ESA Topic: Reporting School District and Community College Codes

Pursuant to Act 86 of 2014, the Michigan Department of Treasury must calculate the total acquisition cost of all eligible personal property in each municipality. To meet statutory requirements for the calculation of reimbursements, “each municipality shall submit to the department sufficient information for the department to make its calculations under this act, as determined by the department.” (MCL 123.1358(2)).

Because not all property within a township or city is subject to the same millage rates, it is necessary for assessors to include village, community college, and school district information when submitting information from Form 5278 – “Eligible Manufacturing Personal Property Tax Exemption Claim, and Report of Fair Market Value of Qualified New and Previously Existing Personal Property (Combined Document)” - to Treasury by the statutory deadline of April 1st. This will allow the Revenue Sharing and Grants Division of Treasury to correctly calculate the funds to be dispersed to each local unit by the Local Community Stabilization Authority.

Directions for how to include this information when submitting Combined Document (Form 5278) data through Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) software, specifically BS&A, follows.

If CAMA software is not used in a local unit and Combined Document (Form 5278) information is sent directly to Treasury, it is important to include both the School District code and the Community College code with the submission of the Combined Document (Form 5278).  This information may be included in the body of an email sent to ESAReporting@michigan.gov or included on the cover letter of a fax.

In CAMA Software

In BS&A, you will notice that School District/Community College is now a required field.

Once selected, this field will open a box which requires the user to enter the School District Code (1) and the Community College code (2). If the parcel being reported is in a local unit that does not have a Community College, uncheck the “Has Community College” field (3).

School District Code        

The School District code is a required field. If the correct 5-digit State code is setup prior to parcel entry, the user should not have to manually enter the School District code. The School District box will provide a dropdown with available options, which must be selected by the user

Community College Code

Because the Community College code is not a required field (the box can be unchecked if there is not a community college associated with the parcel), there are two methods of entry.

1. Auto-fill Entry

In order to allow for auto-fill entry, the user must first set up the Community College in the Program Setup application.

1. Select the Program Setup application
2. Select the Database Setup tab
3. Select the Community College button
4. Input correct Community College code
5. Close the Community Colleges box

Once the Program Setup has been configured, the Community College field will provide a dropdown box with the Community College code entered, allowing the user to select that code.

2. Manual Entry

For this method, the user must know the approved 5-digit Community College code. A list of approved codes can be found attached to this Topic.  The user will enter the number manually for each parcel, as applicable. After entering the number, the user may select the “Close” button in the School District/Community College box.

If there are any further questions regarding BS&A, please contact the BS&A team at 517-641-8900.

For more information or questions regarding reimbursement and the Local Community Stabilization Authority Act (Act 86 of 2014), please visit the Local Unit Reimbursement website.

This information constitutes an interpretation of one or more statutes administered by the Bureau of Local Government and School Services and not legal advice. As the interpretation reached in these examples are limited to the facts provided, any variation in those facts might result in a different interpretation being reached. Therefore, a taxpayer may wish to consult counsel before proceeding in this matter.