Supervisor's Responsibilities

The following information is excerpted from Authorities and Responsibilities of Michigan Township Officials, Boards and Commissions - The Little Red Book, revised edition, 4th Revised Printing, Copyright 1995, by John H. Bauckham, published by the Michigan Townships Association:

The Township Supervisor's Position:

The position is an elected position. The Supervisor serves for a four (4) year term, beginning 12 pm on November 20 following the November general election. The authority of the Township Supervisor is limited to that provided by statute or delegated by the Township Board.

Township Meetings - Supervisor's Responsibilities:

• When present, the Supervisor is the moderator of any township meeting, with the authority to place a person under oath on any statement made in his or her official capacity as supervisor.

• S/he also has the right and duty to regulate the proceedings of any meeting, including deciding questions or order, making declaration of votes cast, granting authority to persons to speak at the meeting and silencing those who may be out of order or disrupting the meeting (MCL 41.97-41.99).

• If the Township holds an annual meeting or a special meeting of the electors and Supervisor is absent, all electors present at the meeting elect a moderator by voice vote. The Township Clerk has the same powers and duties as the moderator until a moderator is chosen (MCL 41.97).

• If the Supervisor is absent from a regular meeting of the board, his or her deputy, if one has been appointed, chairs the meeting. Otherwise, the Clerk opens the meeting, and the members select a chairperson from among themselves.

• As a member of the Township Board, the Supervisor should vote on all issues upon which a vote is required, unless there is a conflict of interest or some proper legal reason for abstaining.

• Under the oath of office, as with all other elected officials, the Supervisor is required to support the U.S. and Michigan Constitutions and "faithfully discharge the duties of the office of supervisor according to the best of my ability."

• The Supervisor may call special meetings of the Township Board that otherwise can only be called by a written request of a majority of the Township Board members or by a majority vote at a previous meeting.

• Robert's Rules of Order is often used to decide procedural questions, but the book has no official status unless formally adopted as a rule of order by the Board or by inhabitants at an annual or special meeting. Without such adoption, the Supervisor may determine procedural questions.

• Where a person is breaching the peace at any public meeting, the Supervisor may order the person to leave the meeting. If the person refuses to leave, he or she is deemed guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $50 (MCL 41.101).

Property Assessment Responsibilities:

• The Supervisor is the chief assessing officer of the Township, responsible for assessing property values within the Township at 50 percent of its true cash value (MCL 41.61). Even if s/he is not a certified assessor, s/he is still responsible for this duty.

• Any other assessors required to perform the function are subordinate to the Supervisor.

• In assessing property, the Supervisor and assessing officials may use only those manuals approved by the State Tax Commission.

• The Township Board is authorized to appoint additional assessors and is required to do so if the Supervisor is not certified. Such assessors still remain subordinate to the Supervisor.

• As the assessing officer, the Supervisor, if properly certified by the State Assessors Board, is required to prepare an assessment roll covering all taxable real and personal property within the Township on or before the first Monday in March, with the valuations being determined as of December 31 of the preceding year (MCL 211.24). The roll is delivered to the Board of Review by the Tuesday following the first Monday in March. The Board of Review must complete its review by the first Monday in April (MCL 211.30a). On the Tuesday following the second Monday in April, the Board of County Commissioners meets in an equalization session on all assessment rolls throughout the county. County equalization must be completed by the first Monday in May. On the second Monday in May, the preliminary state equalization is presented. The final state equalization order is issued on the fourth Monday in May. By September 30, the Township Clerk must deliver certified copies of all the Township Clerk's Certificates for levying taxes to the Supervisor and the County Clerk (MCL 211.36(1)). If the Supervisor certifies any clerical error or mutual mistake of fact in the assessment roll to the Board of Review, it may meet on the Tuesday following the second Monday in December to correct the roll. The error may be in the current roll or the preceding year's roll. Similarly, the Board of Review is authorized to meet on the Tuesday after the third Monday in July to correct any clerical errors or mutual mistakes on assessments to accommodate proper summer tax collections. The Board of Review may also hold a July or December session to hear homestead and agricultural property tax exemption appeals and poverty exemption appeals.

