Assessing

Taxable Values can be appealed annually at the March Board of Review. Property owners are provided a Notice of Assessment, Taxable Valuation and Property Classification every February via first class US Postal service. While the form indicates that “THIS IS NOT A TAX BILL”, it is an important document to review annually, as the information contained may impact your upcoming tax bill. Property owners in Michigan are given an opportunity to appeal their assessments BEFORE their tax bills are even issued for the year.

In Coldsprings Township, assessments may be appealed annually at the March Board of Review. Property owners may appeal in person or by letter.

The property owner(s) bears the burden of proof in an appeal to the March Board of Review. Therefore, it is important to have strong supporting documentation to justify a reduction in assessed value. The purchase price, while important, is not sufficient evidence alone to warrant a reduction, as the MI State Tax Commission considers ‘chasing sales’ (i.e. simply setting an assessment at 50% of the sales price) an illegal practice.

If you are interested in making an appeal to the March Board of Review, contact our assessor for assistance. Assessors are an often-underutilized resource. Assessors can provide information that may prove helpful in an appeal and may correct errors if discovered prior to the first Monday in March (potentially eliminating the need to make an appeal to the March Board of Review).

If a property owner is not satisfied with a decision of the March Board of Review, there are further appeal rights before the Michigan Tax Tribunal. Residential and Agricultural appeals to the March Board of Review are required before further appeal may be made to the Tax Tribunal.

The SEV represents 50% of the property’s True Cash Value.  True Cash Value is a term defined by law and is specifically NOT purchase price.  Your sale may be affected by numerous variables that may influence the individual transaction, that have no bearing on the property itself.  To minimize the effect of these variables, all sales within a neighborhood (similar characteristics) are reviewed together to determine a usual selling price based on standardized units of comparison.

You may claim the homeowner’s principal residence exemption if you meet all of the criteria below:

A. You are a resident of the State of Michigan.
B.  You own and occupy the home as your principal residence.
C.  Neither you, nor your spouse if you file a joint income tax return, receive an exemption, deduction, or credit substantially similar to the Michigan Homeowner’s Principal Residence Exemption on property you own in another state.
D.  You have not filed a non-resident Michigan income tax return.
E.  You have not filed a tax return as a resident of another state.

The filing deadline for receiving the Principal Residence Exemption in Coldsprings Township is June 1^st.

You are a Michigan Resident if Michigan is your permanent home.  Your permanent home is the place you intend to return to whenever you go away.  A temporary absence from Michigan, such as spending the winter in another state, does not make you a part-year resident.

Michigan Law defines principal residence as the one place where a person has his or her true, fixed, and permanent home to which, whenever absent he or she intends to return and that shall continue as a principal residence until another principal residence is established.  In order to verify a person’s claim that a particular property is a principal residence, Treasury will accept various documents that, taken together, establish that the person or persons filing the claim occupy the property as a principal residence.  Examples include driver’s license, voter registration card, cancelled checks listing the property address, statements such as medical, bank or charge accounts, income tax records indicating the mailing address and insurance policies.  No one of these factors taken alone is controlling over any other factor.

Multipurpose property is not eligible for a full exemption.  The Homeowner’s Principal Residence Exemption only applies to property that you own and occupy as your principal residence.  If you operate a business in your home, you are not eligible for a 100% exemption.  If you write off portions of your home for income tax purposes, you are not eligible for a 100% exemption.  If you own and/or operate a Bed and Breakfast, you are not eligible for a 100% exemption.  If you have questions about calculating your reduced exemption percentage, please contact the Assessing Department.

“Tax Day” is December 31^st.  Any new construction that is in place as of ‘Tax Day’ will be represented on the following year’s assessment roll.  New construction does not “UNCAP” the property.  Only the new improvement is added to the roll.

EXAMPLE:  An owner decides to build an addition and the true cash value (TCV) of the addition is determined to be $60,000.  Half of the TCV is added to the assessment roll.

Therefore, a property receiving the PRE (Principal Residence Exemption) would incur an additional $ 810 tax per year as a result of the new construction ($30,000 (1/2 of TCV ) x 0.027 annual millage rate).   Similarly, a property NOT receiving the PRE would incur an additional $1,350 per year as a result of the new construction ($30,000 (1/2 TCV) x 0.045 annual millage rate).

No reporting is necessary.   The Michigan State Tax Commission updates the Assessor Manual annually with new construction costs.  The assessor is tasked with taking a measurement and inventory of the new construction project and relying upon the costs from the manual.  These costs are localized to Kalkaska County.