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Rep. Jay DeBoer introduces bill to let cities form special assessment districts for private roads
Summary
House Bill 4349 would amend the Home Rule City Act to let cities create special assessment districts to maintain and improve private roads, matching authority townships now have under the Public Improvement Act; sponsor said the change would let property owners repay improvements via annual tax-bill assessments for up to 60 months.
Rep. Jay DeBoer told the House Transportation Infrastructure Committee that House Bill 4349 would amend the Home Rule City Act to allow cities to create special assessment districts to pay for maintenance and improvement of private roads. DeBoer said the change would let residents put the assessment on their tax bills and repay over an annual schedule for up to 60 months.
DeBoer said the proposal is intended to give cities the same tool townships have under the Public Improvement Act (cited in testimony as “MCL 41 7 22”), which allows townships to form a special assessment district for a private road after a signed petition exceeding 50% of residents. “This is House Bill 43 49. It's a rather simple bill,” DeBoer told the committee, explaining that one private road in his jurisdiction — “about a quarter mile long” — could use the authority.
In questions after the presentation, Representative Koontz asked whether assessments under the bill are tied strictly to frontage, citing corner or “flagpole” lots as edge cases. DeBoer said the statute as amended could leave the assessment apportionment to local procedures and that the assessment method would be included in the petition that owners circulate to reach the required majority. “It could be determined because, remember, it's the individual citizens that are deciding to do this to themselves,” DeBoer said.
Committee members did not take a recorded vote on the bill during the hearing. DeBoer closed by saying he would take questions and that the bill was intended as a “common-sense introduction” to give cities an authority townships already possess.
There was a brief procedural motion at the start of the meeting: Vice Chair Herzberg moved to adopt the June 24 minutes. The committee chair noted “There being no objection. No objection. The minutes are adopted.”
No formal committee action on HB 4349 was recorded in the transcript excerpt; the bill remained at the testimony stage during the hearing.
