Assessment Rolls, Tax Rolls, and Board of Review Procedures
Assessment Rolls, Tax Rolls, and Board of Review Procedures
This domain tests the documents that carry value into the tax bill and the appeal forum where taxpayers challenge them. Expect questions on roll contents, board composition, March versus July/December jurisdiction, and the path to the Michigan Tax Tribunal.
Core rules
- The assessment roll identifies each parcel and lists owner, address, legal description, property classification, assessed value, SEV, taxable value, and exemptions. The assessor prepares it and certifies it to the board of review.
- The March board of review meets beginning the second Monday in March to hear valuation and exemption appeals. The assessor is secretary but not a voting member; the board must give notice and keep a record.
- July and December boards have limited authority: clerical errors, mutual mistakes of fact, and certain homestead/qualified agricultural denials. They are not open season for revaluing property.
- The tax roll is prepared by the treasurer from the certified assessment roll and extended with millage; the treasurer collects. A taxpayer generally must protest to the board of review before appealing a valuation to the Tax Tribunal.
- Poverty exemptions follow published guidelines and are heard by the March board; documentation and income limits matter.
Worked example
A taxpayer receives a notice showing taxable value of $150,000 and believes the assessor used the wrong square footage. She appears at the March board with a survey and closing documents. The board reviews the record and lowers assessed value, which may also lower SEV and taxable value if the cap is not binding. If she instead discovers a clerical transcription error after the March board, the July board can correct the mutual mistake of fact, but it cannot revisit the entire valuation.
Traps
Do not say the assessor decides appeals; the board does. Do not send a valuation dispute to the July board when it belongs at March. Do not confuse the assessment roll with the tax roll: one establishes value, the other extends and collects the levy. Missing the protest step can forfeit Tribunal review.