[ Previous Page] [ Home Page ]
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. 5763 August 27, 1980 SCHOOL AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS: Liability for special assessments TAX ASSESSMENTS: Liability of school districts for special assessments A school district may not, without its agreement, be subjected to a special assessment levied by a charter township upon school district land benefiting from the installation of a water line. Honorable Roy Smith State Representative The Capitol Lansing, Michigan 48909 You have requested my opinion on a question which may be phrased as follows: May a school district be subjected to a special assessment levied by a charter township against school district land which will benefit from the installation of a water line? In 1947 PA 359, Sec. 31; MCLA 42.31; MSA 5.46(31), the Legislature has, inter alia, authorized charter townships to install water systems and to impose special assessments upon land benefited by the waterline. The School Code of 1976, 1976 PA 451; MCLA 380.1141; MSA 15.41141, Sec. 1141, provides, in pertinent part, that: 'The property of a school district is exempt from taxation, provisions of other acts to the contrary notwithstanding . . . The board of a school district may enter into an agreement with a county or county agency, city, village, or township to pay special assessments for local improvements levied against school property. . . .' The plain meaning of a statute controls and the intent manifested therein must be observed. Covert Township Assessor v State Tax Commission, 77 Mich App 626; 259 NW2d 164 (1977). The plain meaning of 1976 PA 451, supra, Sec. 1141, is that the property of a school district used for public school purposes is exempt from taxation. However, boards of education may agree with other units of government to pay special assessments for public improvements. In Westwood Community School District v City of Dearborn Heights, 45 Mich App 87; 206 NW2d 219 (1973) a portion of city improvements were installed on property owned by the school district and a special improvement tax assessment was levied against the Board of Education for the Westwood Community School District by the City of Dearborn Heights. When the first annual installment became due, the school board adopted a resolution authorizing payment. After one further annual payment, the board of education passed a resolution declining to make any more payments on the remaining installments. A tax sale of the property was scheduled and suit was brought to void the special assessment. The Court of Appeals, in affirming the lower court judgment voiding the remaining installments of the special assessment levy, quoted with approval the following language of the trial court: ". . . [T]he critical language of the proviso [MCLA 340.354; MSA 15.3354] is: 'the board of any school district may enter into an agreement.' This clearly connotes at the very least some kind of formalized concord between the assessing authority and the school district itself, if not an actual formal contract. "This means substantially more than the plaintiff school district unilaterally agreeing to pay a tax assessment when presented to it as due. There has been no showing whatever either in the pleadings or in oral argument that the plaintiff school district entered into any agreement with the defendant to [pay] the entire special assessments . . ." (Emphasis in original.) 45 Mich App 87, 90; 206 NW2d 219, 221. The language of 1976 PA 451, supra, Sec. 1141 is identical in all material respects to 1955 PA 269, Sec. 354, the predecessor statutory provision, which the Court of Appeals construed in Westwood, supra, as not requiring the plaintiff school district to pay the remainder of the special assessment levy. Therefore, it is my opinion that a school district may not, without its agreement, be subjected to a special assessment levy by a charter township against the school district land which may benefit from the installation of a water line. Frank J. Kelley Attorney General
[ Previous Page] [ Home Page ]