find your sole in Putnam Township

Assessing

Assessor's Office hours are Tues. & Fri. from 9 a.m. - noon & 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Amy Pashby. Assessor,  MAAO, Personal Property Examiner, assessor@putnamtwp.us 
Leah Sisco, Assessor's Assistant
Michele McGraw. Field Representative

Amy Pashby has been Putnam Township’s Assessor since 1993. Her team includes Leah Sisco, Assessor’s Assistant and Michelle McCraw, Field Representative. Both assist with the day to day functions of the department.

The office is responsible for the assessment of real and personal property in the Township, including the Village of Pinckney. This involves inventorying, evaluating, calculating taxable value, and then preparing assessment rolls. Property Transfer Affidavits, deeds, Principal Residence Exemptions and Veterans Exemptions are all filed and kept in the office.

Maintaining accurate property records is of primary importance in the Assessor’s department. A Property Record card is kept on file for all real property at the Township. Information recorded on the card includes building sketches, year a structure was built, square footage, land size, legal description, property transfers and building permits. Property owners are encouraged to stop by the Township and review their property card for accuracy.

If there has been a transfer of ownership, deed or a land use permit filed with the Township, an owner should expect a member of the assessing staff to visit the property. The assessor is responsible for visiting  20% of the property in the Township every year, this is another reason the department might visit.

Assessing records are available during regular Township Hall hours. Assessing information is also available online, by clicking the Property Tax and Assessing link in the green box. 


FAQs

I just received a Notice of Assessment, with "This is not a tax bill" on it. What is this and what does it mean?
Every property owner is notified of their property’s assessed value, taxable value, property classification, Principal Residence Exemption status, and the dates of the Board of Review (BOR), on their annual Notice of Assessment. If you disagree with your assessment, then the BOR is the place to start. You should contact our assessor, Amy Pashby, for additional BOR information.
What is the Board of Review (BOR) and what is its function?
The Board of Review consists of a panel of property owners in your jurisdiction. Their duty, as members of the BOR, is to hear property assessment appeals, property classification appeals, applications for hardship exemptions, and to correct any clerical errors, or mutual mistakes of fact that occur after assessments are finalized each year.
I recently purchased a home in Livingston County. Why isn't my assessed value half of what I paid for the property?
General Property Tax Law prohibits an assessed value from being set at one-half of a particular sales price. All arm’s length sales of similar properties must be considered when determining assessed values. Arm's length sales generally exist when the property has had proper exposure on the open market and involves an informed buyer and seller, each acting prudently, knowledgeably and assuming the price is not affected by undue stimulus or special financing.
For assessment purposes, why can't current real estate listings be used when determining the value of my home?
Current real estate listings cannot be used in determining the true cash value and resulting Assessed Value (AV) of local properties. AV cannot be based on speculation as to what a home might sell for. By law, AV must be based on confirmed arm’s length sales that have taken place.
Are financial institution sales used in a sales study?
Normally, sales that involve mortgage foreclosures and sales from relocation companies (distressed sales) are not considered typical sales and are not used to determine the value of property in the assessment process. The State Tax Commission has allowed the use of these sales, but only under strict conditions. The assessor must be able to contact and interview the mortgage company holding the original mortgage, the seller, the buyer, and the buyer’s mortgage company. The assessor must also be able to perform an interior inspection to determine that the structure, when sold, remains in the same condition as when it was assessed.
How do I calculate an approximate amount of annual property tax dollars for a property?
Multiply the current years (Taxable Value) TV by the total millage rate, depending on Principal Residency status, then divide by 1,000 (i.e. TV x millage rate I 1 ,000 = estimated taxes). This will give you an approximate annual amount of property tax. This formula does not include any administrative fees or special assessments that may apply to a property. Millage rates can change from year to year, as does a property’s TV; therefore it can be difficult to determine an exact amount until the millage rates are finalized (shortly before the taxes are billed). You can contact your local assessor to obtain millage rate information for your city or township.
How often is my property evaluated?
The General Property Tax Law requires all properties to be evaluated each year. This does not necessarily mean that a field inspection is made of each individual property every  year. Assessed values are generally determined by mass appraisal techniques. This is done by grouping similar property types together and analyzing the sales activity in the groups, as well as performing field inspections on a sampling of properties within these groups. It is important that property owners periodically review their property record cards, which are available in your local assessor’s office, or on-line (in most jurisdictions).

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