The Michigan Court of Appeals recently ruled that a new roof on a commercial building qualified as “new construction” under Michigan statutes and that the assessor correctly “uncapped” the property’s value. In the ruling, the court found that since the new roof was not in existence on the immediately preceding tax day, it was “new construction”. Taxpayers should be aware of the potential for assessments to be uncapped as a result of improvements or replacements that add value to the property. This ruling appears to give assessing officials considerable leeway to uncap property values. See Knier, Powers, Martin, & Smith, LLC v. City of Bay City, Mich. Ct. App., Dkt. No. 366114, 08/08/2024.)
