Tax roll retention is the clearest case of the answer depending on your office: county treasurers keep rolls 20 years then transfer them to the Archives of Michigan, city and village treasurers 20 years then destroy, township treasurers 7 years after settlement with the county. Quoted from the official DTMB schedules.
Ask “how long do we keep tax rolls” in a room of Michigan treasurers and three different correct answers come back, because the state wrote a different rule for each office:
DTMB General Schedule #27 (County Treasurers), item 27.041; approved 8/18/2020.
DTMB General Schedule #28 (City and Village Treasurers), item 28.025; approved 7/20/2010.
DTMB General Schedule #29 (Township Treasurers), item 300; approved 9/1/2009.
The design is deliberate: Michigan’s property tax system settles upward to the county, so the county roll is the permanent record (hence the Archives transfer), while the local copies that feed it may be released once their administrative life ends.
The township treasurer schedule (GS #29) itemizes the supporting cast, each with its own trigger: tax roll and bill changes ride settlement plus 7 years (29.301), special assessment rolls run 3 years past the last installment payment (29.313), and delinquent personal property tax records run 7 years from payment or circuit court removal (29.302, 29.303). The clocks anchor to real fiscal events, not calendar dates, which is exactly why they belong in a system rather than in memory.
Standard caveats: these are minimums, an active audit or litigation freezes everything it touches, and a records dispute over taxation is precisely the scenario the retention program exists to survive. The full framework is in our retention guide.
Dekree carries all three treasurer schedules, quoted as printed and applied by entity type, so a township treasurer sees township rules and a county treasurer sees the Archives-transfer clock. Event-anchored triggers like settlement dates are tracked per record.
Every quote links to the exact page of its official PDF on michigan.gov, and all three schedules are browsable in our free retention database (GS #27, #28, #29). Confirm with your county treasurer and municipal attorney before any disposal pass.
It depends on the office. County treasurers: 20 years from date created, then transfer to the Archives of Michigan (GS #27 item 27.041). City and village treasurers: 20 years from date created, then destroy (GS #28 item 28.025). Township treasurers: settlement with the county plus 7 years, then destroy (GS #29 item 300, covering ad valorem, industrial facilities, and delinquent tax rolls). The county copy is the one preserved forever, which is why the local copies may be released sooner.
The county roll is the permanent historical record of property taxation, used decades later for title research, genealogy, and legal history. The Archives of Michigan takes custody after the 20-year administrative window. City, village, and township rolls duplicate information that settles up to the county, so their copies carry destruction rules instead.
For township treasurers the trigger is settlement with the county, the annual reconciliation where delinquencies turn over, not the date the roll was created. Special assessment rolls carry their own rule: last installment payment plus 3 years (GS #29 item 29.313). Delinquent personal property tax records run 7 years from payment or removal from the roll by circuit court (items 29.302 and 29.303).
This article is educational information for Michigan public bodies, current as of the publication date. It is not legal advice, and statutes and court decisions change. Confirm specifics with your municipal attorney. Statute text: legislature.mi.gov.