Senate Bill 524 was presented by Sen. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba. Rep. John Kivela, D-Marquette, is the sponsor of House Bill 4909.
Casperson’s bill would use the cost of construction to assess the value of big-box stores and would prevent property assessors from using the sales of long-vacant buildings to determine the value of open stores.
Kivela’s bill is intended to prevent owners from
placing restrictive covenants in deeds after large retailers have sold
their property.
Even though these two bills have been proposed, they will not be retroactive and may only affect future assessments and appeals, not the ones that have already taken place.
There are also online petitions circling social media sites like Facebook and Twitter for people who are opposed and want to stop the spread of “dark stores.”
