At Merri-Bowl Lanes in Livonia, the nearly $50,000 in annual property tax bills that owner Rich Glumb gets have kept coming this year.
But the customers haven't.
For 174 days between March 16 and Sept. 8, Glomb's 40-lane bowling alley on Five Mile Road was shut down by order of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as a broad measure to mitigate spread of the coronavirus.
Bowling centers, arcades, movie theaters, gyms, sports stadiums and music venues were among the last businesses to reopen in Michigan.
Even after Whitmer's executive orders were invalidated by the Michigan Supreme Court on Oct. 2, some of these businesses never reopened after new public health restrictions were put in place on event venues, such as the ban on fans in the seats at Lions football games at Ford Field.
As winter approaches and a second wave of COVID-19 infections starts to put a crimp on indoor activities, some businesses owners in these industries want lawmakers to lighten their property tax bills to at least partially compensate for their prolonged economic pain.
"Since the government us shut down — it was not our choice — there should be a reprieve on the taxes all around," Glomb said. "No doubt."
But getting Whitmer and municipalities to agree to a tax break could prove difficult in the Republican-controlled Legislature's lame-duck session next month.
In July, Whitmer vetoed legislation that would have let businesses delay paying sales, use and income taxes. In her veto letter, the Democratic governor contended such a measure would "push many local budgets over the precipice into fiscal crisis."
Sen. Peter MacGregor, R-Rockford, said he'd like to extend tax relief on penalties and interests for businesses that never reopened, such as professional sports stadiums and music venues that have stayed closed because of the coronavirus.
"A lot of these places just need more time" to pay tax bills, MacGregor said. "When your property tax is (one of your) largest bills, especially these big, huge venues, you're talking about millions and millions of dollars. It's probably not a huge amount of money when you're talking about penalties and interest on these things."
MacGregor, who was elected Kent County treasurer in the Nov. 3 election and is leaving the Senate at year's end, said there's interest within the Senate Republican caucus to revisit small-business tax relief with the governor next month.
Merri-Bowl reopened after Labor Day, but has been restricted to 25 percent capacity under public health orders from the state and Wayne County, Glomb said.
Those capacity restrictions as well as ongoing fears about the virus and patrons who don't want to wear masks have contributed to depressed sales this fall, Glomb said.
"We're turning business away," Glomb said. "Once you start breaking the buying habits of guests, they'll find something else to do.
"If this goes on much longer and we're not allowed to operate at even 50 percent of fire marshal capacity, there's going to be a lot of (bowling) centers that are going to go away."
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The government shut them down; should they get a break? - Crain's Detroit Business
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