Equalization

Mandate by Law

Section 211.34 of the General Property Tax Act of the State of Michigan mandates the process of state equalization. The act states in part that the county board of commissioners shall examine the assessment rolls of the townships or cities each year and ascertain whether the real and personal property in the respective townships or cities has been equally and uniformly assessed at an average level of 50% of true cash value.

General Property Tax Act

The General Property Tax Act goes on to state that the county board of commissioners of a county shall establish and maintain a department to survey assessments and assist the board of commissioners in the matter of equalization of assessments. The County Board of Commissioners, through the department, may furnish assistance to local assessing officers in the performance of duties imposed upon those officers by this act, including development and maintenance of accurate property descriptions, the discovery, listing, and valuation of properties for tax purposes, and the development and use of uniform valuation standards and techniques for the assessment of property.

The Equalization Department is also responsible for calculating all millage rollback fractions required by law (Headlee, Truth in Assessing, Truth in County Equalization, and Truth in Taxation) for all taxing authorities within the County such as K through 12 schools, intermediate schools, colleges, the county, townships, villages, cities, and district libraries. Following this process, the Department compiles all millage to be levied within the county and submits the apportionment report to the County Board for their examination and approval and a copy to the State Tax Commission.