The Assessing Department is dedicated to the establishment of accurate, consistent and uniform property assessments for property owners of Spring Arbor Township. The assessing group has the responsibility of preparing the Assessment Rolls and Tax Rolls of the Township for all classes of property subject to taxation. The state constitution and statutes require the assessed values placed upon the assessment roll to approximate (50%) of true cash or market value. Assessment and Tax Rolls are based on the status of the property as of Dec. 31 (Tax Day) of the previous year. Determining the true cash value and taxable status of all such properties in the Township is accomplished through various duties.

To facilitate this standard the assessing group regularly and systematically inventories and catalogues all properties in the township which includes physical inspections, digital photos and sketches of structures located on the property. Values are established using primarily the mass appraisal approach. Utilizing statistical analysis of sales occurring during the past two years, vacant land values and Economic Condition Factors (ECFs) are established and applied in uniform fashion to similar groups of properties estimating final market value for each year.

Proposal A, passed by the voters March 15, 1994, places additional and profound limits on values used to compute property taxes. Starting in 1995, property taxes are calculated using “taxable value”, capped by the consumer price index or 5% (whichever is less) until a property transfers ownership.

The assessing group is also responsible to track ownership and occupancy information as well to accurately apply tax law and legal exemptions. To facilitate this responsibility transfer documents such as deeds, land contracts, quit claims and Property Transfer Affidavits, as well as taxable status documents such as principle residence exemptions, rescinds, agricultural exemptions and many others are processed and tracked in the assessing database.

The Assessing Department is responsible for the land division process and accurately tracking legal descriptions for assessment.

Public relations is important to Spring Arbor Township and the Assessing Department serves as a source of information for the public, maintaining data on each parcel of property in the Township. We are committed to providing accurate property information to the various township departments, property owners, realtors, and private appraisers. As of December 31, 2020, this information was being maintained for 3,671 parcels, of which 3,468 are real property, 198 are personal property, and 132 are exempt.