Michigan Compiled Laws

Mich. Comp. Laws § 103.4 (2026)

Sidewalks; upkeep, failure of owner; work at owner's expense; assessment; suit.

✓ current as of July 2026
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THE FOURTH CLASS CITY ACT


Act 215 of 1895


103.4 Sidewalks; upkeep, failure of owner; work at owner's expense; assessment; suit.

Sec. 4.

    If the owner or occupant of any lot or premises shall fail to build, rebuild or maintain any particular sidewalk as mentioned and prescribed in the last 2 sections, or shall fail to keep the same in repair, or remove the snow, ice and filth therefrom, or to remove and keep the same free from obstructions, encroachments, encumbrances or other nuisances, or shall fail to perform any other duty required by the council or board of public works in respect to such sidewalks, within such time and such manner as the council shall require, the council may cause the same to be done, and such sidewalk to be built, rebuilt or repaired, and the expense, or such part thereof as the council shall have determined, shall be charged to such owner or occupant, and the council may cause the amount of such expenses incurred thereby, for which such owner or occupant shall have become liable, together with a penalty of 10 per cent in addition thereto, to be reported to the board of special assessors, to be levied by them as a special tax or assessment upon the lot or premises adjacent to and abutting upon such sidewalk, which special assessment shall be subject to review, after proper notice is given as in all other cases of special assessments provided for by this act, and such tax when confirmed shall be a lien upon such lot or premises the same as other special assessments, and the council shall order the supervisors of the ward in which such lot or premises are situated, to spread said amount, together with such penalty upon his roll as a special assessment upon such lot or premises, and the same shall be collected in the same manner as other city taxes; or the city may collect such amount, together with the penalty aforesaid, from the owner or occupant of such premises in an action of assumpsit, together with costs of suit.

History: 1895, Act 215, Eff. Aug. 30, 1895 ;-- CL 1897, 3190 ;-- CL 1915, 3104 ;-- CL 1929, 2028 ;-- CL 1948, 103.4

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1982–2024 · leading case: Wikman v. City of Novi, 322 N.W.2d 103 (Mich. 1982).
Wikman v. City of Novi, 322 N.W.2d 103 (Mich. 1982). · cites it 4× “Such special assessments are exacted through the state's police power as part of the government's efforts to protect society's health and welfare; see Motz, supra, MCL 103.”
City of Detroit v. Detroit Plaza Ltd. P'ship, 730 N.W.2d 523 (Mich. Ct. App. 2007). “As noted in Robinson, Longhofer & Ankers, Michigan Court Rules Practice, Evidence, § 103.4, p 26, an offer of proof “serves the dual purpose of informing the trial court of the nature and purpose of the evidence sought to be introduced, and of providing a basis for the appellate…”
People of Michigan v. Karl Derell Butler (Mich. 2024). “’ ” Detroit v Detroit Plaza Ltd Partnership, 273 Mich App 260, 291 ; 730 NW2d 523 (2006), quoting 1 Longhofer, Michigan Court Rules Practice, Evidence, § 103.4, p 26. As noted above, in Hackett, we stated that in conducting the evidentiary hearing, “the trial court has .”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.