State high court looks at big-box tax dispute

LANSING (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court is wading into a hot legal dispute over how to value big-box stores for tax purposes.

Values lately have been controversial in Michigan, especially in the Upper Peninsula where communities have been forced to give significant tax refunds based on decisions by the Michigan Tax Tribunal.

Escanaba last year successfully argued that the Tribunal used the wrong standard to determine the value of a Menards store.

The Supreme Court has agreed to at least look at whether the state appeals court made the right call when it sent the Escanaba case back to the Tribunal for more work.

The court also wants the parties to submit arguments about the valuation analysis used by the Tribunal.