As a taxpayer in Lincoln Township, you are concerned about paying only your fair share of taxes for  services received.

In the Assessor’s office, we are responsible for estimating the market value of every property in the Township.  As we estimate the value of your property, we also make every effort to assure that your assessment is equitable to similar  properties. 

Assessment change notices are issued each year in February.  Please let us know if your mailing address needs to be corrected. 

The first meeting of the Board of Review for assessed value appeals meets the second Monday in March.
 

There are two sets of checks and balances in the assessment structure.  The first check is at the County level.  The County performs sales and appraisal studies to determine the level of assessment.  It actually dictates to the assessing department the amount of increase to be spread across the township, by class, annually.

The last check is by the State Tax Commission.  The State periodically performs sales and appraisal studies to check the County studies for accuracy.
 

THE ASSESSMENT FUNCTION 

The Assessor’s office is responsible for discovering, listing and assigning assessed values to every property in the Township.  We are required by law to reassess each property in the Township annually.  Our office monitors all sales and analyzes the local real estate market relative to economic conditions, supply and demand factors, and other influences that affect value.

We have a property record card that shows ownership and sale information as well as property characteristics.  We use the characteristics of your property in connection with our analysis of the real estate market to estimate a market value and then Assessed and Taxable Value for your property.  Our two major goals are to arrive at an accurate market value estimate of your property, and to ensure that similar properties have similar assessed values.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Look at the assessed value of your property.  Be as objective as possible.  If you believe that the market would not support our estimate of value for your property or that your assessment is not equitable with others, please call us. 

We may ask you to support your position by offering some evidence of the value you believe to be correct or by indicating the values of similar (comparable) properties.  We may also ask to schedule an interior inspection to aid us in our review. 

As a property owner, you should take the time to review your record card to verify that the information we are using is current and correct. You may do this any time during regular business hours 9-5, Monday-Friday.

WHAT WILL WE DO? 

When you call, we will explain how we arrived at your value, what the values are on comparable properties, and offer you whatever assistance we can.  The only issue we can address with you is the value of your property; the issue of the amount of your tax bill is outside of our control.  We will work with you to ensure the fair and equitable assessment of your property.

Click here for a Property Tax Estimator
 

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You can contact the Assessing Department via email at the following address:

assessing@lctberrien.org