EDSC v. Flint Twp.

• Court: Court of Appeal of Michigan
• Writing for the Court: JANSEN, J.
• Citation: EDSC v. Flint Twp., 656 N.W.2d 215, 253 Mich. App. 538 (Mich. App. 2003)
• Decision Date: 23 January 2003
• Docket Number: Docket No. 225688,Docket No. 225690.,Docket No. 225686,Docket No. 225689,Docket No. 225684,Docket No. 225687,Docket No. 225683,Docket No. 225610,Docket No. 225681,Docket No. 225682
• Parties: ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS CORPORATION, Petitioner-Appellant, v. TOWNSHIP OF FLINT, Respondent-Appellee. Electronic Data Systems Corporation, Petitioner-Appellant, v. City of Troy, Respondent-Appellee. Electronic Data Systems Corporation, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Township of Buena Vista, Respondent-Appellee. Electronic Data Systems, Petitioner-Appellant, v. City of Auburn Hills, Respondent-Appellee.

656 N.W.2d 215

253 Mich. App. 538

ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS CORPORATION, Petitioner-Appellant, v. TOWNSHIP OF FLINT, Respondent-Appellee.

Electronic Data Systems Corporation, Petitioner-Appellant, v. City of Troy, Respondent-Appellee.

Electronic Data Systems Corporation, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Township of Buena Vista, Respondent-Appellee.

Electronic Data Systems, Petitioner-Appellant, v. City of Auburn Hills, Respondent-Appellee.

Docket Nos. 225610, 225681, 225682, 225683, 225684, 225686, 225687, 225688, 225689, 225690.

Court of Appeals of Michigan.

Submitted September 17, 2002, at Detroit.

Decided October 25, 2002, at 9:05 a.m.

Released for Publication January 23, 2003.

Butzel Long (by Carl Rashid, Jr., Clara DeMatteis Mager and Joseph M. Rogowski, II), Detroit, for Electronic Data Systems Corporation.

Peter Goodstein, Flint, for Flint Township.

Lori Grigg Bluhm, Troy, for city of Troy. Secrest, Wardle, Lynch, Hampton, Truex and Morley (by Derk W. Beckerleg), Farmington Hills, for city of Auburn Hills.

Before: WHITE, P.J., and NEFF and JANSEN, JJ.

JANSEN, J.

In these consolidated appeals, petitioner appeals as of right from the Tax Tribunal's orders dismissing petitioner's claims for lack of jurisdiction. We affirm.

In 1999, the respondent municipal entities involved in these appeals assessed certain personal property of petitioner that it believed was in excess of half of the true cash value. Petitioner sought to appeal the assessments to the Tax Tribunal and mailed its tax appeal petitions on June 30, 1999, by first-class mail. The Tax Tribunal received the petitions and filing fees on July 2, 1999. All respondents subsequently filed answers to the petitions. On October 14, 1999, the Tax Tribunal entered identical orders of dismissal in each case, which state:

The Tribunal, having reviewed the file in the above-captioned case, finds that the petition is untimely as it was not received by June 30 of the tax year involved or mailed by certified mail and postmarked on or before June 30 of the tax year involved as required by M.C.L. § 205.735. As such, the Tribunal has no jurisdiction of the property assessment(s) at issue, therefore,

IT IS ORDERED that the case is DISMISSED.

Petitioner subsequently moved for reconsideration or rehearing. The Tax Tribunal denied petitioner's motion in an order entered on February 14, 2000. Petitioner now appeals the Tax Tribunal's decision to dismiss on the basis that it lacked jurisdiction to consider petitioner's claims because the petitions were untimely.

The standard of review of the Tax Tribunal's decision is set forth in our state constitution:

In the absence of fraud, error of law or the adoption of wrong principles, no appeal may be taken to any court from any final agency provided for the administration of property tax laws from any decision relating to valuation or allocation. [Const 1963, art 6, § 28.]

The statute at issue in this case, M.C.L. § 205.735(2), provides in pertinent part:

The jurisdiction of the tribunal in an assessment dispute is invoked by a party in interest, as petitioner, filing a written petition on or before June 30 of the tax year involved. Except in the residential property and small claims division, a written petition is considered filed by June 30 of the tax year involved if it is sent by certified mail on or before June 30 of that tax year. In the residential property and small claims division, a written petition is considered filed by June 30 of the tax year involved if it is postmarked by first-class mail or delivered in person on or before June 30 of the tax year involved.

This case does not involve the residential property or small claims division; therefore, the written petition is filed by June 30 if it is sent by certified mail on or before June 30. In the present case, it is undisputed that petitioner mailed the petitions by first-class mail, not by certified mail, on June 30, 1999, and the Tax Tribunal received the petitions on July 2, 1999. Because the petitions were sent by first-class mail, in contravention of the clear statutory requirement, the Tax Tribunal considered the petitions to be filed on July 2, 1999, the date of receipt. The Tax Tribunal's decision in this regard is supported by 1999 AACS, R 205.1205(1), which states in pertinent part:

An appeal, application for review, or any other proceeding is commenced by filing a petition with the tribunal within the time periods prescribed by statute. A petition filed with the entire tribunal shall be considered filed by June thirtieth of the tax year involved if it has been received by the tribunal by June thirtieth of the tax year involved or mailed by certified mail addressed to the tribunal on or before June thirtieth of the tax year involved.

