​TOWNSHIP PROPERTY ASSESSMENT
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NEED HELP? 
HAVE QUESTIONS?
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Our assessors encourage you to chat with them.  So, do not hesitate to contact Jill and Dave if you have need further assistance than this page can provide.

Dave Brown, MAAO - Michigan Advanced Assessing Officer
Jill Brown, MCAO –  Michigan Certified Assessing Officer 
Phone: (231) 881-4000
Email: townshipassessing@gmail.com
Mailing Address:  7421 Hency Rd. Kingsley, MI 49649

LINKS TO YOUR ASSESSMENT RECORDS, FORMS, GUIDELINES AND FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ'S):

First, want to see what your assessment is? Our records are online and can be found at  www.bsaonline.com.

Next, do you need forms or general information?  Below are handy links  frequently needed for our property owners.  All links are to documents are also found through ​www.michigan.gov.  

​Principal Residence Exemption (PRE) affidavit form

Guidelines for Principal Residence Exemption (revised 8-21) 

Request to Rescind Principal Residence Exemption form

Conditional Rescission of Principal Residence Exemption form

PRE Conditional Rescission FAQ

PRE Other States Similar Exemption Affidavit form

Disabled Veteran’s Exemption Form

Disabled Veteran’s Exemption Eligibility Requirements FAQ

Property Transfer Affidavit form

Property Tax Estimator
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Poverty Exemption Guidelines Bulletin
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​Poverty Exemption Complete Application
UNDERSTANDING PROPERTY ASSESSMENT:
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The Assessing Department is responsible for identifying and valuing all taxable real and personal property within the township. Crystal Lake Township has approximately 1800 parcels.  The Assessor determines values through an analysis of recently sold properties. By law, assessments must be set at 50% of the True Cash Value. There are three key value components to each property. These must be calculated by our assessors every year.
  1. State Equalized Value (SEV): Half of Market Value
  2. Capped Value: (Last Year’s Taxable Value – Losses) x Consumer Price Index + Additions
  3. Taxable Value (TV): The lesser of: SEV or Capped Value​

In addition, the Assessing Department is responsible for
  • Maintaining property records to include legal descriptions, land values, land improvements, building information, building values, exemption status, zoning information, etc. Individual property records  were formerly paper records, sometimes known as property "cards"  and were kept in township files cabinets.  All the information that was conveyed on those cards, plus some, is now instead available online at www.bsaonline.com;
  • Creating and maintaining an Assessment Roll annually;
  • Maintenance of all sales transactions on both vacant and improved properties; identifying and recording all new ownerships, processing related Property Transfer Affidavits, Homeowner’s Principal Residence Exemptions and Requests to Rescind;
  • Establishing land values and economic condition factors throughout the township annually;
  • Field inspections of all new construction projects and updating the property record cards accordingly;
  •  Land Division requests and processing;
  • Periodic inspections of all real property parcels;
  • Defending appeals to the Michigan Tax Tribunal;

​Assessment change notices are mailed annually (mid-February). This is the taxpayer’s opportunity to review important information pertaining to his or her property. Please be sure to examine valuations, classifications, legal descriptions and exemption status. 
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Want to protest your assessment?  The citizen's review panel is called the Board of Review.  Please go to that page for full details.

​FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND THEIR ANSWERS:

​HOW ARE MY PROPERTY TAXES CALCULATED? The property taxes are based on the number of mills being levied by a taxing authority, such as schools, townships, county, etc., plus any additional mills that voters have passed for things such as road maintenance, fire & rescue, libraries, etc.  Property taxes are calculated as follows:  1 mill = $1.00 per $1,000 of “Taxable Value”.   

My neighbor’s house is twice as big and they have twice as much property but I pay twice as much in taxes than they do.  Why?
Property “taxable values” were created in 1994 with the passing of Proposal A, and have remained “capped”, or have only increased annually by the rate of inflation, since then.  If someone has owned their property since 1994, they are paying taxes on what their values were in 1994 plus the annual rate of inflation.  The longer a person owns their home the larger difference there can be between the assessed value and taxable values.

My Assessed Value jumped 30%.  Did I misunderstand that it could go up only so high?  
Property assessments are required by law to be recalculated on an annual basis.  Assessed values do not have a direct “cap”, other than what the real estate market is indicating.  Unless the property sells, the assessed value is based on market analysis and taxable values can still only increase by the rate of inflation or 5%, whichever is the lesser of the two.

I just purchased this property for $300,000 last year and the taxes were only $600.  However, this year the taxes jumped to $2400.  Why the big increase?
Out of state buyers are frequently the most shocked when the new tax bill comes for the year following their purchase.  This is because the year of  their purchase they will continue to pay taxes based on the former owner’s taxable value .  The year after  their purchase the Taxable Value “uncaps” to the assessed value.  Plus, if the property was the primary residence of the former owner, and it is a second home for the new owners, the new owners will not be exempt from the 18 mills of the local school operating tax.