Property Assessment notices are mailed to all homeowners in February. Our Michigan property tax system can be very confusing, and the notice includes a lot of information indicating changes in the assessed value and taxable value of your property. These numbers give you an idea of how much your property could sell for and how much of that value you will pay taxes on, which Proposal A caps at the year’s inflation rate or 5%, whichever is lower. If there has been a change of ownership in the past year, the taxable value resets, becoming “uncapped” and the same as the assessed value shown in the table. However, next year, the cap will go back on and the taxable value will only increase as described above.

This year’s inflation rate was higher than anticipated, so it helped increase property tax value (your assessed value, not taxable). If the assessed value of your home increased higher than inflation, that’s great news because it means that your home could sell for more! As inflation increases across industries, the City of Berkley is not immune to rising costs for things like construction projects and contracted services. Any additional revenue from increased property tax payments will help minimize required reductions to balance our budget as the City works to continue to provide existing services without further reductions.
 

If you have a question about your assessment notice, we encourage you to contact Sarah Beathard, our assessing representative from Oakland County. You can call her at 248-658-3316, or email beathards@oakgov.com. If you disagree with the information on your notice, you have opportunities to appeal your assessment to the Board of Review which meets every March at City Hall.

The purpose of a Board of Review meeting is to act on changes in state equalized value and taxable value which were the result of:

• Value appeals - March only
• Clerical errors - July and December
• Poverty appeals - March, July, and December
• Michigan Tax Tribunal decisions - March, July, or December

To obtain a Poverty Exemption you must first complete and return personal financial data forms. These forms are available from the City of Berkley Treasurer's office.

In an effort to avoid probate for their estate - residents may add a name to their deed. Some residents who have added names to their deeds have seen an increase in their property taxes. This is due to changes in how these deeds are processed by the Oakland County Clerk's Office. 

If you have added a name to your deed and your summer taxes have dramatically increased, please email or call us at 248.658.3310.