Michigan Hangar Owner’s Property Tax Challenge Revived on Appeal

A company that built an airplane hangar on land it leased from a municipal airport will get another chance to argue that Traverse City improperly taxed the property, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled.

The Michigan Tax Tribunal applied the incorrect burden of proof when it ruled that Bodeco LLC’s hangar was subject to tax for 2021, 2022, and beyond, the court ruled in an opinion released Thursday. The tribunal improperly characterized the relevant statute as imposing a tax exemption rather than imposing a tax, which means the the burden of proof should be shifted over to the taxing authority, ...