File Your Qualifying Statement!

For a school that wants to borrow money, obtaining “qualified status” each year from the Michigan Department of Treasury is critical. Before a school issues most types of debt, it must either have qualified status or Treasury’s prior approval.

The costlier and time-consuming prior approval process often causes significant delays. Treasury has up to 30 business days (i.e., six calendar weeks) to evaluate a prior approval application which, without qualified status, must be submitted each time a school wants to borrow. The 30 business-day review period begins on the date Treasury deems the application “received.” Un­der the new online filing system, schools should receive confirmation of receipt shortly after submitting the ap­plication. Accordingly, a borrower without qualified status must plan ahead and build additional time into its schedule to accommodate Treasury’s application process.

Obtaining qualified status is a much better option. It allows the school to borrow in the next year without further Treasury approval. To obtain qualified status, a Municipal Finance Qualifying Statement form must be completed and filed electronically with Treasury by De­cember 31 each year. This filing can be accomplished through Thrun Law Firm’s website (thrunlaw.com). Go to the “Links” page and select “Michigan Department of Treasury - Municipal Fi­nance” under the “Bond and Fi­nance Links” heading. Then select “Qualifying State­ment” and follow the in­structions for online filing. New users must request a username and password to access the online filing interface.

Treasury will not grant qualified status unless a school first files a copy of its annual audit. A school that fails to file its annual audit with Treasury by Decem­ber 31 will be denied qualified status for the next calen­dar year. Consequently, school officials should ensure that the audit has been filed with Treasury before filing a Qualifying Statement. We recommend that the audit be filed electronically or via certified mail or overnight carrier to confirm timely delivery.

The State of Michigan now accepts a single electronic filing to satisfy the audit filing obligation with both Treasury and MDE. This procedure requires electronic filing of the audit with MDE. The June 30, 2019 audit must be filed with MDE by November 1, 2019, which is earlier than Treasury’s deadline. Details for audit submission are available on the “Links” page of our website.

Some questions on the Municipal Finance Qualifying Statement form (such as those related to taxes levied and delinquent taxes) may be confusing. Please read and complete the form carefully. At a cli­ent’s request and without charge, Thrun Law Firm’s fi­nance attorneys will review a client’s Qualifying State­ment before it is filed. The online filing interface means that a client must send a screenshot of the com­pleted form. Please provide the screenshot to your fi­nance at­torney by early December to allow adequate time for review.