October, 2023
Dear Property Owner,
The Central Lake Township’s Assessing Office by Michigan State Law, is charged with ensuring that all property within the township is assessed fairly and equitably. In order to do so, physical exterior inspections of all property located within the township’s boundaries will be performed over the course of the next 12 months.
The physical inspection of a parcel will be a simple verification of the existing data that we already have on record for your property. During the inspection, the field appraiser measures the exterior of each structure on your property, records the information, and takes an updated photograph. If you are present at the time of inspection, the appraiser may ask you a few simple questions regarding your property, such as-Do you know in which year your house was built? How many bathrooms do you have? What kind of heating system you utilize? The answers to these basic question reveal which other properties in the township are comparable to your own for the purpose of constitutionally required sales studies. At no point will any of our appraisers ask to enter your home or other buildings on your property.
The field appraising company assisting me with this project is Michael Houserman from MAPS. These highly qualified and experienced assessors will work with the taxpayers, township & village staff and State of Michigan Treasury officials to ensure a uniform distribution of the property tax burden. They will have photo ID Badges should you wish to confirm their identity at any point. It is important to note a visit will not result in an automatic change in the dollar amount you pay for property taxes; their presence at your property is only to verify the accuracy of the data, and answer any questions you may have. Additionally, other field appraisers from Antrim County or the State of Michigan may also visit your property this year. Having multiple inspections done by different governmental entities allows you the taxpayer to rest assured that your assessment is as accurate as possible.
We are looking forward to working with the property owners of Central Lake Township to produce high-quality results the State Tax Commission has come to expect out of this office. If you would like to learn more about this process, please feel free to contact our office, preferably by email or in person.
Sincerely yours,
Robert Englebrecht
Central Lake Township Assessor
assessor@centrallaketownship.com
