Section 211.7dd - DefinitionsAs used in sections 7cc and 7ee:
(a) "Owner" means any of the following: (i) A person who owns property or who is purchasing property under a land contract.(ii) A person who is a partial owner of property.(iii) A person who owns property as a result of being a beneficiary of a will or trust or as a result of intestate succession.(iv) A person who owns or is purchasing a dwelling on leased land.(v) A person holding a life lease in property previously sold or transferred to another.(vi) A grantor who has placed the property in a revocable trust or a qualified personal residence trust.(vii) The sole present beneficiary of a trust if the trust purchased or acquired the property as a principal residence for the sole present beneficiary of the trust, and the sole present beneficiary of the trust is totally and permanently disabled. As used in this subparagraph, "totally and permanently disabled" means disability as defined in section 216 of title II of the social security act, 42 USC 416, without regard as to whether the sole present beneficiary of the trust has reached the age of retirement.(viii) A cooperative housing corporation.(ix) A facility as defined by former 1976 PA 440 and registered under the continuing care community disclosure act, 2014 PA 448, MCL 554.901 to 554.993.(b) "Person", for purposes of defining owner as used in section 7cc, means an individual and for purposes of defining owner as used in section 7ee means an individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, or other legal entity.(c) "Principal residence" means the 1 place where an owner of the property has his or her true, fixed, and permanent home to which, whenever absent, he or she intends to return and that shall continue as a principal residence until another principal residence is established. Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, principal residence includes only that portion of a dwelling or unit in a multiple-unit dwelling that is subject to ad valorem taxes and that is owned and occupied by an owner of the dwelling or unit. Principal residence also includes all of an owner's unoccupied property classified as residential that is adjoining or contiguous to the dwelling subject to ad valorem taxes and that is owned and occupied by the owner. Beginning December 31, 2007, principal residence also includes all of an owner's unoccupied property classified as timber-cutover real property under section 34c that is adjoining or contiguous to the dwelling subject to ad valorem taxes and that is owned and occupied by the owner. Contiguity is not broken by boundary between local tax collecting units, a road, a right-of-way, or property purchased or taken under condemnation proceedings by a public utility for power transmission lines if the 2 parcels separated by the purchased or condemned property were a single parcel prior to the sale or condemnation. Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, principal residence also includes any portion of a dwelling or unit of an owner that is rented or leased to another person as a residence as long as that portion of the dwelling or unit that is rented or leased is less than 50% of the total square footage of living space in that dwelling or unit. Principal residence also includes a life care facility for purposes of former 1976 PA 440 that is registered under the continuing care community disclosure act, 2014 PA 448, MCL 554.901 to 554.993. Principal residence also includes property owned by a cooperative housing corporation and occupied by tenant stockholders. Property that qualified as a principal residence shall continue to qualify as a principal residence for 3 years after all or any portion of the dwelling or unit included in or constituting the principal residence is rented or leased to another person as a residence if all of the following conditions are satisfied: (i) The owner of the dwelling or unit is absent while on active duty in the armed forces of the United States.(ii) The dwelling or unit would otherwise qualify as the owner's principal residence.(iii) Except as otherwise provided in this subparagraph, the owner files an affidavit with the assessor of the local tax collecting unit on or before May 1 attesting that it is his or her intent to occupy the dwelling or unit as a principal residence upon completion of active duty in the armed forces of the United States. A copy of an affidavit filed under this subparagraph shall be forwarded to the department of treasury pursuant to a schedule prescribed by the department of treasury.(d) "Qualified agricultural property" means unoccupied property and related buildings classified as agricultural, or other unoccupied property and related buildings located on that property devoted primarily to agricultural use as defined in section 36101 of the natural resources and environmental protection act, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.36101. Related buildings include a residence occupied by a person employed in or actively involved in the agricultural use and who has not claimed a principal residence exemption on other property. For taxes levied after December 31, 2008, property shall not lose its status as qualified agricultural property as a result of an owner or lessee of that property implementing a wildlife risk mitigation action plan. Notwithstanding any other provision of this act to the contrary, if after December 31, 2008 the classification of property was changed as a result of the implementation of a wildlife risk mitigation action plan, the owner of that property may appeal that change in classification to the board of review under section 30 in the year in which the amendatory act that added this sentence takes effect or in the 3 immediately succeeding years. Property used for commercial storage, commercial processing, commercial distribution, commercial marketing, or commercial shipping operations or other commercial or industrial purposes is not qualified agricultural property. A parcel of property is devoted primarily to agricultural use only if more than 50% of the parcel's acreage is devoted to agricultural use. An owner shall not receive an exemption for that portion of the total state equalized valuation of the property that is used for a commercial or industrial purpose or that is a residence that is not a related building. As used in this subdivision: (i) "Project" means certain risk mitigating measures, which may include, but are not limited to, the following: (A) Making it difficult for wildlife to access feed by storing livestock feed securely, restricting wildlife access to feeding and watering areas, and deterring or reducing wildlife presence around livestock feed by storing feed in an enclosed barn, wrapping bales or covering stacks with tarps, closing ends of bags, storing grains in animal-proof containers or bins, maintaining fences, practicing small mammal and rodent control, or feeding away from wildlife cover.(B) Minimizing wildlife access to livestock feed and water by feeding livestock in an enclosed area, feeding in open areas near buildings and human activity, removing extra or waste feed when livestock are moved, using hay feeders to reduce waste, using artificial water systems to help keep livestock from sharing water sources with wildlife, fencing off stagnant ponds, wetlands, or areas of wildlife habitats that pose a disease risk, and keeping mineral feeders near buildings and human activity or using devices that restrict wildlife usage.(ii) "Wildlife risk mitigation action plan" means a written plan consisting of 1 or more projects to help reduce the risks of a communicable disease spreading between wildlife and livestock that is approved by the department of agriculture under the animal industry act, 1988 PA 466, MCL 287.701 to 287.746.Amended by 2015, Act 107,s 1, eff. 6/30/2015.Amended by 2013, Act 44,s 1, eff. 6/6/2013.Amended by 2012, Act 324,s 2, eff. 10/9/2012.Amended by 2011, Act 320,s 1, eff. 12/27/2011.Amended by 2010, Act 17,s 2 , eff. 12/31/2007.Amended by 2008, Act 243,s 1, eff. 7/17/2008.Amended by 2006, Act 114, s 1, eff. 4/10/2006.Amended by 2003, Act 140, s 3, eff. 1/1/2004.Add. 1994, Act 237, Imd. Eff. 6/30/1994 ;--Am. 1996, Act 57, Imd. Eff. 2/26/1996 ;--Am. 1996, Act 476, Imd. Eff. 12/26/1996.2010, Act 17, enacting section 1 states, "This amendatory act is retroactive and is effective for the 2008 tax year."