Comments on: Equalization Report Shows Stronger Economy

By: Steve Bean

Steve Bean — Thu, 01 May 2014 13:31:11 +0000

"It appears that the worst part of the decline in market value is behind us.” Appearances can be deceiving. What if the worst is ahead of us (which I believe it to be)? The fact that commercial property values haven't increased as much as residential suggests that the latter reflects a re-inflation of the housing bubble (though only partial at that) as well as a still-weak(ening?) economy, as much evidence supports: [link] The county would do well to prepare for a surge in foreclosures over the next few years and plan for how to keep those houses occupied and maintained, not start dreaming of a return to a strong tax revenue stream.

By: Dave Askins

Dave Askins — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 14:30:17 +0000

Re: “I think you meant “deceased” vs. “diseased”.”

Yes, thanks, corrected.

By: Larry Baird

Larry Baird — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 14:25:33 +0000

“In addition, Public Act 161 of 2013 extends the homestead property tax exemption for disabled military veterans to spouses of diseased veterans.”

I think you meant “deceased” vs. “diseased”.

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 18:12:28 +0000

Just to note, the phrase “Equalized (assessed) value is used to calculate taxable value” might be misconstrued to suppose that equalized and assessed are synonyms. They are not. Assessors located in many parts of the county (Ann Arbor has its own, for example) prepare a list of assessed values for their own region. The Equalization Department is then charged with verifying that those assessments are fairly made. The principal concern is that in a particular community, assessments might be made that are lower than a true market assessment would indicate: in other words, that taxes are being held down by collusion. Equalization is done to guarantee that all communities’ properties are being assessed according to the same guidelines.

A better way to express it might be “Assessed and equalized value…”