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The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us) STATE OF MICHIGAN FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL Opinion No. 5813 November 7, 1980 COUNTIES: Board of commissioners--no authority to bar county tax office from preparing assessment rolls for local unit without qualified assessor STATE TAX COMMISSION: Supervisory authority over county tax agency TAXATION: Preparation of an assessment roll for local unit without qualified assessor A county board of commissioners may not bar a county tax or equalization office from preparing assessment rolls for a local unit without a qualified assessor when ordered to do so by the State Tax Commission. Honorable Ralph Ostling State Representative The State Capitol Lansing, Michigan 48909 You have requested my opinion of the following question: 'May a county board of commissioners determine that the county tax or equalization department shall not prepare the tax assessment roll for a local unit without the services of a qualified assessor?' The General Property Tax Act, 1893 PA 206; MCLA 211.1 et seq; MSA 7.1 et seq; Sec. 10d(3), provides: 'A local assessing district which does not have an assessor qualified by certification of the board may employ an assessor so qualified. If a local assessing district does not have an assessor qualified by certification of the board, and has not employed a certified assessor, the assessment shall be made by the county tax or equalization department or the state tax commission and the cost of preparing the rolls shall be charged to the local assessing district.' (Emphasis supplied) The term 'shall', when used in a command to a public official or body, excludes the area of discretion. Ladies of the Maccabees v Commissioner of Insurance, 235 Mich 459; 209 NW 581 (1926). Therefore, either the State Tax Commission or the county tax or equalization department must prepare the local assessment roll. 1893 PA 206, supra, Sec. 150, sets forth in general terms the duties of the State Tax Commission. The State Tax Commission is empowered thereunder to generally supervise assessing officers, to receive complaints that property liable to taxation has not been assessed, and to take steps to secure the enforcement of the provisions of 1893 PA 206, supra. 1893 PA 206, supra, Sec. 34(3), as last amended by 1979 PA 114, provides for the establishment and maintenance of a county tax or equalization department which is under the control of a director appointed by the county board of commissioners. Even though the director of the county tax or equalization department is appointed by the county board of commissioners, the State Tax Commission, pursuant to 1893 PA 206, Sec. 150, supra, has supervisory power over the director and the department in matters dealing with the provisions and enforcement of 1893 PA 206, supra. When it is brought to the attention of the State Tax Commission that property liable to taxation has not been assessed because a particular assessing district does not have a qualified assessor and has failed to employ one, the State Tax Commission must take action as authorized by 1893 PA 206, Sec. 150, supra. Pursuant to the general supervisory power over property tax matters, the State Tax Commission must, after consultation with the county tax or equalization department, assign the task of perparing the assessment roll to either the county tax or equalization department or to its own staff. It is my opinion, therefore, that a county board of commissioners may not, by resolution, effectively preclude the State Tax Commission from ordering a county tax or equalization department to prepare the assessment rolls in a local unit without a qualified assessor. Frank J. Kelley Attorney General
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