LANSING, MI (AP)-- Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has signed a law intended to help residents who rebuild their damaged house after a natural disaster.
The measure signed Tuesday clarifies state law to ensure those who lose homes or buildings to "acts of God" won't be subject to higher property taxes if they rebuild a substantially similar structure within three years.
Republican Senator Tom Casperson of Escanaba introduced the legislation after the Duck Lake wildfire in Luce County destroyed 136 structures.
Current law limits year-to-year increases in the taxable value of property to 5 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. But a property's value can be adjusted higher for "replacement construction."
The law ensures people who rebuild won't be penalized with higher taxes.
