Baraga County v. State Tax Commission

This is an action seeking an order of mandamus. The State Tax Commission seeks a determination whether a consent judgment entered by the Michigan Tax Tribunal is enforceable against defendant, which was not a party to the action before the tribunal.

We hold that the consent judgment is not enforceable against defendant because defendant was not a party to the tribunal proceedings. Under the rules of how privity applies among governmental units that we adopt today, we further hold that privity does not exist in this case to bind the state by a judgment entered into by a subordinate political…