CLAIMS DIVISION 

Scott Katz, 

Petitioner 

V. 

Fredonia Township, 

Respondent 

NOTICE GIVING RISE TO THE APPEAL (TTR 279) 

Petitioner hereby submits a true and accurate copy of the written notice giving rise to 

this appeal: 

The attached email from Fredonia Township Assessor Roger Smith denying petitioner's 

Forms L-4035 from meeting the Township’s July Board of Review (JBOR) serves as the 

final determination and Notice Giving Rise to the Appeal. 

His email to the petitioner states: “The corrections you are requesting, do not meet the 

jurisdiction of the July Board of Review. 

For this reason, your request for an appeal 

(will) not be presented to the board.” 

Soot] 

# | 

SCOTT M. KAZ 

August 13, 2026

Subject: 

Re: BS&A Records Correct 

Date: 

July 21, 2026 at 10:02AM 

To: 

Scott Katz katzfarm@outlook.com 

Cc: Way @iredoniatownship: com, mbosserd@fredoniatownship.com 

: 

Parcel 

-122-002-00, 11-122-003-03, 11-122-003-04 

Good morning Mr. Katz, 

Thank you for reaching out to me. Below 

| have answered each of your concerns. 

1) 

11-122-002-00 

The assessing system does show land improvements. There is a home, well, septic 

system & out buildings. 

There 

has been no Property Transfer Affidavit (required by State Tax Commission) filed 

with the assessing department indicating the life lease holder is 

no longer living in the home. 

In 2023 when the zoning was changed, the change was not entered by previous the 

previous assessor into the assessing system. 

2) 

11-122-003-03 & 11-122-003-04 

The zoning for both of these parcels was approved in 2023. The 

changes were not entered into the assessing system by the previous assessor. 

3) 

11-122-027-00 

The zoning for this parcel had defaulted to residential. 

| can not be certain why; 

however, 

| have made the correction in the assessing system. 

The 

Township has gone under a major rezoning project recently. 

| will be reaching out to the Zoning Administrator 

for clarification on zoning. At this time 

zoning will be adjusted throughout the 

township according to the new zoning map. 

The corrections you are requesting, do not meet the jurisdiction of the July Board 

“of Review. For this reason, your request 

for an appeal 

not be presented 

to the 

board. 

Thank you for pointing the issues out to me. 

| strive to make the Assessment Roll as accurate as possible. 

Respectfully, 

Roger Smith, 

Fredonia Township, Assessor 

On Friday, July 17, 2026 at 01:31:15 PM EDT, Scott Katz <katzfarm@outlook.com> wrote: 

Good afternoon Roger,

Cie Ry See BRS 

ES ay Shims 

de mete 

§ Sammie 

Se ee 

seme 

(Ghee 

§ epee misses bes ses as 

ah 

COMMERCIAL. 

Please update the BS&A system and send me the property record for verification of the 

improvements. 

I am renovating the property for use consistent with the zoning. 

11-122-003-03 & 11-122-003-04 

BS&A displays a generic “RESIDENTIAL” zoning classification for these parcels; however the official 

zoning for both of the them is MEDIUM DENSITY RESIDENTIAL (MDR). Please update the record to 

reflect the MDR zoning. 

Regarding 11-122-003-03 

| left that parcel fallow while my team executes a comprehensive ALTA 

survey. 

The AG preservation status should remain active in accordance with QAP guidelines. 

11-122-027-00 

This is my centennial farm homestead. 

Please correct the BS&A zoning record to the correct AG 

zoning. 

It is incorrectly zoned RESIDENTIAL in the BS&A system. 

Please also send the property file for this parcel for verification as well. 

Thank you 

“SIGNED" 

Scott Katz

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