Attorney says local veteran wrongfully denied tax exemption

ALAIEDON TWP. - A local attorney has filed a tax tribunal lawsuit because he believes township officials wrongly denied his client a veteran's property tax exemption.

James Armstrong, a Korean War veteran and resident of Alaiedon Township, has been declared unemployable by the Veteran's Administration, said Paul McCord, an East Lansing attorney representing Armstrong.

That fact, coupled with his honorable service discharge, makes Armstrong eligible for a property tax exemption that was passed by the state Legislature in 2013, McCord said. The statute exempts qualifying veterans with disabilities from having to pay property taxes provided it is their actual "homestead."

"We don't think there's any ambiguity (in the statute)," McCord said. "He made an application and they denied it, and there was no explanation for the basis for denial, they just said they denied it."

Township officials, however, said they're just following state guidance.

"The way the process works is, the direction the (township's) Board of Review had from the state is it has to go through this process," said Alaiedon Township Supervisor Steve Lott, in reference to the tax tribunal. "We did our part and now it goes through the state’s process. Whatever decision they make, that’s what we will follow."

Lott said he wasn't sure who exactly the township had been communicating with at the state level, but that he believes vague terminology in the statute led the state to recommend township officials deny the application and send it to the tax tribunal.

"We’re not trying to be difficult or trying to be the bad one here," he said. "We’re just following the directions we have to follow from the state."

Messages were left seeking comment with officials with the state Tax Commission and with the state Department of Treasury.

McCord, meanwhile, said he's heard anecdotal reports from other veterans who have seen resistance from their assessors when applying for the exemption, and Armstrong's case seemed like a good opportunity to test the system.

"We think there's a greater public good," he said.

A hearing on the matter has not yet been scheduled, and McCord said township officials have until late September to respond to his filing.

Contact Christopher Haxel at 517-377-1261 or chaxel@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisHaxel.