Order Michigan Supreme Court
Lansing, Michigan
June 20, 2018 Stephen J. Markman,
Chief Justice
Brian K. Zahra
Bridget M. McCormack
156737 & (61) David F. Viviano
Richard H. Bernstein
Kurtis T. Wilder
Elizabeth T. Clement,
MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF HOME Justices
BUILDERS, ASSOCIATED BUILDERS AND
CONTRACTORS OF MICHIGAN, and
MICHIGAN PLUMBING AND MECHANICAL
CONTRACTOR ASSOCIATION,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v SC: 156737
COA: 331708
Oakland CC: 2010-115620-CZ
CITY OF TROY,
Defendant-Appellee.
_________________________________________/
On order of the Court, the motion to file a brief amicus curiae is GRANTED. The
application for leave to appeal the September 28, 2017 judgment of the Court of Appeals
is considered. We direct the Clerk to schedule oral argument on whether to grant the
application or take other action. MCR 7.305(H)(1).
The appellants shall file a supplemental brief within 42 days of the date of this
order addressing: (1) whether the creation of a fee surplus generated by an enforcing
agency under the Construction Code Act (CCA), MCL 125.1501 et seq., and the use of
that surplus to pay for shortfalls in previous years by transfer of the surplus into the city’s
general fund, violates the constraints of § 22 that fees be reasonable, be intended to bear a
reasonable relation to the cost of acts and services provided by the enforcing agency, and
be used only for the operation of the enforcing agency or the construction board of
appeals, or both; (2) if so, whether appellants have a private cause of action against a
governmental subdivision for enforcement of the CCA, MCL 125.1508b(1); (3) whether
appellants are “taxpayers” that have standing to file suit pursuant to the Headlee
Amendment, Const 1963, art 9, § 32; and (4) if so, whether the challenged fees violate
the Headlee Amendment, Const 1963, art 9, § 31. In addition to the brief, the appellants
shall electronically file an appendix conforming to MCR 7.312(D)(2). In the brief,
citations to the record must provide the appendix page numbers as required by MCR
2
7.312(B)(1). The appellee shall file a supplemental brief within 21 days of being served
with the appellants’ brief. The appellee shall also electronically file an appendix, or in
the alternative, stipulate to the use of the appendix filed by the appellants. A reply, if
any, must be filed by the appellants within 14 days of being served with the appellee’s
brief. The parties should not submit mere restatements of their application papers.
The Michigan Municipal League, the Michigan Township Association, the
Government Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan, and Michigan Realtors are
invited to file briefs amicus curiae. Other persons or groups interested in the
determination of the issues presented in this case may move the Court for permission to
file briefs amicus curiae.
I, Larry S. Royster, Clerk of the Michigan Supreme Court, certify that the
foregoing is a true and complete copy of the order entered at the direction of the Court.
June 20, 2018
s0613
Clerk