LANSING – State Representative Andy Schor (D-Lansing) introduced and passed an amendment to Senate Bill 61 today that is projected to save the City of Lansing nearly $600,000.
Senate Bills 61 and 62, which passed the House, will allow Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan to convert into a nonprofit mutual. Schor’s amendment to Senate Bill 61 corrected an inadvertent oversight in the bill that would have resulted in Blue Cross not paying property taxes on a number of its properties throughout Michigan until 2015, including the Lansing Capitol Avenue Building on 232 S. Capitol Ave. in downtown Lansing. The understanding between all involved parties, including Blue Cross, was that they would start paying those property taxes in 2014.
“I’m thrilled to have played a part in correcting an oversight that’s going to end up helping communities throughout the state,” Schor said. “This amendment couldn’t have passed without the bipartisan support it received. I enjoyed working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to address this important issue and ensure that our communities would receive the property tax revenue they expected.”
On top of ensuring that the city of Lansing would receive nearly $600,000 in property taxes from Blue Cross, Schor’s amendment ensured that a number of other communities would benefit from Blue Cross’ property tax payments. In fact, the 10 buildings that Blue Cross owns in Michigan are expected to net almost $4 million in property tax payments. Communities that stand to benefit from those revenues include the city of Detroit (to the tune of more than $2.5 million), New Hudson, Marquette, Grand Rapids, Utica and Southfield.