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Harrison Township board refunds township portion of tax penalty after resident’s cashed check found fraudulent
Summary
The township approved a $358.55 refund of the township portion of a 3% penalty after a resident provided bank images showing a $11,951.70 summer tax check was 'washed' and cashed by a fraudulent payee; the board directed staff to provide investigative documents to assist the resident seeking refunds from other taxing entities.
The Harrison Township Board of Trustees on May 27 approved refunding $358.55 in township tax penalties to a resident after the Treasurer said the resident's summer tax check had been 'washed' and cashed by a fraudulent payee.
Treasurer Lawrence Tomenello told the board the resident had verified with her bank that a check for $11,951.70 had cleared on Sept. 13, 2024, but the township's records still showed the bill unpaid. The resident provided a bank image and a copy of the original carbon check; she had filed a fraud claim with her bank and a report with the Macomb County Sheriff's Office, and the Treasurer said the sheriff's fraud investigator confirmed the case was active.
Under Michigan law (MCL — PA 84 of 2020, Section 44, Item 4) the governing body may waive all or part of property tax administration fees or late penalties. Clerk Adam Wit moved to refund the township's penalty portion, and Trustee Dean Olgiati seconded. The board approved a refund of $358.55, representing the township's 3% penalty; the board also directed the Treasurer to provide the resident with the investigative documents to assist in seeking refunds from other taxing entities that had received allocated interest and penalties.
The Treasurer clarified that the 6% interest (1% per month for six months) totaling $717.10 had already been allocated and sent to other taxing authorities on the summer bill — L’Anse Creuse, MISD, Macomb Community College, the state and county — and that those entitities must be petitioned separately for refunds. The board's action applied only to the township penalty assessed by Harrison Township.
The board recorded the motion as carried; no roll-call vote totals were provided in the minutes. The resident’s next step is to petition the other taxing units named on the summer bill for refunds of interest and penalties already distributed to them.
