This month assessors will be mailing assessment notices to property owners.  It’s very important to also note the same form also informs the property owner of the property classification.  The classification is very important if the property owner could qualify for the Michigan Business Tax Personal Property Tax Credit.

Please notify the assessor if the classification is wrong.  It may be wrong because of clerical error or if the assessor initiates a change.  If it is wrong, first contact the assessor.  The next step is the Board of Review, then the State Tax Commission. 

The State Tax Commission (STC) has filed 10,000 or so appeals in the Tax Tribunal.  These are appeals in which the STC has determined that the local assessor got it wrong.  The STC should be notifying the taxpayer, however, because the suit is technically against the local taxing unit a situation could arise in which a taxpayer is not notified.  Hence a truly perverse situation where the STC and the local unit agree without notifying the taxpayer of any of the traditional appeal avenues. 

The property owner can check the status of the case by searching the Tax Tribunal's Docket Look-up by the local unit or the taxpayer of record.