Bulletin 24 of 2023 - Qualified Errors.pdf

2915 John R Street LLC Petitioner Vs. City Of Detroit Respondent · 26-002729-TT

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P.O. BOX 30471 • LANSING, MICHIGAN 48909 

www.michigan.gov/statetaxcommission • 517-335-3429

GRETCHEN WHITMER 

GOVERNOR 

STATE OF MICHIGAN 

DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY 

LANSING 

RACHAEL EUBANKS 

STATE TREASURER

Bulletin 24 of 2023 

December 19, 2023 

Qualified Errors 

TO: 

Assessors and Equalization Directors 

FROM: 

Michigan State Tax Commission 

SUBJECT: Qualified Errors under MCL 211.53b 

Bulletin 14 of 2022 is rescinded. 

This Bulletin addresses July and December Board of Review authority under MCL 

211.53b. Additional information regarding Board of Review authority can be found in the 

State Tax Commission Board of Review Q&A. 

The July and December Boards of Review may correct Qualified Errors for the current 

year plus the immediately preceding year that have been previously verified by the 

Assessor. Qualified errors are defined in MCL 211.53b(6) as: 

a) A clerical error relative to the correct assessment figures, the rate of taxation, or

the mathematical computation relating to the assessing of taxes.

b) A mutual mistake of fact.

c) An adjustment under section 27a(4) (taxable value) or an exemption under

section 7hh(3)(b) (qualified start-up business exemption). Note: a correction

under 27a(4) can be made for the current year and up to three preceding years.

d) An error of measurement or calculation of the physical dimensions or

components of the real property being assessed.

e) An error of omission or inclusion of a part of the real property being assessed.

f)

An error regarding the correct taxable status of the real property being assessed.

g) An error made by the taxpayer in preparing the statement of assessable personal

property under section 19.

h) An error made in the denial of a claim of exemption for personal property under

section 9o.

5102 (Rev. 01-19)

Page 2 

 

i) Any of the following errors regarding the disabled veteran’s exemption in MCL 

211.7b: 

 

1) An error made by the local tax collecting unit in the processing of a timely filed 

exemption affidavit. 

2) A delay in the determination by the United States Department of Veterans 

Affairs that a veteran is permanently and totally disabled as a result of military 

service and entitled to veterans’ benefits at the 100% rate. 

3) For tax year 2023 only, a denial by the Board of Review of an exemption 

claimed by the unremarried surviving spouse. 

 

j) An exemption under section 7u(10), for the immediately preceding tax year only, 

if the exemption was not on the assessment roll and was not denied for that tax 

year. A claim for exemption must be filed with the board of review on a form 

prescribed by the state tax commission and provided by the local assessing unit, 

accompanied by supporting documentation establishing eligibility for the 

exemption for that immediately preceding tax year under the criteria in section 

7u(2) and any other supporting documentation as may be required by the state 

tax commission. 

 

Clerical Error was defined by the Court of Appeals in International Place Apartments v 

Ypsilanti Township 216 Mich App 104; 548 NW2d 668 (1996), as “an error of a 

transpositional, typographical, or mathematical nature.” July and December Boards of 

Review are not allowed to revalue or reappraise property when the reason for the 

action is that the assessor did not originally consider all relevant information. Lost or 

misplaced paperwork is not a clerical error. 

 

Mutual Mistake of Fact was defined by the Court of Appeals in Ford Motor Co v City of 

Woodhaven, 475 Mich 425; 716 NW2d 247 (2006) as “an erroneous belief, which is 

shared and relied on by both parties, about a material fact that affects the substance of 

the transaction.” The Michigan Supreme Court in Briggs Tax Service, LLC v Detroit 

Public Schools, 485 Mich 69; 780 NW2d 753 (2010) indicated that to qualify, the mutual 

mistake of fact must be one that occurs only between the assessor and the taxpayer. 

 

Examples of Qualified Errors 

 

An error of measurement or calculation of the physical dimensions or 

components of the real property being assessed: 

 

1. A building is listed on the record card sketch as 60’ x 100’, priced as 6,000 

square feet, and valued accordingly on the roll. A field inspection reveals that 

the building dimensions are actually 60’ x 90’, and that 5,400 should have been 

priced. 

 

2. A building is properly listed on the record card sketch as 60’ x 100’, erroneously 

priced as 5,600 square feet, and valued accordingly on the roll. A desk review 

reveals the error. 

 

Note: Errors of measurement or calculation may include building height errors or 

floor area perimeter multiplier errors.

Page 3 

 

An error of omission or inclusion of a part of the real property being assessed: 

 

1. Error of omission – A 1200 square foot house had a 500 square foot addition. 

The addition was taken as assessed/equalization new, but was not taken as a 

capped value addition, and so, was not included in the taxable value. 

 

2. Error of inclusion – A pole barn was erected on parcel ‘A’ but is erroneously 

assessed to parcel ‘B’. The ‘error of inclusion’ pertains to parcel ‘B’. An ‘error of 

omission’ pertains to parcel ‘A’. 

 

Note: This change in jurisdiction is limited to situations where part of the real 

property is at issue. Issues involving the entire real parcel or involving 

personal property are not included under this subsection. 

Note: Omitted property may be added under this section for the current year and 

the immediately preceding year only may still be added under MCL 211.154 

for the current year and two prior. 

An error regarding the correct taxable status of the real property being assessed. 

1. A charitable non-profit corporation that qualified for exemption under MCL 

211.7o sent a letter with proper documentation to the assessor and requested 

exemption. The assessor failed to grant the exemption. 

 

2. A church purchased the house next door in November (deed delivered) and 

was immediately used as a parsonage. The parcel qualified for exemption 

under MCL 211.7s. The deed was recorded in January, but the copy of the 

deed failed to reach the local assessor. The parcel had an assessed and 

taxable value at the close of the March Board of Review. 

 

An error made by the taxpayer in preparing the statement of assessable 

personal property under section 19. 

1. A taxpayer reported newly acquired office furniture in Section B, ‘Machinery 

and Equipment’ of the personal property statement. It should have been 

reported in Section A, ‘Furniture and Fixtures’. 

 

2. A taxpayer reported newly acquired office furniture in Section A, ‘Furniture and 

Fixtures’, on the top line and entered the amount paid for the items in the 

purchase of the total property. It was discovered by the assessor after the close 

of the March Board of Review that the previous owner had reported a different 

acquisition cost new for the office furniture five years earlier. 

 

Note: In the case where a personal property statement was not filed in a timely 

fashion, the act does not permit the assessor to change an estimated assessment 

made in the absence of a filed statement.

Page 4 

 

An error made in the denial of a claim of exemption for personal property under 

section 9o. 

 

1. A taxpayer timely filed the affidavit to claim the Small Business Taxpayer 

Exemption for personal property. The assessor failed to grant the exemption 

even though the taxpayer met all the qualifications.

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