Reminder: Qualifying Statements Must Be Filed by December 31

In last month’s edition of School Law Notes, we discussed the importance of filing the Municipal Finance Qualifying Statement form with the Michigan Department of Treasury by December 31 each year. A successful Qualifying Statement submission gives a school “qualified status” for the upcoming year. Obtain­ing qualified status allows schools to issue most types of municipal obligations (bonds, state aid notes, and tax notes) more swiftly and reduces related filing fees. We want to give our clients one final reminder about this important annual task.

As a service to our retainer and regular finance clients, Thrun Law Firm’s finance attorneys will, at a cli­ent’s request and at no charge, review a draft Qualifying Statement before filing. Due to a new submission inter­face, clients should print a screenshot of the online sub­mission form for review. Clients that wish to take advantage of this service should provide us with the draft Qualifying Statement by early December to allow adequate time for review.

As an additional reminder, to avoid denial, please remember to file the school’s annual audit with Treasury before filing the Qualifying Statement. If your school is denied qualified status for this or any other reason, please contact our office before submitting a re­quest for reconsideration of that denial. Treasury al­lows only one reconsideration each year, so it is critical that the request be error-free. An inadequate reconsid­eration request could result in a final denial of qualified status for the upcoming calendar year.