Petitioner raises myriad arguments contending that the Tax Tribunal erred in determining that the petitions were filed untimely and dismissing the petitions for lack of jurisdiction; however, we find no error on the part of the Tax Tribunal. First, petitioner contends that the Tax Tribunal erred because its ruling is in contravention of our Supreme Court's ruling in Pi-Con, Inc. v. A J Anderson Constr. Co., 435 Mich. 375, 458 N.W.2d 639 (1990). There, the Court held that as long as the plaintiff sent timely notice that otherwise complied with the notice requirements of the public works bond act, M.C.L. § 129.207, and the plaintiff proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant received timely notice, then the plaintiff's failure to send notice by certified mail would not preclude recovery on the bond. Id. at 378, 458 N.W.2d 639.

The rule of Pi-Con is not applicable to the present case because Pi-Con involved giving notice to a party under the public works bond act. The statute in the present case is not a notice statute, but is a jurisdictional statute that governs when and how a petitioner invokes the Tax Tribunal's jurisdiction. MCL 205.735(2) by its very terms—"[t]he jurisdiction of the tribunal ... is invoked by a party in interest, as petitioner, filing a written petition on or before June 30 of the tax year involved"—is a jurisdictional statute. Both our Supreme Court and this Court have clearly stated that the time requirements contained in M.C.L. § 205.735(2) are jurisdictional in nature. Szymanski v. Westland, 420 Mich. 301, 305, 362 N.W.2d 224 (1984) (where the petitioners failed to file a petition with the Tax Tribunal within the time limit provided in M.C.L. § 205.735[2], and pointed to no other applicable provision granting them a longer time to do so, the Tax Tribunal was without jurisdiction to consider the petition and correctly dismissed it); Aztec Air Service, Inc v. Dep't of Treasury, 253 Mich. App 227, 654 N.W.2d 925 (2002) (MCL 205.735[2] governs the procedure for perfecting an appeal and invoking the jurisdiction of the Tax Tribunal); Florida Leasco, LLC v. Dep't of Treasury, 250 Mich.App. 506, 509, 655 N.W.2d 302 (2002) (because the petitioner sent its petition by certified mail before the applicable thirty-five-day deadline, the Tax Tribunal had jurisdiction over the appeal); Kelser v. Dep't of Treasury, 167 Mich.App. 18, 20-21, 421 N.W.2d 558 (1988) (the Tax Tribunal did not err in granting summary disposition to the respondent on the basis of the lack of subject-matter jurisdiction where the petitioner failed to timely file the petition); Nomads, Inc. v. Romulus, 154 Mich.App. 46, 52, 397 N.W.2d 210 (1986) (the Tax Tribunal did not err in ruling that the petition was not timely filed and that it was without jurisdiction to consider the petition); Durkee Lakes Land Co. v. Clinton Twp., 112 Mich.App. 595, 596-597, 316 N.W.2d 496 (1982) (the petitioner's failure to timely file a petition deprived the Tax Tribunal of subject-matter jurisdiction).

To the extent that petitioner relies on Paisley v. Mullett Twp, 4 MTTR 471, 1986 WL 20543 (1986), for the proposition that the statute is not jurisdictional, we are obviously not bound by a decision of the Tax Tribunal. Moreover, the Tax Tribunal's statements to the effect that the statute is not truly jurisdictional does not comport with the clear language of the statute itself and the holdings of our Supreme Court and this Court. We are obliged to follow the holding of Szymanski, supra at 305, 362 N.W.2d 224, in which the Court held that an untimely filing under M.C.L. § 205.735(2) deprived the Tax Tribunal of jurisdiction to consider the petition and that the petition was properly dismissed.

Petitioner also highlights the fact that the Tax Tribunal raised the issue of untimeliness on its own motion about 3 1/2 months after the petition was received. There was nothing improper about the Tax Tribunal raising the issue of lack of jurisdiction on its own. Defects in subject-matter jurisdiction cannot be waived and may be raised at any time. People v. Erwin, 212 Mich.App. 55, 64, 536 N.W.2d 818 (1995); People v. Richards, 205 Mich. App. 438, 444, 517 N.W.2d 823 (1994). The lack of subject-matter jurisdiction is so serious a defect in the proceedings that a tribunal is duty-bound to dismiss a plaintiff's claim even if the defendant does not request it. Yee v. Shiawassee Co. Bd. of Comm'rs, 251 Mich.App. 379, 399, 651 N.W.2d 756 (2002). Indeed, having determined that is has no jurisdiction, a court should not proceed further except to dismiss the action. Fox v. Bd. of Regents of the Univ. of Michigan, 375 Mich. 238, 243, 134 N.W.2d 146 (1965), citing Lehman v. Lehman, 312 Mich. 102, 19 N.W.2d 502 (1945).

Here, the Tax Tribunal merely applied the clear and unambiguous language of the statute to the case before it. There was no error in construing and applying the statute as written; indeed the Tax Tribunal was required to do so. As Pohutski v. Allen Park, 465 Mich. 675, 683-684, 641 N.W.2d 219 (2002), pointed out:

When faced with questions of statutory interpretation, our obligation is to discern and give effect to the Legislature's

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