Assessing

City Assessor: James Geiermann

The Assessor's Office is charged with the appraisal of all real property and personal property for property tax purposes. There are 25,660 residential, commercial and industrial real property parcels and 2,207 personal property accounts in the City. The Department conducts a Board of Review for the purpose of allowing the taxpayers of Royal Oak to protest the coming years proposed assessments. The Department also defends all assessments before the Michigan Tax Tribunal. The Department operates under the provisions of the General Property Tax Act of 1896, as amended along with any applicable local charter provisions.

Office Hours: Mon - Thu, 8am-4:30pm; Fridays, 8am-Noon

Phone: (248) 246-3110
Fax: (248) 246-3001

Address: 1st Floor, Room 108, 211 S Williams St, Royal Oak MI 48067-2619

Access Property Records
Michigan Homestead Forms

Assessment Report

The poor economic climate of Michigan has caused a downturn in property values in Royal Oak. Annual figures set by City Assessor James Geiermann and approved by the State show that Royal Oak’s total tax base, or taxable value grew to $2,455,393,430 for an increase of $20,688,630.

Royal Oak Taxable Values
Year Total Residential Personal Commercial-Industrial
2008 $2,455,393,430 $1,889,916,570 $113,121,190 $452,355,670
2007 $2,434,704,800 $1,875,049,470 $124,894,290 $434,761,040
2006 $2,300,031,760 $1,760,779,950 $130,043,66 $409,208,150
2005 $2,157,160,530 $1,636,065,740 $131,155,090 $389,939,700
2004 $2,038,376,547 $1,527,187,417 $139,785,294 $371,403,836
2003 $1,938,386,179 $1,438,121,583 $135,071,970 $365,192,626
2002 $1,841,291,868 $1,369,407,389 $130,743,970 $339,140,509
The average assessment for a Royal Oak resident is $94,089 this year from $99,710 in 2007.
The average taxable value for a Royal Oak resident is $78,034 this year from $77,226 in 2007.

 

Assessed value
Value determined by the local assessor, based on real estate sales studies. Should be 50% of market value.

State Equalized value
The final value figured by multiplying the assessed value by an applicable equalization factor. The city of Royal Oak’s tentative equalization fact or is 1.00, meaning assessed valuation and equalized valuation are the same.

Capped value
The prior year’s taxable value minus any losses (such as tearing down a garage) times 5% or the increase in the Inflation Rate Multiplier, whichever is less, plus any new construction such as an addition or a new garage.

Taxable value
The value on which property taxes will be computed. This will be the assessed value or the capped value, whichever is less.

The percentage increase was much smaller than last year, 0.85 percent compared to 5.86 percent, reflecting a diminished yet still stronger market when compared to Oakland County as a whole.

Since the enactment of Proposal A tax reform plan in 1994, taxable value has been the base for figuring property taxes in Michigan. (See the adjoining box for a history of taxable value).

The 2008 tax rate is 11.4333 mills ($11.43 per $1,000 of taxable value). The rate includes 7.3947 mills for operation, .0213 for publicity, 2.7664 for refuse and recycling, .2912 for fire bonds and .9597 for library bonds.

The State Constitution requires that properties be assessed at 50% of their true cash value. In 1994, Proposal A provided for a limitation on increases relative to property taxes. The intention of this provision is to curb runaway inflation. The limitation is accomplished through a process that restricts increases to the previous year’s taxable value to 5% or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. Next year’s (2009) CPI is 4.4% compared to 2.3% for 2008.

When a property sells, the Taxable Value will be uncapped to its State Equalized Value in the next tax year and the capping process begins anew.

A question most frequently asked is, “If a property has an assessed value of $100,000 (meaning a true cash value of $200,000) and I purchase said property for $300,000, is my new assessed and taxable value going to be half the sale price?”

This example describes the practice of “following sales”, as described in the example, is both unconstitutional and illegal. In explanation, for the purpose of taxation, properties are appraised on a mass basis. Mass appraisal analysis combines a cost approach for every property that is modified by actual sales that occur over a specific period of time.

Buildings are appraised according to their attributes (story height, square footage, etc.) and grouped as neighborhoods. A neighborhood is a group of properties that enjoy and/or suffer from the same influences. Each neighborhood is reviewed annually and adjusted from sales that have occurred over a one-year time frame. Each neighborhood sale is reviewed to determine if it is an arms-length transaction that is representative of normal market activity. Each representative sale within the neighborhood is compared to the previous assessed value to see if the neighborhood warrants any adjustment. Assessed Value of sales are not automatically adjusted to 50% of the sale price.

michigan.gov

Board of Review

Board of Review

The Board of Review in Royal Oak consists of six (6) residents appointed by the City Commission. The six are divided into two (2) boards that meet in March of each year for the purpose of hearing and deciding assessment appeals, poverty exemptions, or property classification appeals.

