City Assessor

2012 Personal Property Statement Form link

Statements are due February 20th!

State Tax Commission Policy Statement Regarding Incorrectly Reported or Omitted Property (MCL 211.154) link 

City of Traverse City only!

2011 Assessment & Taxable Value 

 Assessment & Taxable Value Information-Tax Map Parcel link 


Notice - 2012 Assessment Change Notices will be going out in the mail soon - please contact your local assessor with any questions or concerns.  

Assessment Change Notices

It is a Notice of Assessment, Taxable Value, and Property Classifications. It is not a tax bill.

Michigan law requires assessors to send notices to taxpayers whose taxable or assessed values have increased. The City of Traverse City sends notices to all taxpayers, whose values have increased, decreased, or remained the same.

No response is necessary if you agree with the proposed values and classifications. However, we strongly urge you to contact us immediately upon receiving your notice if you disagree with the values or have questions.

City of Traverse City - Board of Tax Review   
  
Board of Review 
State of Michigan- Informational Guide 
 
 

Each year, the state constitution requires an inflation rate be calculated to be used for property tax purposes. The state uses the federal Consumer Price Index to set the rate. For property tax assessments that will be approved March, the official inflation factor will be 2.7 percent (1.027). This would impact any property that is increasing in value or where there is a difference between the taxable value and state equalized value.


Office hours: M-F, 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.,
excluding most federal holidays

Telephone 231.922.4450  *  Fax 231.922.4479

1st floor, Governmental Center, 400 Boardman Avenue
Traverse City, MI 49684

Staff: 

Debra Chavez - City Assessor 
dchavez@traversecitymi.gov

Polly Cairns - Deputy Assessor
pcairns@traversecitymi.gov

Bruce DeJong - Senior Appraiser
Personal Property Examiner
 bdejong@traversecitymi.gov

Patty Aprea - Assessing Clerk
paprea@traversecitymi.gov


 
City Assessor office is primarily responsible for performing and maintaining property assessments for the equitable distribution of property tax burden as per the current Michigan General Property Tax Laws. The Assessing office compiles the annual assessment role on which taxes will be levied, maintains property descriptions and maps for taxing purposes, provides the City Treasurer with taxable value on all City properties which are used to produce the annual tax bills, processes personal property statements and conducts field audits of both existing properties and new construction located within the City of Traverse City.   

  • Establish legal assessment roll and annually site visit 20% of residential property  
  • Review and evaluate commercial and industrial property 
  • Site visit and review all new construction  
  • Continue public education in areas such as non-consideration forms, homestead applications, property transfers and personal property tax law 
  • Enhance/increase understanding of and compliance with the property tax system as established by city charter and state law 


General Property Tax Act [MCL211.1]-pdf   


SEV's represent fifty percent of the "True Cash Value" of a property in the State of Michigan. It is called an equalized value because the assessor has prepared the value based on sales within the city, the county equalization board has made certain that each city and township have assessed the properties at an equal level, and the Michigan State Tax Commission has studied and equalized all the counties within the state to ensure equity between them. The end result each year is that all properties across the state have the same level of assessment regardless of location. This does not mean that all carry the same SEV, only that the SEV of each property is to be at fifty percent of what the usual selling price is expected to be.


Until the 1994 passage of the property tax reform ballot proposal, the SEV was the basis of tax bills. Proposal A of 1994 created a new value called the "Taxable Value" for each property. This value reflects the annual "cap" on assessment increases to five percent or the consumer price index---whichever is lower. While the SEV must continue to reflect the actual market, the TV is mathematically determined by the capped value, less the taxable value of any demolition, plus the true cash value of any construction, omitted property, increased occupancy, contamination remediation, or one of a few other changes defined in state laws.

  


Personal Property Questions & Answers-State of Michigan 


Neighborhood Enterprise Zone

MEDC - Michigan Economic Development Corp-NEZ-pdf    

Link to Grand Traverse County Equalization - Millage Rates      


 State of Michigan Links: 

P.R.E. (Principal Residence - Homestead) Exemption Law Information:    
State of Michigan - P.R.E. Information  
Due May 1st  





Tax bills are computed by multiplying the millage rate (expressed as tax dollars per $1,000 of TV) by the taxable value of each parcel.
 


If you are a member of the Traverse Association of Realtors  (TAAR), Assessment & Tax information  is updated periodically through the BS&A Tax website.  Please call the TAAR office if you need assistance -
Traverse Area Association of REALTORS : (231) 947-2050  

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