Qualifying Statements Must Be Filed by December 31

School officials must file the Municipal Finance Qualifying Statement form with the Michigan Department of Treasury by Thursday, December 31, 2015 to avoid late fees and other negative consequences.

The annual filing of the form is required to obtain “qualified status” for 2016.  Obtaining qualified status permits municipalities to issue most types of munici­pal financing (bonds, state aid notes, and tax notes) more swiftly and reduces the related filing fees.

Treasury now uses a web interface for submitting a Qualifying Statement and other forms. Users are able to complete the Qualifying Statement through a web interface rather than uploading a “pdf” file. Please note that users may be required to obtain a new username and password. The link to the submission system is available on Treasury’s “Local Audit and Finance E-Forms” webpage. Treasury’s Bulletin 6 allows a school’s chief administrative officer to authorize a school’s auditor to file the Qualifying Statement with Treasury on a school’s behalf.

School officials should ensure that the school’s annual audit has been filed with Treasury before filing the Qualifying Statement or qualified status will be denied.

As a service to our retainer and regular finance clients, Thrun Law Firm’s finance attorneys will re­view a draft Qualifying Statement before filing at a client’s request, without additional charge. Due to the new submission interface, clients will need to print a screenshot of the online submission form to allow us to review the completed draft form. We urge our cli­ents to take advantage of this service to help avoid being wrongfully denied qualified status. If you would like to have your school’s Qualifying Statement re­viewed before submission to Treasury, please contact your Thrun Law Firm bond/finance attorney.