EAST LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Michigan State University Board Trustee Dianne Byrum (D) is ignoring calls for her resignation after she and her husband allegedly misused the state tax exemption. Over a ten year period, Byrum and her husband failed to pay local school mileage tax by improper double-use of the state’s homestead exemption.

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That means the Byrums saved $11,900 over seven years on a home in Ingham County where their daughter, Barb Byrum, serves as the county clerk.

An examination from The Detroit News shows the Byrums saved $11,620 this year by claiming the principal residency exemption on their other home overlooking Lake Michigan near Grand Haven. Byrum says that property is her primary residence.

State law only allows a resident to declare one home their primary residence, thus exempting them from the 18-mill school operating tax levied on second homes and rental properties, as well as commercial and industrial property.

Byrum claims she was unaware of misuse and is taking steps to correct the problem. Former MSU trustee board members Brian Mosallam (D) and Pat O’Keefe (R) called for Byrum’s resignation and said she is “unfit to govern any education institution.” She has served on MSU’s board since 2008, serving as chair for much of her tenure. Her current term as trustee ends in 2024.

Dianne Byrum is a career politician. She served in the Legislature for more than a decade, spending a decade on the county commission and running unsuccessfully for Congress in 2000. She was the first woman to lead a caucus in the state as the Michigan House as minority leader.

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