Assessing

March: Notices of Assessment and Taxable Value are mailed to property owners. A date for the BOR Meeting is set and advertised in the Blissfield Advance newspaper. Appointments to appeal are scheduled through our Office. July: A date for the BOR Meeting is set. Errors to Principal Residence Exemption and Agricultural classification and property assessments are corrected. Where approved, tax refunds for previous year errors are issued by Lenawee County. December: Tax bills for the current year are mailed to property owners on December 1. A date for the BOR Meeting is set and advertised in the Blissfield Advance newspaper. Errors to Principal Residence Exemption, Agricultural classification are corrected. Where approved, tax refunds for previous year errors are issued by Lenawee County. February: The final date to pay property taxes is February 28. After February 28, taxes are delinquent and late fees are applied. Lenawee County will collect delinquent real property taxes.

Your property taxes are based on the value of your property. We assess your property to determine the value. The tax rate is then applied to the value of your property to determine your taxes. The Assessed Value of your property is based on 50% of market value as required by the State of Michigan. The Assessor considers a number of factors in determining the assessed value of a property. These include age, size, quality and type of construction, lot size, finished attics and basements, the neighborhood, and the selling price of similar properties in that area. In general, increases in market value result in an increase in assessed value. However, the sale price of an individual property does not necessarily determine its market value and property is not always assessed at 50% of a sale price. After the assessment rolls are reviewed and approved (the equalization process) by the County and State, the assessed values become the State Equalized Values (SEV). SEVs are not subject to a “cap”.

Taxable Value is the value to which the millage rate is applied, thereby determining your taxes. The Taxable Value is the lower of the SEV or Capped Value. Taxable Value is subject to a “cap” and can be increased only by the amount of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or 5%, whichever is lower. This results in another value called Capped Value. The CPI for 2016, as determined by the State of Michigan is 0.3%.

Capped Value = (Last Year’s Taxable Value – Losses) x (the lower of 1.05 or the CPI) + Additions.

For all properties sold during a year, the Taxable Value is “uncapped” and changed to the SEV of the property. There is no limit to amount of change in Taxable Value in the year after a property transfers. However, the next year the cap goes back on the Taxable Value. A property that has sold numerous times over the years will have a higher Taxable Value than a similar property that has remained with one owner, due to the repeated uncapping.

Changes in your property assessment and taxable value depend on changes in market values in your neighborhood and changes in the CPI. The following example demonstrates the changes that would occur with a 3% increase in market value and a 2.5% increase in the consumer price index.

Example: If your prior year SEV is $100,000 and market values increased in your neighborhood by 3%, this means your current year SEV is: $100,000 X 1.03 = $103,000. If the CPI increase was 2.5%, your Capped Value is: last year’s taxable value, $90,000 X 1.025 = $92,250. Your new Taxable Value would be the lower of the SEV or the Capped Value, or $92,250.

The Assessor is required by the State of Michigan to increase the Taxable Value by the rate of inflation (CPI). Your Taxable Value will not however, go higher than your SEV. The following example demonstrates the changes that would occur with no change in market value and a consumer price index increase of 2.8%.

Example: If market values did not increase in your neighborhood, your SEV would be: last year’s SEV, $100,000 X 1.0 = $100,000. If the CPI is 2.8%, your Capped Value is: last year’s taxable value, $90,000 X 1.028 = $92,520. Your Taxable Value for this year is the lower of the SEV or the Capped Value, or $92,520. If there were no increase in the CPI or the SEV, your Capped Value and therefore Taxable Value would not change.