The Michigan State Tax Commission at their meeting on February 2, 2009, made it mandatory for County Equalization Directors to use single year sales studies for 2009 for the residential class of all local units. Directors must now request exceptions to this order and must present compelling evidence to support the use of a two year study.
What does this change mean to me?
When Township Assessors determine the SEV (State Equalized Value) for your home, they are required to base your assessment from a home sale study that they must conduct of comparable sales in your area. Before this mandatory change, they could base your assessment on sales from the previous two years. In a declining market this results in a lag effect as your current assessment could be based on sales from 1-2 years ago when home values were higher than they are today. Assessors are now required to only use sales in the last 12 months, which is intended to provide a SEV closer to real market conditions.
