State Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Waucedah Township, right, listens as Escanaba City Manager Patrick Jordan speaks Wednesday in Lansing in support of closing the “dark store” property tax loophole.

LANSING — An attempt to block the reappointment of Victoria Enyart to the Michigan Tax Tribunal was rejected Thursday during a senate hearing.

State Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Waucedah Township, introduced a motion to disapprove Enyart’s nomination, but it did not pass.

“Ms. Enyart has a troubling history of supporting the dark store loophole, time and again ruling in favor of multinational corporations’ bottom lines over local governments trying to offer public services with dwindling resources, and local businesses who can’t get the same tax break,” said McBroom. “The U.P. deserves a tax tribunal that puts the interests of the people first, not conglomerates.”

The Michigan Chamber of Commerce took a different view, claiming opposition to Enyart’s reappointment was being led by “a very vocal few” who “know comparably nothing about property tax administration and valuation or have a vested financial interest in reshaping the property tax system for personal gain.”

In recent weeks, local governments across the Upper Peninsula adopted resolutions opposing Enyart’s reappointment.

On Thursday, McBroom, state Rep. Sara Cambensy, D-Marquette, and former Marquette Township Manager Randy Girard testified before the Senate Advice and Consent Committee in opposition to the nomination put forward by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Girard said when Marquette Township filed a case before the tribunal in 2012, Enyart said the township should “not bother to file; I’ve already made my decision.”

The tribunal is an administrative court that hears tax appeals for all Michigan taxes, although most of the appeals involve property taxes.

Whitmer on Aug. 14 announced Enyart’s reappointment to represent certified level IV assessors on the tribunal for a term expiring June 30, 2024. She has 14 years of experience on the panel, having been appointed by three other governors.

On Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee took testimony from Escanaba City Manager Patrick Jordan in support of McBroom’s legislation that would close the dark store tax loophole.

Senate Bill 26 would revise the way property taxes are assessed on vacant big box stores and end the process of placing deed restrictions on closed stores, which is a scheme used to lower a building’s market value, McBroom said.

The bill remains before the committee for further consideration.