• The Supervisor is no longer required to attend the annual meeting of the County Board of Commissioners.

• Under the General Property Tax Act, the Supervisor is required to act as the secretary to the Board of Review and must keep a record of the proceedings of the board and all changes made in the Township Assessment Roll (MCL 211.33). The Township Board can assign a clerical employee to assist the Board of Review members keep an accurate account of the meetings. As secretary of the Board of Review, however, the Supervisor must be responsible for the accuracy of the clerical employee's work. The Supervisor must file the record of Board of Review proceedings and assessment roll changes with the Township Clerk, together with statements made before the Board. The Supervisor does not act, however, as a voting member of the Board of Review, except on poverty exemptions.

• The Supervisor is required to preserve and keep all books, assessment rolls and other papers belonging to the office in a safe and suitable place and deliver them on demand to the successor in office.

• On application of any person, the supervisor must provide certified copies of any papers or abstracts from any assessment roll or book in his or her office. A reasonable charge may, however, be made for these copies. (Page 187 of the Little Red Book contains additional information on charges for copies of public records under the Freedom of Information Act.)

Fiscal Responsibilities:

• The Supervisor is the Township's Agent for transacting all legal business, upon whom suits may be brought and defended and upon whom all process against the Township is served.

• Unless some other official has been so designated, the Supervisor is considered the Chief Administrative Officer for the development of the Township Budget.

• If authorized by the Township Board, the Supervisor may appoint someone to assist in performing official duties and provide compensation as the Township Board may determine.

• Although no specific person is designated by law to submit the Township's Budget for allocation purposes to the County Tax Allocation Board (as required unless the County is on fixed millage), the Supervisor is generally considered the party to perform this function. The budget must be filed on or before the third Monday in April of each year. At the same time, the Supervisor should present to the Tax Allocation Board a sworn statement showing the date on which any vote was taken to increase the total tax limitation within the Township, the number of votes cast for and against the increase and the amount and length of time of the increase. Where separate tax limitations have been voted by the county electors, the allocation board is abolished and the foregoing filings are eliminated.

Miscellaneous Responsibilities:

• Planning Commission members are appointed by the Supervisor, with Township Board approval.

• The Supervisor, Clerk and Treasurer constitute the Board of Township Election Commissioners in a general law township, with the Clerk acting as its chairperson. This Board is in general charge of elections within the Township under the supervision of the Secretary of State.

• If the County Board of Commissioners has not established an animal control officer, the Township Supervisor may investigate and report on the number and sex of dogs within the Township and the name of each owner. The Supervisor is paid for this service at a rate determined by the County Board of Commissioners. If submitted, the report must be made on or before June 1 of each year.

Additional Responsibilities:

• In addition to statutory duties and responsibilities, the Supervisor is frequently delegated additional functions and duties by the Township Board. The Supervisor may be paid extra compensation for non-statutory duties provided the sum is established before the duty is performed (MCL 41.96 and Article XI, Sec. 3 of the Michigan Constitution).

• It is the opinion of the author that these additional duties may be delegated, performed and compensated for. Although MCL 15.403(2) states that a public employee shall resign or may be granted a leave of absence from other Township employment during his or her elected term when elected to Township office, the author believes this statute does not relate to additional delegated duties. It should be recognized, however, that duties and responsibilities delegated by statute to a particular officer cannot be taken away from that officer and given, or taken over, by someone else without that officer's written consent. In other words, the Supervisor can no more assume or interfere with the functions of the Clerk or Treasurer than the Clerk or Treasurer can assume the duties and responsibilities of the Supervisor or any other statutory official. Each officer has independent functions and duties except when acting as a member of the Board.

• MCLS 15.183 and 15.322 further eliminate restrictions on a public officer or employee from being authorized to be perform additional services for the Township having a population of less than 25,000, with or without compensation.

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