Contact the office after February 21 at (248)246-3110 to schedule an appointment.

Legal Notice - City of Royal Oak

March Board of Review will meet at 211 S Williams Street, Royal Oak MI, Room 106, to review 2010 assessments.

An organizational meeting will be convened on March 2, 2010 from 9:00 A.M. to 9:30 A.M.

Appeal Sessions will be scheduled on the following dates (and whatever days necessary):

Mar. 2, 2010 from 9:30 am - 12:00 noon and 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Mar. 3, 2010 from 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm and 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Mar. 4, 2010 from 8:30 am - 11:30 am and 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Mar. 5, 2010 from 8:30 am - 11:30 am and 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Mar. 8, 2010 from 8:30 am - 11:30 am and 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Mar. 9, 2010 from 8:30 am - 11:30 am and 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Mar. 10, 2010 from 8:30 am - 11:30 am and 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Mar. 11, 2010 from 8:30 am - 11:30 am and 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Mar. 12, 2010 from 8:30 am - 11:30 am and 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Mar. 15, 2010 from 8:30 am - 11:30 am and 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Mar. 16, 2010 from 8:30 am - 11:30 am and 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

 

Any person wishing to appear before the Board of Review must make an appointment before 5:00 p.m. on March 8, 2010 by contacting the Assessor’s office at (248) 246-3110. Non-resident property owners may appeal by mail received no later than March 8, 2009.

Any agent representing a taxpayer shall present written authorization to the board of review at the time of his/her appointment.

James M. Geiermann
City Assessor

Homeowner Affidavit

Property Transfer Affidavits and Homeowner's Principal Residence Exemption Affidavits
To file a property transfer affidavit and or a Homeowner's Principal Residence Exemption you need to deliver in person or mail either affidavit to this office. The transfer affidavit needs to be in our possession within 45 days of the transfer to avoid penalty. The Homeowner's Principal Residence Exemption affidavit needs to be in our possession by May 1st of the year following the transfer. Check here for the necessary forms at the Mich. Dept. of Treasury

Land Changes

Land Splits and Combinations
To facilitate a legal split or a combination of land in the City of Royal Oak you would start by making application to do so in the Assessor's Office. You can download the application and procedures here (in adobe pdf format).

AttachmentSize
[file] LandDivisionApplication.pdf9.12 KB

Ownership Changes

Name changes and Mailing Address changes
To change a name or add or delete a mailing address for your tax bill or your notice of change in assessment you need to contact the assessor's office.

Telephone: (248) 246-3110

Property Information

Property and Tax information is available on-line through the "Access Oakland" program and there is a small fee associated with your inquiry. Here's the direct link: Access Oakland Property Records.

24 Hour Tax Hotline - Property tax information is now available free on the Oakland County 24 Hour Tax Hotline by dialing 248-858-0025 or toll free number 1-888-600-3773. To access tax information you will need to enter your 10-digit parcel ID number (beginning with either 20 or 25).

Tax Estimator

You can now calculate an estimate of your property taxes, using the current tax rates.
Enter the Taxable Value of your property, and select the school district from the options provided.
 
Step 1. Enter your Taxable Value:
(approximately 50% of purchase
price for new home purchases)		 $
 
Step 2. Select your School District:    

The taxes calculated will be for both summer and winter taxes.

 
  (See calculated results below)
 
Resulting Property Tax Estimate
 
  Homestead   Non-Homestead
 
   Millage Rate         Estimated Tax
 
   Millage Rate         Estimated Tax
City:
 
 
 
 
County:
 
 
 
 
Schools (5):
 
 
 
 
Admin Fee:
  
 
 
Total:
 
 
 
 
 
Special Notes:
  1. $1.00 per each $1,000.00 in Taxable Value is equal to 1 mill.
  2. July tax bill is due and payable from July 1st through July 31st without penalty. Beginning August 1st, interest is added at the rate of 1/2 of 1% per month.
  3. The December tax bill is due and payable from December 1st through February 14th without penalty. A 3% penalty is added after February 14th.
  4. After February 28th, all delinquent taxes must be paid to the Oakland County Treasurer with additional interest and penalties.
  5. The Schools tax rate consist of the following tax rates: Intermediate Schools= 3.3690, OCC= 1.5844, State Education= 6.000, plus the local school district rate.
  6. This calculation is only an estimate provided for your convienence. The rates are subject to change depending on where we are in the tax season.

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